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As I See It, As You See It John Mark Fullmer
"...I turned me down the olive shore Shannon put down the book of American poetry and looked up at her boyfriend. "Oh Jacques, didn't you think that lovely? I think poetry such a wonderful thing -- the marriage of music and literature, you know." Jacques had quickly repaired from his semiconscious state during his beloved's recitation, ready for what he expected to be an interminable, and most assuredly one-sided discussion of the romance of poetry, but never dreaming possible what really was to occur: "Yes, Pookie, I agree completely....Especially liked the part about the 'sea'." Jacques smiled, impressed with himself -- experience had taught that if he failed to mention something from the poem, Shannon would become suspicious that he hadn't been paying attention. She probably knew, deep down, that he still wasn't listening, but at least this way she could pretend. Shannon also smiled, content. These after-dinner poetry readings had been occurring with some consistency for the past two months -- had replaced the habit, much preferred by our male player, of going to the movies. Shannon thought it would be romantic to sit sipping wine in a candle-lit room (even if it was the tacky living room of her boyfriend's Torrance apartment) and pour over poetry. Jacques had gone along with it because doing so was the path of least resistance: in the end, whether he proclaimed a yea or nay, he knew that Shannon would have her way. "Isn't this perfect?" Shannon was a romantic; she thought it would be fun to do things like we see in the movies: candle-lit dinners, walks on the beach. She probably didn't really enjoy poetry anymore than her boyfriend, she just believed she did. And as Shannon stood up to put the book back into her bag, it happened. Neither knew exactly what had happened, or how, and they still can't figure out why. The next instant it was instead Jacque who was stooping to put the detested book in Shannon's bag; attempting to ascertain the validity of this sudden change of position, he glanced at his couch and saw himself, sitting as he had been. Shannon looked up from her recline on the couch also to see herself, or at least her body, staring perplexedly at her. It took them quite a while to realize that they had switched bodies, and longer still to accept it. If you want my opinion, it's not so unusual after all -- the Bible says that two people can become one flesh; compared to that, I think swapping flesh should be relatively simple. Unbelievable as it is, flesh was not all they exchanged. Jacque, now in Shannon's body, found himself trying to resist the desire to move a few of the candles to create a more romantic atmosphere. Shannon was making an effort to suppress a latent belch. She also really wanted to touch Jacque, who was now in her body, which makes things all the more confusing. The transfer seemed to have left something more behind than just the physical body. Apparently there were inherent gender dispositions, imposed by God knows what -- society, genes, aliens? In any case, after about a week of being in relationships with, well, themselves, Jacque and Shannon realized they could no longer stand the others' company, and have mutually agreed to see other people. |
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