Weathergirl

Originally posted on February 1, 2020.

John had been the lead anchor of the local news channel for twenty years. He enjoyed the prestige of his local celebrity status and lived a comfortable life. On the day the Great Shift struck, he ended up swapping bodies with the station’s weathergirl, Miranda. Despite feeling very uncomfortable with her body, he didn’t expect much to change. In fact, immediately after the swap he began to walk from the weather map to the main news desk. However, management quickly stopped him from sitting down in front of the camera. They told him that with everyone in the world swapping bodies, it might be best for the viewers to have stability. They theorized that seeing John’s face continue to appear on television sets each night would provide comfort; they wouldn’t even tell people about the swap. Miranda would pretend to be John, and John would be forced to pretend to be Miranda. John resented the decision greatly.

Night after night, month after month, he continued on as Miranda. Sure, people still recognized him on the street, but he felt a slight sense of condescension from some people. He wasn’t the prestigious head of a local news team anymore, he was just a weathergirl.