The EveryMan Vial

 

When Tyler picked up that chintzy necklace from a tourist shop on the Venice boardwalk, he also took on a curse. During the next lunar eclipse, the necklace would steal Tyler's consciousness, his very essence, his soul , and seal it within itself; at the same moment, my own soul would be thrust into Tyler's vacant body and become its sole inhabitant. Two months after Tyler's vacation in California. By then, he had flown back home to Idaho, and resumed classes. It was Friday night, and Tyler's football team was playing the homecoming game. The team won. It had been an awesome game, the crowds in the bleachers were going wild, and he was feeling pumped. It was then that the eclipse happened. For him, it was painless. A sensation so sudden and so incomprehensible that Tyler didn't even have a chance to realize he was in danger. For me, however, it was exhilarating. Like falling from an airplane, traveling outside of my body was a terrible and awesome rush. But that wa

"Is this my original body?" The man looks away from the wad of cash he was counting to throw you a mocking glance." He taps his cigarette on the small, glass ashtray sitting next to a pile of paperwork he brought out for you to fill out. You'd been given this man's number by a friend of yours. You'd told your friend that you felt trapped in your life but couldn't see a way out, and she'd told you that this man could you give you a new start. You assumed he was some sort of drug-dealer, or a passport falsifier, but after reaching out to him you learned that his services were a lot more unusual than what you had imagined. "Of course not! I'm in the business of switching bodies, why would I stay in my original body? You look the man up and down. He's of average stature, grossly overweight, and had deep wrinkles etched into his face. "Heh, don't give me that look, kid. Different bodies come with different skills, y'know? Differen

 

The divorce had been hard on my dad.  Really hard; like, "cashed out all his vacation and sick days at work to wallow in sadness inside his new studio apartment for the next two months" hard. To be honest, I don’t understand why he was so dedicated to Mom, that woman is a huge bitch. I know I sound harsh, but she's just not a good person. The divorce could have been really good for Dad if he could just move on from her; but like I said, it didn’t look like that was going to happen anytime soon. Dad was a good guy, and he really tried hard to put on a brave face on weekends when I slept at his place, but he was such a mess that there was no hiding it. I hated seeing him like that. Late one Saturday, as we were getting back from grabbing takeout for dinner, he said he needed to talk to me. I thought, 'Oh good, you're finally ready to talk about the divorce!' and got some words of support ready for my old man. Instead, he told me some insane story about a homeles