Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 

   WARNING: This story includes sexually explicit material.

   Please note any unfamiliar spellings and phrases may be due to the fact
I am English, not American.

   I would like to thank the proof-readers for all their help

   Any comments, including constructive criticisms, would be most
appreciated.  Please send to artemis55@hotmail.com

   This work is copyrighted by the author.  You may download and keep one
copy for your personal use as long as my by-line and e-mail address and
this paragraph remain on the copy.  Any posting or reposting on a website,
other than the archive or Dejanews, or to a newsgroup requires my
permission first (but I'll probably say yes).  This story should not, under
any circumstances be used to make a profit by anyone other than the author

   ======================================================================

   WARNING: This story includes sexually explicit material.

   Please note any unfamiliar spellings and phrases may be due to the fact
I am English, not American.

   I would like to thank the proof-readers for all their help

   Any comments, including constructive criticisms, would be most
appreciated.  Please send to artemis55@hotmail.com

   This work is copyrighted by the author.  You may download and keep one
copy for your personal use as long as my by-line and e-mail address and
this paragraph remain on the copy.  Any posting or reposting on a website,
other than the archive or Dejanews, or to a newsgroup requires my
permission first (but I'll probably say yes).  This story should not, under
any circumstances be used to make a profit by anyone other than the author.

   ======================================================================

   The Gift Vickie Morgan

   Chapter Four

   Sue was the first up in the morning and she was soon nagging Dan.  She
nagged him into the shower, even going as far as to join him and wash and
condition her hair properly.  Then she nagged him into the bedroom where
she dried and arranged his hair and covered his face with make-up.  Only
Amy's return from her night shift at the hospital saved him.  Sue was
distracted by the necessity of preparing breakfast for the exhausted Amy so
Dan was left to finish struggling into his clothes by himself.  Amy had
collected the suit as requested and he had to admit it suited his body.  It
felt strange to have exposed legs while wearing a jacket.  The only time he
usually had bare legs was in summer when he wore shorts.  He tried to tug
the skirt as low as possible but it still only just reached his knees.  It
hampered him as he walked, forcing him to take smaller strides.  Luckily
Sue had some moderately flat-heeled shoes for him to wear so he didn't have
to struggle with high heels.  Sue had talked non-stop all morning about the
importance of this meeting and he felt he was as fully informed as he ever
could be.  He made sure that everything was safely in Sue's bag and left.
As he passed through the sitting room, Amy wished him good luck.  Sue
opened her mouth to say something, glanced at Amy and shut it again.  Dan
hurried out the door, glad to have made his escape so easily.

   He found the morning's experiences bizarre.  He didn't know which
experience surprised him most, but at the end he was more eager than ever
to reclaim his own body.  There was the way that men's eyes travelled up
and down his body when they spoke to him, instead of looking in his eyes,
which was very off-putting.  Then there was also the startled silence in
the conference room when he pointed out that, as he had made the first
round of drinks for everyone, it was now Brian's turn.  For a moment he
couldn't comprehend what the problem was, since Brian was the same level of
management as Sue but newer to his position.  It seemed logical to Dan that
Brian should take his turn making the drinks but the rest of the men
obviously expected Sue to do it as she was the only woman there.  Dan had
been more than annoyed by their chauvinism and had stared defiantly at
Brian until he had got up and made his way to the drinks corner.

   More than a little riled, Dan had had enough of sitting there passively
and decided it was time to assert himself.  While he knew full well that
the whole project had been Sue's inspiration and that she had done the
majority of the work, her boss was glibly passing it off as a team effort
and giving her no extra credit at all.  Little though Dan liked Sue, he
knew from listening to her conversations with Amy that she was undeniably
talented and yet had been passed over for promotion several times.  It
seemed likely that she had never tried to push herself forward, as Dan
considered she should have.  Well, Dan had no qualms about making sure that
credit was given where it was due.  Whenever possible he spoke up,
deliberately using the word 'I' instead of 'we'.  By the end of the
meeting, the head of the department and the managing director were in no
doubts that the project was Sue's work.  Feeling very confident, he
approached the department head and within hearing of Sue's boss asked if
there were any opportunities for promotion in the department.  Apparently
there were several positions that Sue was more than suitable for and the
department head promised to send the details along to her.

   As he expected, the moment they returned to their office, Sue's boss
offered her a promotion and pay increase if she would stay with him.  It
was obvious that Sue was the most talented member of the team and he didn't
want to loose her.  Taking advantage of the situation, Dan said he would
consider his offer and asked if he could take some time off work for an
indefinite period to sort out some family problems.  Sue's boss willingly
agreed and even went as far as to insist on giving Sue a lift home.

   Feeling more than a little pleased with himself, Dan stood on the
pavement waving goodbye to Sue's boss.  He hadn't actually wanted to come
to Sue's house but it would be easy enough to give Sue a ring and ask her
to come and pick him up.  It would also give him a chance to change out of
the skirt and tights into something more comfortable.  The tights were so
clingy they made his skin itch, not to mention the annoying bagginess they
had developed around his crotch.  They seemed determined to slide down and
form wrinkles around his ankles and he couldn't think of a discreet way to
hitch them up.  The skirt was still hampering every move he made but when
he hitched it up above his knee so that he could move more quickly some
yobbo in a passing car wolf-whistled at him.  While he was grateful for the
support the bra gave him the straps were being extremely annoying.  When
they weren't sliding off his shoulders they seemed to be gouging a deep
groove in his skin.  So he was grateful for the chance to change into some
jeans and a jumper.

   There was a house key on Sue's key ring so he let himself in and made
his way upstairs.  He had no way to tell which door led to Sue's room so he
cautiously opened each in turn.  The second door he tried revealed Sue's
parent's bedroom.  Both her parents were on the bed and they had obviously
just finished having sex.  Dan tried to back out discreetly but a betraying
creak of the door drew their attention.  Dan was hastily trying to
formulate a suitable apology when the man rolled off the bed and onto his
feet.  Before Dan realised his intentions, Sue's stepfather had crossed the
room and slapped Dan hard across the face.  Taken by surprise, Dan stumbled
backwards, looking up in bewilderment at the rage-contorted face above him.

   'Where have you been for the past two nights, you filthy slut,' he
yelled, swinging another blow at Dan.  Reacting instinctively, Dan ducked,
then aimed a punch at the other's nose.  He connected solidly and for a
long moment there was silence.  Sue's stepfather looked stunned by this
unexpected defiance but soon recovered his momentum.  Grabbing hold of
Dan's hair he slapped Dan repeatedly.  Frustrated by the lack of strength
of his body, Dan flailed desperately, trying to ward off the heavier blows.
He had a momentary respite when Sue's mother tried to intervene and
received several blows for her efforts that knocked her to the floor.  Dan
attempted to fight back again but finally realised it was impossible.  His
struggles just seemed to enrage the demented man even more, so in the end
Dan dropped to the floor and huddled in a heap.  Sue's stepfather aimed a
couple of kicks at Dan before stamping out of the room and down the stairs.
Dan stayed motionless until he heard the front door crash shut behind him.

   Dan stiffly straightened up, dazed more from the unexpected nature of
the attack than the blows.  He could taste blood in his mouth from a cut on
the inside of his cheek and a lump was rapidly rising on the side of his
head.  Otherwise, he seemed to have escaped with some reddened skin and a
few bruises.  Sue's mother did not appear to have been so lucky.  She had
struck her head against the foot of the bed as she fell and for one awful
moment Dan thought she was dead.  When he knelt besides her she moved
slightly and her eyes flickered open.

   'Has he gone?' she whispered.  Dan nodded dumbly, unsure what to say. 
'Are you OK?' Again Dan nodded.  Sue's mother pushed herself slowly
upright.

   'Give us a hand to the bathroom would you love?  Might as well inspect
the damage.' Bemused by her calm acceptance of her husband's violent
behaviour Dan helped her to the bathroom.  While they both tended to their
hurts he thought the situation over.

   'He could have killed you, you do realise that?' he asked.

   She sighed.  'He didn't mean to.  It was just the way I fell.  You know
what he's like, he hates being embarrassed.  Doesn't know how to handle it
so he lashes out.  He'll be back tonight with a box of chocolates or a
bunch of flowers to say sorry.'

   'How many times has he 'lashed out' now?' Dan inquired, slowly putting
the pieces together.

   'Don't start, love, please.  He never means to loose his temper.  He's
getting so much better too, you have to admit that.'

   Dan gazed at her in disbelief.  'So it's OK because he hits you less
than he used to.  Next you'll be saying you deserve to be hit.'

   'You don't understand, Sue.  When you fall in love you'll know what it
feels like.  No one's perfect but you love them despite their faults.  My
husband's fault is a bad temper, other husbands gamble or sleep around.  I
just have to learn not to annoy him, that's all.'

   'Well here's a tip.  I think it annoyed him when you tried to stop him
beating the living daylights out of me.  So next time don't try to stop
him, just sit there.'

   'There's no need to be like that,' Sue's mother replied defensively. 
'He had no right to get angry with you.  He knew full well that you had
been staying at Amy's place.'

   'So let me get this straight.  It's not OK for him to hit me, but it is
OK for him to hit you.'

   'Yes, no.  It's not that simple.'

   'Yes it is,' Dan pointed out forcefully.  'He has no right to hit either
of us.  He came close to killing you today.  If the bed had caught you on a
different part of your head then we wouldn't be having this conversation,
I'd be explaining to a policeman instead.  Next time one of us might not be
so lucky.  So we are leaving right now.  Get packing.'

   'I can't leave him,' Sue's mother protested.  'He's my husband.'

   'He forfeited any loyalty you owed him the moment he hit you.  This is
not a discussion.  One way or another you are leaving.  You have ten
minutes.' Sue's mother gaped at Dan in surprise.

   'We've got nowhere to go,' she said weakly.

   'I know a shelter for battered wives where you can go.  Don't worry
about me, I have a friend he doesn't know about I can stay with,' Dan
responded, thinking of his spare room.

   'Battered wives,' she echoed in disbelief.  For a moment Dan thought she
was going to argue some more but she caught sight of their bruised
reflections and the basin of bloodied water.  'Battered wives,' she
repeated with a note of acceptance in her voice.  Without another protest,
she turned and went back to her bedroom to start packing.

   Sue's day had not been quite as eventful.  She had followed Dan's
directions and prepared Amy's breakfast and tucked her into bed.  She had
found it difficult to remember to be affectionate but luckily Amy was so
tired she didn't notice anything different in her boyfriend's behaviour. 
Once Amy was drifting off to sleep, Sue washed up and tidied the flat. 
When all the chores were done, she found the piece of paper she had written
the estate agent's number on the previous evening.  The phone was promptly
answered but the estate agent's staff didn't really have any information to
give Sue.  She managed to persuade them to give her the address of the
present tenant but they would divulge nothing further.

   Dan had very reluctantly given Sue directions to the garage so that she
could collect his car.  It was quite close to Amy's flat and as it was a
pleasant day Sue decided to walk.  The sign of imminent Spring were
abundant.  There was still a chill to the air but the sun was shining and
touches of young green were everywhere.  Normally Sue would be stuck in an
office hard at work so to be strolling along the street instead was an
unexpected treat.  She felt almost as if she was playing truant, which gave
her enjoyment an extra fillip of excitement.  Dan's boss had accepted her
explanation of a stomach bug and given him a few days off without any
hesitation.  Despite a throbbing headache and the misfortune of being
trapped in someone else's body, Sue was enjoying herself.  The body still
felt unfamiliar though.  The hips seemed to be stiffer and it felt
distinctly odd to have genitalia swinging between her legs.  She soon
discovered that there was a reason why men were constantly rearranging
themselves: it was because they were uncomfortable.  She tried to adjust
her collection of dangling bits discreetly but nothing subtle did the
trick. In the end she gave in and just grabbed hold of them and moved them
until they were comfortable again.  A woman gave her a disgusted look but
Sue found it was easier to ignore disgusted looks than an uncomfortable
penis.
It made a pleasant change to find that the mechanics at the garage
didn't sneer and patronise her.  Even though she still had limited
knowledge of the inner workings of the car, they seemed to find such
ignorance quite acceptable in a man.  More amused then annoyed, Sue signed
on the relevant dotted lines and eagerly accepted the keys.  Dan was
jealously possessive of his car and she couldn't really blame him.  A shiny
red MGF, it crouched in the grubby garage as much out of place as a peacock
in a coal mine.  Although Sue could drive, she only rarely had access to
her mother's vehicle.  She was looking forward to the chance to drive and
to have the use of such a car was an added bonus.  The soft-top was folded
down, since it was such a nice day, and Sue reverently slid inside.  The
turn of the key produced an instant snarl from the engine, which settled to
a steady purr as she eased up on the accelerator.  She drove cautiously out
of the garage, giving herself time to become accustomed to the way the car
handled.  Once she was out on a dual carriageway with an empty road ahead,
she put her foot down.  The slightest pressure on the accelerator and the
car leapt forward like the Millennium Falcon with the entire Empire fleet
after it.  Sue revelled in the responsiveness of the car, dropping into a
lower gear and throwing it around corners.  The address she had obtained
from the estate agents was in a little village quite a way up the valley so
she had a thoroughly enjoyed swooping up the hills and round the bends. 
The wind tangled her hair and the sun shone down, giving her an irrational

feeling that everything was going to work out all right.

   When she finally arrived, she found the address she had obtained from
the estate agent corresponded to a tiny terraced house that showed no signs
of life.  Still, Sue hammered persistently on the door.  Getting no
response, she walked round to the back door on the off chance that the
occupants were outside hanging washing and so couldn't hear her knocking.
Sue was just closing the rear gate behind herself when an elderly woman
opened the back door.  Instantly, the woman tried to duck back inside but
Sue was too quick.  Jamming a foot against the door, she smiled
reassuringly down at the woman.

   'Mrs Foster?' Sue inquired.

   'Yes.  What do you want?  I'm not buying anything so you're wasting your
time.'

   'It's OK, I'm not selling anything,' Sue responded.  'I was actually
hoping to speak to your husband.' As soon as Sue mentioned the word
'husband' Mrs Foster looked frightened and tried fruitlessly to pull the
door closed.

   'He's not here,' she whispered.  'You can't see him.  Now go away.'

   'I really have to talk to him,' Sue insisted.  'Do you have a 'phone
number or can I arrange a time to come back when he will be here.' Mrs
Foster was becoming agitated.  She tugged again on the door and, to Sue's
horror, tears started forming in the corner of her eyes.

   'You can't see him, I tell you.  You just can't,' Mrs Foster repeated.
Sue crouched down so she was on the same eye level as Mrs Foster.  Sue felt
terrible to be harassing an elderly woman but this was their only lead.

   'I really hate to bother you because I can see you are upset but this is
very important to me,' Sue explained earnestly.  'I have to find the person
who was conducting experiments at the warehouse rented to your husband last
Saturday night.  Whatever they were doing affected both me and a friend and
we have to find out who was responsible or our lives will never be the same
again.' Mrs Foster gaped at her in astonishment.

   'Whatever do you mean?' she asked.  Sue sighed.  Mrs Foster would
probably think she was crazy but she couldn't just give up.

   'My friend and I were caught in some kind of experiment and it made us
swap bodies.  We have to find out who did this to us so we can be swapped
back.'

   'Swapped bodies?' Mrs Foster echoed.

   'Yes, swapped bodies.  I'm actually female.  Look I'll prove it.' Sue
pulled up her trouser leg.  'You see, I automatically started to shave my
legs this morning.  That's not something a man would do normally.' Mrs
Foster looked down at Sue's leg with an unreadable expression on her face.

   'You'd best come in,' she said finally.  Taken by surprise Sue dumbly
followed her into the kitchen.  'Fredrick!' Mrs Foster yelled.  'Get down
here.  There's something you need to sort out.'

   The sound of feet on the stairs was soon followed by the appearance of a
tall young man in the doorway.  Sue sprang up with a cry of horror as she
recognised the man she had last seen firing a gun.

   'It's all right, my dear, things are not as they seem,' he hastened to
reassure her.  'I too am occupying someone else's body.  When that hooligan
shot 'me' the only thing I could think to do to save myself was to activate
the machine.  Industrial espionage can be such a violent thing.  I know
they'll stop at nothing to steal what they want but I never expected he'd
shoot me.  I had no way of knowing that anyone else was in the vicinity so
I thought there would be no harm done.'

   'Can you reverse the process?' Sue asked anxiously.  When he nodded she
gave a sigh of relief and sank back down on her chair.  Mrs Foster pressed
a mug of tea into her hand and the odd couple smiled down at her as she
sipped it.

   'Of course, there's still a couple of minor details to sort out but it's
a fairly simple procedure,' Mr Foster told her.

   'What kind of minor details?' Sue asked cautiously.

   'Well, the machine is still in the experimental stage, you understand.
In all my experiments so far I always had the same bodies placed in the
same positions relative to the machine as they were originally when I
transferred the minds,' Fredrick Foster explained.  'I've had a hundred
percent success rate so far.  We'll need you and your friend to stand
wherever you were on Saturday night and that thug and I will have to be
placed the same distance away we were.'

   'I can get my friend to come along easily enough,' Sue said.  'But do
you know where your body is right now?' Both Mr and Mrs Foster shook their
heads in unison.  Sue slumped in her chair.  'That's just brilliant.' They
discussed various ways and means to locate Mr Foster's errant body while
Mrs Foster kept them supplied with continual mugs of tea.  Finally they
agreed to try everything they could but if they couldn't find Mr Foster's
body they would try to reverse the process on Sue and Dan alone.  Awash
with tea but full of optimism, Sue made her farewells and promised to keep
in touch.

   Copyright Vickie Morgan, March 1999 E-mail artemis55@hotmail.com



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