Re:The Body Shop - Part Four

As I slowly begin to come to my mind struggles to take stock of myself, the constant movement and shifting of my body beneath me making the idea that I was simply laying down on the steps where I fell completely out of the question. A shudder runs down my spine as I yawn, my eyes fluttering open only to be blinded by the painfully bright light around me.

"Wha... Where..." I groan, blinking rapidly as I try to clear my vision. The night before quickly hits me like a sack of bricks, my heart quickly racing as the memories of Bunny and her running off with me in tow quickly surges to the forefront of my mind.

I feel my body jump a little at my breathy voice, the alien force animating it being taken by surprise as I slowly wake up.

"Where are... are you..." I mumble, shifting the sleep from my eyes with another flurry of blinks. As my vision returns and my eyes adjust to the harsh lights around me I find myself shaking nervously as I stumble out onto a wooden deck, my body whipping around beneath me as I stare at the dirt road and dense forest surrounding me.

My eyes shot open immediately, my heart racing and my blood pumping as panic begins to set in. Gone was the stairwell, gone was the night sky, gone was the damned city as a whole. Rather than towering buildings and constant traffic I find my view blocked by rows upon rows of dense greenery in the form of beautiful trees and dense wild grasses filling the underbrush.

The dirt road loops around in front of me, a winding path coming out of the forest before expanding to fill the man-made clearing and narrowing once more as it curves off into the forest once more. Freshly made tire tracks run from the front of the deck out down the road to the right, a smaller and more maneuverable motor bike sits next to where the car had once been parked.

The deck itself is relatively plain, well maintained and freshly varnished hardwood planks stretch out either side of me as a small railing provides some sense of privacy. As my body lurches around, a cry of surprise erupting from me as my powerful body rushes back to the door behind us, I spot a small sign by the door frame.

Station 12

'Wild Carrot'

The Swap-Cation - Part Two

Without much going on in my life, and the thought of the expense that had gone into the gift, I had quickly went to the Swap Clinic to cash in my gift without any real thought into who could have sent me such a gift. Thankfully, the local Clinic was more than capable at cashing in the little voucher, the woman beaming at me as she scanned the card with a little beep.

"Thank you for coming in early... Mr Hughes" the caramel skinned young woman had chirped from behind the counter. "We always have issues with people checking in right before the deadline. We can get you sorted now if you want? Next thing you know you'll be off enjoying...Perfect Prom!" the young woman cries with excitement, her slender frame nearly launching out of her seat.

"Uh... Thanks?" I mutter in response, my hands fidgeting with my jacket as I try to pull it around me.

"It's sooooooooo sweet that someone gifted you this" she coos, her deep brown eyes practically sparkling as she looks off into the mid-distance. "To relive such a big event, the excitement and powerful emotions rushing back and..." she giggles, obviously longing for her own chance to try the holiday package. "Sooooooo..." she muses, smirking at me from across the front desk. "Who got it for you? Wife? Partner? Maybe..."

"I..." I stammer, completely in the dark as to who had left the card in my mailbox. "I have no ide..."

"Mr Hughes!?" calls a low and honeyed voice from the hallway beside the front desk, a short and fit man in his forties soon leaning out as he scans the room. Giving the tan blonde man a nod he waves a little clip board at me, gesturing for me to follow as he begins to plod off down the hallways and out of sight.

Mr Marigold's Magician's Box - Part One

Shivering in the evening chill I trudge down the dim dank alleyway, my boots splashing in foul sour-scented pools of what I can only hope is water. My clammy hands clutch at a small purple ticket tightly, my knuckles white as I grip the cheap plastic rectangle.

The alley itself is much like any other, graffiti and tags sprayed against the brick walls while large dumpsters force me to weave and squeeze my way down the narrow path. I freeze as I hear something squeak and skitter in the darkness, a flash of fur diving down beneath one of the dumpsters as a long pink tail thrashes about behind it.

A simple light sits a decent way up the plain brick wall at the far end of the alley, the squat and long broken green plastic revealing the fluorescent bar within. As I draw closer I cock an eyebrow, my gaze shifting over the plain brick wall in confusion.

"I could have swor..." I mutter, looking back towards the entrance to the alley. I bite at my bottom lip, wracking my brain as I try to remember what I had been told only a few days ago. Sure, I may have been more than a little drunk at the time, but I should have remembered a simple set of directions.

As I approach the wall something begins to stand out in the plain and simple red brick wall. An arch of bricks, still layered in the same pattern as the rest, fail to really blend in with the rest thanks to their slightly darker and muddy hue. Squinting at it, purposely blurring my vision, it almost looks like a door frame inlaid into into the brickwork.

With a little burst of speed I approach the wall, my right hand patting the bricks in search of something... different. However, despite seemingly having found the right place it still looks and feels just like any other wall. Before long I find something, a slight gap in the mortar at around waist height. Sizing it up for a moment I hold out the ticket, measuring it up as I read the overly dramatic and cursive text.

The Marvelous Mr Marigold's

Menagerie of Magical 'Mishaps'

Magician's Boxes - One Free Use

Lights, Camera, Change! - Part Five

The crowd murmurs slightly, only for a group gasp to rip through them as their little displays begin to light up.

"She knew the rules about sleeping" the Hostess smirks, shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe she doesn't want to win the grand prize, I'm sure she'd be happy with coming back as the fastest loser in the games history."

Waiting for a moment for the snickering and laughter of the crowd to die down the Hostess looks off to the side of the stage, the older director of Lights, Camera, Change! giving her a little nod before finally mouthing 'First Vote'.

"But after spending so long on making her like this, it would be a shame to send her off so unceremoniously. While we usually have our first vote when all contestant's go to sleep for the day I suppose we can start with Ms Hughes" The Hostess announces, the crowd cheering excitedly.

"We'll work something else out in the broadcast, but as a special treat and a first in Lights, Camera, Change! history you get to not only make the the whole of the contestant's new body but you also get to decide their fate by yourselves!"

As the crowd roars with excitement the sound of the various beeps and bloops of their displays being selected and locked in begin to take over the room. The image of my sleeping form on the screen being overlayed with the various percentages of the vote.

The Hostess smirks as she watches one of the bars race to the other end of the screen, the crowd voting overwhelmingly for me to stay on the show with only a single vote from someone in the audience to end my time in the competition.

Lights, Camera, Change! - Part Four

Exiting the stairwell I find myself in the entrance hall for some sort of museum, a small front desk sitting to my right and beside a large set of antique wooden doors with one siting wide open in an inviting manner. Across from the stairwell sits a small lounge area, a small set of antique stools and tables all in view of the front desk.

To the left rest large glass cabinets filled with all manner of ancient looking tools and pieces of clothing with a large spinning wheel sitting in the center of it all. A large arch way sits along the left hand wall, a passage way leading deeper into the building, while above it rests a large glass window looking into a small office space above.

Swallowing hard I return my attention to the phone, my eyes darting over the various addresses in the app until one seems to repeat far too many times.

"Farrier Road" I mutter, smirking as I read the address aloud. "That's... quaint..." I chuckle, the laughter coming out in a cutesy giggle thanks to this new voice. Quickly punching the address into my phone's GPS it begins to autofill, a smirk spreading across my lips as I feel like I had cracked some sort of mystery.

Taking a deep breath I begin to walk towards the open door, yawning involuntarily as I feel my eye lids grow heavy. "Okay..." I sigh, rubbing my eyes from behind the thick glasses. "Just need to get home, and from there..." I state, giving myself a pep talk only to trail off. "I... I have no idea."

The Swap-Cation - Part One

The darkened world around me lurches as a set of distant wheels catch a dip in the road, the cool liquid around me sloshing in the tight container as I'm forced against the walls of my minuscule confines. I can feel my heart race inside me, the pounding muscle hammering the limited blood through my heavily redacted body.

Arms, legs, even my head an mouth had to be shaved away in the clinic's massive foreboding machines to be sent to a 'storage' body. All that remained was a pale jiggling cube of flesh housing my brain and my heart, a thick slime forming over my skin as the added trait of 'breathing through one's skin' borrowed from a now likely dead frog kicked into gear.

It had to be this way though, at least that's what I had been told as they had explained the procedure. Transportation was an expensive overhead, and for the sake of immersion they didn't want anybody to know just where we would be going.

"Total immersion" the Swap Clinic representative had explained. "It's one of the selling points of a Swap-Cation."

Suitable Subject - Part Two

My eyes flutter open as I find myself on the sofa, my half finished coffee thankfully resting in my lap. The TV blares out with the same Suitable commercial a thousand times before, a low groan escaping my lips as I lazily slap about for the remote.

"Too..." I huff, my hand soon finding the remote as I skip the add. "Expensive..." I groan, rolling my head back as I feel just how cold the coffee mug is with my free hand.

Slowly heaving myself up I begin to shuffle towards the kitchen, my footsteps staggering to a halt as I hear a loud series of knocks from my front door. Looking over my shoulder I wait for a moment, my brain still processing what I had heard before another more panicked set of knocks fill my cozy living space.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes I slowly plod towards the door, my gait picking up in speed as the knocks grow practically frantic. Just as the knocks turn to banging I pull the door open as I find myself looking at a bundle of rubbery skin and Kelly, the slender and energetic brunette from down the hall. The young woman's fist swings forward, colliding with my chest as her eyes go wide in shock.

Jumping slightly she takes a step back, her hazel eyes going wide as she lets out a little squeak.

"S... Sorry Mr Hughes!" she chirps, her gaze darting to me and her balled fist for a moment before shifting down to the rubbery pale suit resting over her arm. She opens her mouth to say something, her whole body flinching as the sound of a door somewhere in the hallway squeaks and a set of footsteps begin to shuffle out.

Without another word the five foot seven brunette ducks under my arm, sliding past me and into my apartment as she clumsily kicks the door closed behind her. Blinking rapidly I'm left in shock as the young brunette takes a deep breath, a mumbled set of voices coming from somewhere in the hallway slowly moving away.

"What are..." I croak sleepily, rubbing my eyes as I try to muster a glare at the young woman.

"Uh... Mr Hughes..." she mutters nervously, fiddling with the squeaking suit. "Could I ask you a favor?"