I swam a few laps, then made April’s mint Julep. There was some fresh fruit already laid out along with some boiled eggs that I wolfed down.

About an hour later, April stepped out of the house and onto the porch.

She’d styled her gray streaked dark hair in one of Desdemonia’s twisted updos, and layered on the makeup but not quite as thick as her mother. She wore a wraparound dress with sensible sandals, and huge sunglasses.

“April?” I said.

She took a deep breath. “There’s something I need to tell you,” she said.

I nodded, feeling a strange fluttering in my stomach.

“Now that I’m…well, here. I have to act in a prescribed manner. Just as, um…my daughter must. Does that make any sense?”

I nodded. I was familiar with a geas and the effects it could have.

“Is that for me?” she said, looking at the copper cup in my hand.

“Uh, yes. Sorry. I know the basics of making a mint julep, but haven’t actually made many.”

She took a long sip, then winced. “Too much mint, not enough syrup. I like it sweet, Seth. Is that too much to ask?”

“No, not at all.”

She waddled over to one of the lounge chairs, and sat down.

Frowning, I was reminded of…it was so strange. I felt like I should be in that body, not watching it.

I sat down next to her. She took out a cigarette, lit it, and inhaled the smoke.

“You know, you’re uh…daughter is basically dressing and acting like you. Not uh…herself. If that makes any sense.”

“She created the geas so if she can get around it, I’d imagine, she will.”

“She left about an hour ago. She said she had errands in town.”

She tugged off her wraparound and sighed at the pudgy overweight body underneath.
“I am way to sober to deal with this today,” she said, taking another sip from the mint julep. “Want to join me for a dip in the pool?”

“Sure,” I said. I hopped up and stepped down into the pool quickly. The water was cool, but not cold. Definitely had a pool heater.

April took a step down, then another. She set the mint julep by the side of the pool. I waited patiently for her to acclimate to the water. She took a couple of more steps.

I took her in my arms. “Can I kiss you?”

She looked up at me with Desdemonia’s eyes behind dark glasses. “Seth, I know we talked about this last night but you couldn’t know that it was going to happen so quickly. If you need some time to—“

I kissed her, deeply. She tasted like bourbon and cigarettes.

We released, and I pressed my body fully to hers.

“Hah!” she said. “You just kissed my mom.”

“Quiet, you,” I said, and kissed her again.

…The smell of rotten eggs, things decaying, and burning rubber flooded my senses. I could see something below me, something with burning yellow eyes that moved, undulated, something that had tentacles rising up into the air, latching onto me and—

My senses returned. “Are you okay?” April said, in Desdemonia’s voice.

I blinked. Something wasn’t…right. I was still in the pool, still held her, she was still in Desdemonia’s body but…

We were almost the same height? That wasn’t right. Was she standing on a step?

I glanced down.

I was wearing a black one-piece swimsuit that was dangerously cut to expose up my naked but supple thigh. My breasts were high, yet firm, and I tasted mint julep in my mouth also…my arms were toned and very light. I could smell suntan lotion.

I glanced down at my hands. They were feminine with long extended nails colored in blue-black nail polish.

“What the bloody fuck?” I said, in April’s voice.

“What’s wrong?” she said. “I mean, past the obvious.”

I looked at Desdemonia… “April?”

She looked at me confused. “I thought we were past that point. I told you I’m under a geas.”

“Yes, but she was in your body this morning!”

“Seth, I’m confused. Did you hit your head again?”

I wasn’t crazy. I was in April’s pool wearing April’s body. Wasn’t I? Looking down I saw all the appropriate feminine apparatus in all the appropriate places and touching them gave all the appropriate tingles.

My head started to throb.

“I was just standing here in my body talking to you. Not your body.”

“That isn’t my body.”

I sighed. “I know that’s your geas or whatever, but it’s definitely not my body!” My voice was rising into April’s strident tones. I wasn’t liking this.

“Darling, your body transitioned the other day when we had that huge conflagration. We both sneezed and the Witch’s knot unraveled, leaving you with a copy of April’s body. Don’t you remember?”

I jumped up and sat on the side of the pool with my feet dangling in the water. “April, something is happening to me.”

“I’m not—“

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” I yelled. “That’s not important right now!”

She took a sip of mint julep. “It’s certainly important to me.” I heard tears in her voice.

Sighing, I shook my head. My head really hurt. It felt like I was going to get a nose bleed.

I jumped back in the water, and gathered her up in my arms from behind. We were almost the same height, so this was a little different feeling than when I’d been Seth.

I guess I was still Seth, just a Seth that looked like April?

“I’m sorry,” I said, kissing her neck. “Of course it’s important to you. I know it must have been very upsetting to find yourself—“

“In my mother’s body?” April spun on me. “Yes, Seth. It was!”

“April, what I’m trying to tell you is a few minutes ago when I entered the water, I was in my male body, not this body. Something happened between then and now!”

“I don’t know what your talking about. Ever since the conflagration, you’ve been stuck as a copy of April. Now I’m Desdemonia, which is the only thing to have changed in the last few hours.”

I tried to be patient, but my head felt like it was literally going to roll of my shoulders. “I know sweetheart. But something is happening. Yesterday when I woke up I was in your mother’s body and you were in my Werewolf body — well, you were a wolf, but had been a Werewolf, and…”

She shook her head. “I’m way to sober for this. Where’s the bourbon?”

I got out of the pool and snagged the bottle from behind the bar. I returned to find April, or Desdemonia I guess I should call her now, sitting in one of the loungers.

She took the bottle and drank quite a bit.

“Okay.” She wiped her mouth and smeared quite a bit of lipstick on her arm. “Is there any trigger to these transitions?”

“The first time I was in Jeff’s scout. And I started to get a headache, just like the one I have right now.”

“You have a headache?”

I nodded.

Desdemonia closed her eyes. “Oh shit!” she said. “There’s a tentacle wrapped right around your—

…The smell of rotten eggs, things decaying, and burning rubber flooded my senses. I could see something below me, something with burning yellow eyes that moved, undulated, something that had tentacles rising up into the air, latching onto me and—