“As we wrap up our debate today; I will ask each of the candidates to give us a closing statement: Ms. Gaines…we’ll start with you” the Moderator said from the middle of the table.

“Thank You” Courtney Gaines began “I am here today asking for your vote because it is time for a change for our district. Congressman Ryan has grown distant and out of touch with the hopes and dreams and frankly the fears that we have here at home. He has allowed us to drift alone…away from Washington and the special interests that have him in their grasp. How do tax subsidies for major corporations help you; help us…deal with the types of problems that we face every day”

Courtney briefly cleared her throat “That is why I believe that we need change; we need new leadership with fresh ideas. Someone who will never lose sight of you and the special needs that this area holds dear: Thank You for your consideration.”

“Congressman Ryan; you have the floor”

“Thank You and especially I offer my Thanks to Ms. Gaines for coming out here today and spending the time to talk with me about all the issues that you know I have fought for you for so many years. Why I was fighting for you when Ms. Gaines here was still a girl having to hold onto her Mother’s hand to cross the street but yet it hasn’t been that long ago”

Courtney clenched her teeth slightly at the jab at her age. She expected each and every one of them but there had been so many during the last hour, that she had lost count.

“My message today has been the same message I have had for all my terms in Congress. I do understand what you are going through and I always have your best interests in my heart. You need and want experienced leadership in Washington and that is something that Ms. Gaines simply cannot provide you. Seasoned leadership and an understanding of how to get things done is necessary: Changing course with a young lady such as my opponent will set this district back 20 years”

“Thank You to both of our candidates for being here today…Good Night” The Moderator said before the microphones shut off.

Courtney stood and smoothed out the charcoal grey jacket that she had on. She quickly adjusted her black top beneath it as well as the black skirt she had on so she could go around to the front of the table to shake her opponents hand and pose for pictures as they did it.

After the last photo of them had been snapped, the smiles from their faces disappeared. Melvin Ryan gripped Courtney’s hand tightly as he leaned in close to her ear. With no mics around, he spoke with a harsh whisper “Don’t think that your pretty face is going to be enough to beat me. Fact is when it comes down to it, ain’t nobody gonna vote for you just because you’re good looking and young. In this world, those will kill you every time. Nobody’s gonna take you seriously. You look like a model and you’ve been a city councilwoman for 2 years…now you want to go to Congress. Please missy…you’re going to lose badly”

He broke off the handshake and waved to the crowd with a big smile once again plastered on his face.

Courtney was not a bit shocked. She knew there would be questions about her age and lack of experience and she knew that her looks weren’t helping her in this arena. She composed herself quickly and flashed a bright smile toward the remaining crowd and left the stage with a wave.

Once back inside her dressing room, she let her shoulders sag and her frustration out behind closed doors.

She leaned against the door and clenched her fists and gritted her teeth and let out a long “GRRRRR!”

She tapped her black high heeled shoe up and down rapidly and just wanted to get out of the itchy black pantyhose and contrasting clothes that she wore to look professional.

“I just wish that old Bastard would take me seriously and not talk to me like I’m some little girl” she said as she kicked off the heels. As she padded across the room on her stocking clad feet, she kept going “I wish I did have more experience so I could shut him up”

Courtney took off her jacket and slipped off her top before she started working the pantyhose off. She wiggled and squirmed back and forth as she eased the hose down her long legs. “What good is Harvard Law if no one can see past my looks and take me seriously?”

She sat down as she got the pantyhose down to her calves. She eased them off her feet and gave them a quick snap shake before tossing them aside.

Courtney ran her fingers through her long, wavy light brown hair as she stood back up and undid the zipper on her skirt. She released it, allowing it to drop to the floor at her feet. “I can’t stand the condescending tone that I get…Ugh!”

Courtney turned to the mirror to wipe off the heavy make-up she had to wear for the stage. The cool wipe felt good against her blushing and angry cheeks. After the wipes and a cool wash cloth, she finally sat and looked in the mirror.

Courtney Gaines was 29; a graduate of Columbia in business, she had earned a law degree from Harvard. She had practiced in a very old and prestigious law firm in Albany, New York for the last 4 years while serving on the city council for the last two. She was now running for Congress and losing badly in the polls.

She stared at the reflection in the mirror and gave it a smirk. Courtney was 5’6” and weighed 120 lbs. Her long light brown hair was offset by a pair of bright green eyes that lit up when she smiled. She had a wide smile with straight teeth and full lips. Her cheeks were prominent and her nose was small and pert. Simply put, it was not a face fit for rough and tumble politics: Courtney would have fared better on the silver screen.

She sighed and got dressed in a simple white sweater and jeans for her drive home. She slipped her feet into a pair of brown flats and grabbing her purse, she headed out the door.

She simmered in her anger and disappointment the whole drive home. When she got to her small house, she saw three large boxes stacked up on the front step. “My fliers came” she realized as she saw the boxes. “These were supposed to be delivered to my office though…not here”

Courtney kicked and pushed the heavy boxes inside and once there, she pulled open the top box.

“What the Fuck?! These are all wrong!” Courtney yelled to the empty house. “Can this day get any worse?”

She slumped down onto her couch and held up the flier in front of her “What the Hell; now I have to call these people and get these all sent back and hope that they can send out new ones right away” She looked over the sheet and said “They got like four things right and everything else wrong” she said as she read “Although I wouldn’t actually mind having some of these credentials…”

The flier stated ‘Courtney Gains: Democratic Candidate for New York’s 21st Congressional District’

The picture below it was of a lady in her late forties or early fifties Courtney guessed. She had short black hair with just a touch of gray.

The next lines read Graduate of Columbia and Harvard Law School, 10 years’ experience as Trial Attorney, 16 years as your State Assembly Representative followed by several influential bills and statues that had been passed.

“What a waste” Courtney said with a sigh. She dropped the flier on her lap and let her head fall back against the head rest of the couch. She let out a long sigh and said to no one “I wish this was actually true…I’m sure I’d be further along to beating that pompous ass bag if it were…”

As Courtney brought her head back to level and stood back up, her knee buckled slightly. “Whoa” she said and grabbed her right knee. There was a dull ache there that she had never felt before. With a slight limp, she made her way down the hall to her bedroom where she began to get undressed. She stepped out of her shoes and thought “My feet are even aching tonight…damn heels are killing my feet already”

Her jeans seemed tighter than usual on her waist and thighs and she had to dig her thumbs under them to work them down. She stepped out of them as she removed her sweater. Her bra was digging into her shoulders and back a bit as she undid it.

“Ugh…I don’t get it; why are all my clothes so tight tonight?” she said as she turned to the mirror.

“OH MY GOD” she gasped as she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her hands flew to her cheeks “Holy Shit! What’s happening to me!?”

The image in the mirror was different than what she had always known. Her hair was much darker and she saw that it was pulling upward.

“AH!” She screamed as she clutched at her retreating hair. Her light brown hair was pulling upward and getting shorter as well as turning black. The strands pulled through and away from her grasping fingers. Courtney’s hands now came all the way back to her head.

All the length to her hair was gone. It stopped in a close cut at the back of her neck and showed off her ears. There was still some fullness to the front as it styled itself very differently. It was the hair style of a professional woman, a woman who meant business.

Flecks of gray now began to appear in the hair. They started near the part that now resided at the right front of her forehead. The grays were heavier along the temples giving Courtney a totally new look already.

“Uh…” was all she could manage as her bright green eyes darkened to a deep brown color. Her forehead seemed smaller and her eyebrows shrank down as well. Small lines began to crease her previously porcelain skin across her forehead and around her eyes.

Courtney’s cheeks dropped a bit as her nose grew longer and wider. More lines began to appear around the corners of her mouth as her lips thinned. Her teeth were still strong and white but as she spread her mouth out to try and speak, deep creases formed.
“Oh My God…I’m old!” she cried as her chin and jaw shifted.

The overall tightness of her skin began to leave her and she saw that the skin on her neck and chin were beginning to sag looser. Courtney’s hand brushed the loose skin in shock.

The changes continued to move down her body. Her shoulders drooped and freckles appeared on them. Her upper arms sagged as the skin there also loosened as the changes went down to her hands.

Courtney’s nails pulled back until they were even with the ends of her fingers and the red polish she wore vanished and her opaque natural nails were there instead. Her fingers seemed rougher and small veins now appeared on the backs of her hands.

“Oh My…make it stop! Please make it stop!” she cried out as her breasts began to grow. Her 34B breasts began to get larger but not by much. They did hang a bit lower now as 36C’s took their place.

Courtney’s tight abs and stomach softened and came out into a slight belly and her waist spread outward in a general motion that took her hips out further as well. Her butt increased and lost its perky firmness an instant later.

Courtney tried to keep up with the changes and her eyes and hands darted around trying to catch them all. Dimples appeared in the backs of her thighs as they rounded out fuller than before and the ache in her right knee was there to stay as the changes continued onward.

Finally, Courtney’s feet widened as the skin became rougher on her heels and the bottoms of her toes. The red polish there also disappeared, leaving behind plain, unadorned nails.
“Holy Shit” Courtney repeated. “I…uh…I…” her mind reeled at the changes that had just occurred to her body before it hit her where she had seen this face before: The Flier…the misprinted flier.

She hurried down the hall; her body jostling and moving like never before. Courtney grabbed the flier off the couch and saw that the face now matched the name. The words she had said as she dropped it came rushing into her mind “I wish this were true…”

“Oh God: I did this to myself. My wish came true?” she said.


Regina Colton strode through her campaign office with the unbridled confidence that only a 15 point lead in the polls could provide.  She had served in the California State Assembly for the last 16 years and she was ready for the national stage. With an unpopular incumbent in her district, her victory was assured.

“Michael” she called out to her campaign manager “Make sure our television spot actually airs in the eight o’clock hour tonight”

“You know it” Michael responded promptly.

“If those idiots over at ABC can’t get it right tonight, we’ll raise Holy Hell with them tomorrow”

“Yes, Ms. Colton”

“Did my fliers come in today?” Regina asked impatiently.

“Three boxes just got delivered to the back; it sure looks like them” Michael replied.

“I’ll go back and check them out; if you want to head home for the night; go ahead. We’ve got a big day tomorrow and I want you rested up” she said with a dismissive smile.

“Thank You…I’ll take you up on that offer” Michael said and headed to his desk to finish up and leave.

Regina went back into her office and slid into her high backed chair behind her desk. She wanted to send out a quick email before she went back and checked the fliers. She watched Michael gather up his belongings and realized that she was the last one in the office.

Regina went to the back and picked up a packet out of the box. They looked fine to her stating Regina Colton: Candidate for California’s 24th Congressional District

She saw her campaign picture beneath the top bold print followed by graduated from Columbia and Harvard Law School…10 years’ experience as a Trial Attorney and 16 years in the State House of Representatives before listing her credentials and accomplishments.
“We’ll get these out tomorrow first thing” she said to herself while taking one along as she left the office.

Regina got behind the wheel of her BMW and drove down the 101 to her house just outside of Santa Barbara. Once inside, she slowly stepped out of her low, sensible black heels. She felt the bottom cuffs of her black pants brush against the tops of her feet as she gave her aching right knee a quick rub. It was an old ache that she had gotten used to over the years but it seemed extra sensitive tonight.

She unbuttoned her black jacket as she walked down the hall into her bedroom and slipped it off her shoulders, leaving just her white blouse on. At 51, Regina had dedicated her life to government service and her career.

She sighed as she stepped into the bathroom. She ran her fingers through her short black hair that was peppered with gray. It gave her a serious, no-nonsense look along with her somewhat stern visage that she kept a minimum amount of make-up on. It all just seemed so frivolous to get all dolled up at her age. She had a serious message and mission and her look always conveyed that fact.

“I need to get some sleep” she thought to herself briefly. She unbuttoned her blouse, revealing her conservative white 36C bra beneath it. She unhooked it as she got ready for bed before she unbuttoned her black pants and eased them down as well, not really thinking twice about it.

She gathered up her clothes and went back into the bedroom to get her nightgown out when she suddenly stopped short. She tensed the muscles in her right knee and gave it a slight wobble back and forth; it didn’t hurt at all. Tentatively, Regina ran her hand over her knee and gave it a light squeeze. “Huh…that’s odd” she thought but she smiled to herself.

Regina put her clothes into the hamper and turned to the closet to grab the nightgown that was on the back of the door. As she reached out, she turned her head and felt something brush against her right ear. Thinking it was a bug, Regina swatted at her ear and came away thoroughly confused as her fingers hit what felt like hair to her.

She grabbed the nightgown down but tossed it toward her bed instead of putting it on immediately. Instead, she turned to the full length mirror that stood a few feet away.
“Oh My God what on earth is happening to my hair?” she exclaimed as her hands reached up for the hair that was growing out around her ears.

Regina kept her hair very close cropped along the back and sides but now, loose strands were growing out wildly. The hair was quickly snaking down over her ears and brushing her neck and upper back. These wild hairs were also much lighter than anything that Regina had ever had come out of her head before that instant; they were light brown and dark blonde in appearance.

“Uh…” Regina’s mind couldn’t comprehend what was occurring. The light brown color was now spreading to include all of her hair. The gray vanished into blonde highlights as the black became light brown.

Her hair grew long and lush and luxuriantly down her back and over her shoulders and across her chest. It was beautiful hair but very out of place on her. “Princess Hair?” flashed through her mind and passed out of her mouth. Her fingers ran through the long locks that now curled and fashioned themselves.

“What the hell…?” she mumbled.

Regina felt a slight tingling in her face and she leaned forward to get closer to the mirror only to jerk back as her eyes flashed in color, changing from brown to a vibrant green. “Whoa!” she yelled and took a step back.

Her forehead widened and her eyebrows shifted down, giving her eyes a sultry appeal that had never been there before. Her nose shrank and became pert with just the slightest upturn at the end. Her cheeks rose up and became much more prominent and defined.

All of her wrinkles were disappearing and fading away, giving way to a youthful glow and luster to her skin. Her lips plumped up and her white teeth grew slightly larger. Her ears came in, tucked under the mountain of hair and even her chin and jawline firmed up greatly.

Regina looked in shock at the mirror “I look like a kid; I look so young! I mean I look like a million other girls here is Southern California!” It was true; she looked like she should be in Laguna Hills, not Capitol Hill. She no longer looked like a take no prisoners attorney; she looked like a valley girl.

Her shoulders rose up and her arms toned up and slimmed. The changes ran down her arms and to her hands where her nails began to grow out longer on slim smooth fingers and hands. Red nail polish now adorned them and Regina curled her fingers toward her taking in the sight of her youthful looking hands.

“Ugh” she sighed and huffed as her body continued to change on her. Her breasts firmed up and became perky and pert B cups with no sign of sagging. Her stomach became toned and taut and flat as her waist and hips pulled inward slimming her down even further.

Her hips came in and her ass rose up becoming firm and round and heart shaped. Her thighs trimmed and came apart in the middle as the skin tightened and her cellulite disappeared. The changes continued down her legs as her calves trimmed and toned and even her feet looked different.

Her rough heels smoothed as her toes changed shape and red nail polish came onto them as well.

Regina shuddered as her physical changes came to an end.  Her vision blurred momentarily as it seemed the whole world vibrated around her. She reached out and clutched the dresser as the moment of vertigo passed. She shut her eyes tight.

“This can’t be happening. This is all some kind of strange dream” she said. “I’m going to open my eyes and wake up and none of this will have happened” but as she opened her eyes, she saw that more than just her body had changed. This was something very different.

Regina opened her eyes and looked down at herself. Sure enough, her body was tanned and toned and gorgeous. She looked into the mirror and saw her pretty face and long light brown hair. “No!” she cried out in voice that wasn’t her own.

As she stepped toward the mirror she realized that something was different in her room. She now scanned around the room and noticed a ton of differences. First off, the room was much smaller and there was no longer a door going into a master bathroom. The walls were a different color and everything was cramped.

Her dresser was smaller and on top of it sat all kinds of cosmetics that she had never bought. It was scratched up as if it was well worn and even second hand. The closet now contained different clothes. All kinds of outfits and shoes were crammed into the narrow closet. They were small sizes that obviously fit her new body and they reflected the style of a much younger woman.

Regina realized that the window was in a different location and the view it was showing was also different. Instead of her small backyard, she now looked out onto a street from several stories up. “Is this…am I in an apartment now?” she asked, genuinely confused.

She stepped out into the hallway, still only wearing a pair of tight panties. Her long legs took two simple strides and she found the only bathroom in the place. She saw a few things that were familiar like her toothbrush, but so much more was different.

Turning and going the opposite direction took her into a small living room where she could see a small kitchen attached to it. “Where’s my house? Where’s my body? What’s going on?” she cried out.

A piece of green laminated paper on a coffee table caught her attention. It was her political flier that she had brought home. Regina reached for it like a drowning woman reaches for a life jacket. But when she saw it, she felt her heart drop.

“No…no…this can’t be…” she said as she nervously looked over the flier. It now read ‘Gina Colton: Candidate for California’s 24th Congressional District. It still read graduated from Columbia and Harvard Law School but now it listed just 4 years’ experience as a Trial Attorney and 2 years on Santa Barbara City Council. Instead of a long list of political achievements, the rest of flier was made up a vague political snippets calling for change and fresh young leadership.

Worst of all to Regina was the picture. It now showed a bright bubbly young woman who would never be taken seriously in California Politics: It was the face in her mirror. “I’m ruined” was all she said.


Courtney Gaines poked and prodded at her softer, older body as she felt a wave of dizziness pass over her. She shuddered and closed her eyes as the world seemed to vibrate around her. She opened her eyes and saw that she had not changed back; her body remained what it had recently become.

She furrowed her brow though in a bit of confusion as to her surroundings. Her bedroom seemed…bigger.

She looked around and took in the room. Everything was slightly different than before. The room was larger and so was her own bed. A King sized bed now sat across from her where a double had been. Her dresser was longer and now made of dark mahogany. A door now sat a few feet off that opened into a large master bathroom and her closet door was cracked revealing a walk in closet in place of the small closet she previously had.

Tiptoeing to the closet door she opened it to a sprawling wall of clothes and shoes. They were all much more expensive than what she had before. The style was very different though; much more conservative and plain. More professional definitely…and much more fitting for her current body, “What happened?”

She stepped out of the closet and walked into the bathroom. A spa tub, wide vanity, separate walk in shower and towel racks filled out the huge bathroom “This isn’t my house…where am I?”

Courtney went out exploring the huge house she now inhabited. Downstairs she found the boxes of fliers stacked next to the front door in her foyer. She now recognized the picture much more than she had before.


Regina spotted her laptop computer sitting on a small couch in her tiny living room. She leapt to it and opened it up. She clicked on her news feed and felt deflated with the first headline “McMahan widens lead over young challenger…lead over Colton now 18 points”

“Shit…shit shit SHIT!” She cried through gritted teeth. Gina looked down at herself; perky boobs stared straight ahead below her chin. “This can’t be fucking happening to me! This has GOT to be a dream…or…or a fucking nightmare”

Her eyes scanned the article “Colton is having problems getting voters to take her seriously…lack of experience…youthful appearance…just another pretty face in the race…McMahan seems dignified and respectable compared to the Southern California stereotype that is his opponent…”

Each line cut her deeper than the previous one. Gina couldn’t understand how her world had gotten flipped upside down…and more than that, why wasn’t she using her full name in the campaign?

“It isn’t fair” she sulked and crossed her arms. Her bottom lip pouted out but instead of conveying a sense of anger, it just made her look cute. She got up and since she was lacking an office, she began to stalk around her apartment trying to find records of herself.

Back in the bedroom, she found her purse. It was no longer a plain black but now a fancy Michael Kors. She pulled out her I.D. and widened her eyes as she saw what it contained.

Her name was the same, but nothing else. A smiling young woman looked out from the picture that showed a birth date of 4/9/86. “No…that can’t be…that’s not right. I was born in 1964…” Height 5’6” Weight 120 Eyes Green Hair Brown...all under the name Regina Marie Colton: Her address was also different, no longer showing her usual address but instead an apartment in downtown.

Her wallet contained fewer credit cards and less cash. She decided to Google herself and was shocked at the results. “I graduated High School in 2004?! I was 40 that year!”

She then saw Columbia followed in 2008 and Harvard in 2011. “This is impossible…”


Courtney continued wandering dreamlike through her large house. She had picked up a simple robe and put it on as she padded about. A nice laptop sat on the island in her kitchen and she opened it up.

Upon opening the browser, her newsfeed pulled up a headline “Ryan in for the fight of his political life”

She blinked and started to read “Longtime Albany Congressman Melvin Ryan continues to lag behind Democratic challenger State Representative Courtney Gaines. In the last Quinnipiac poll, Ryan has now fallen behind the challenger by 11points. The 51 year old Democrat Gaines is no beginner and is a familiar name to many in the upstate region. Her experience and no-nonsense approach seems to have hit a nerve with the voters of the area…”

“I’m winning?” she gasped.

She closed the laptop and walked into an office. On the wall were diplomas from her High School; except that the date said 1982. “I wasn’t even born yet…Oh, I was three months old when I graduated from Columbia” The date on that diploma stated 1986 and Harvard was in 1989. She opened a file cabinet and found her birth certificate ‘Courtney Ann Gaines…born February 17th, 1964’

“This cannot be happening…”

Gina was in a daze as she wandered back into her bedroom. Even her nightgown was gone; a small blue tank top now sat on the corner of the bed and she put it on. She pulled her panties out and let them snap into place against her firm backside. “I can’t believe I look like this” she said. I can’t be 29…this is impossible; what am I going to do?” she said as she flipped her long locks back off her shoulders, her tan skin shimmering in the moonlight from the open blinds.

She must have dozed off because she awoke with a start the next morning as an alarm buzzed. Sitting up, she felt her hair swish around her and she instantly knew that she was still the young version of herself. She leaned and strained forward and caught her reflection in the mirror. Even fresh out of bed, she looked too pretty.

She got up and started to get ready, somewhat apprehensive about her day. She showered and never having had that much hair to wash before, found it challenging. But she soldiered through it and got her make-up on and got dressed in a light beige sundress with a pair of strappy tan sandals. Upon entering her buildings’ parking lot, she realized that her BMW was gone, replaced by a three year old Toyota Camry.

She sighed as she drove to where her campaign headquarters used to be. When she got there, there were none of her signs up at all. She pulled out the flier and saw a different address on it. Driving a few blocks further south, she found a small outpost in the middle of a strip mall that was now her headquarters.

Upon entering, instead of a dozen volunteers, she found two. All day she just heard report after report that no more funding was coming from donations or from the party; she had been written off as a lost race already.

Courtney made her way back up to her bedroom and found a silk nightgown lying out instead of the ratty t-shirt and shorts that she usually wore to bed. She put it on and lay down. Her mind was reeling but she was exhausted by the evening’s events and she soon fell asleep.

The next morning, she got ready in record time. Her short hair took a lot less time and she liked her look better with less make-up. Her conservative black pants were paired with a navy blue blazer and she was out the door. In her garage sat a new GMC Yukon instead of the three year old Chevy Malibu that she had been driving.

She stopped at a light a block before her headquarters when she saw a large building done up in her name. She pulled in and saw that this larger building was now her headquarters.
Inside, dozens of desks lined the room, each manned by a volunteer. Her campaign manager, Sarah, told her that the party was pumping money into her campaign for a final push to gain the seat. She had television spots lined up and Melvin Ryan was begging for another debate that she had all the power to decline. “This does have its advantages” she said inside her private office.

On election night, the people of Albany came out in record numbers. The election was closer than the polls had predicted and it went quite late into the evening before Courtney was declared the winner of her Congressional race; she was on her way to Washington in a huge upset that made her a rising star with the Democratic Party.

Nearly 3000 miles away in Santa Barbara California, Gina Colton sat in a banquet room at the local Hilton surrounded by about 40 people. The polls had just closed and CNN had already declared that Samuel McMahan had won an easy re-election with 0% of the districts reporting.

Gina gazed up at the coverage on TV and watched Wolf Blitzer say “We want to take you out to Albany New York now where longtime Congressman Melvin Ryan has been defeated by Democratic Challenger Courtney Gains”

Gina’s jaw dropped and she turned as pale as if she had seen a ghost as the picture of the victorious candidate from New York came onto the screen.  It was a face she hadn’t seen in quite a while but it was all too familiar to her: In fact, it was her.