Kat and Alyssa crossed the street together, holding hands. When they reached the clothing store, Kat looked in the window. It looked really weird seeing clothes without anyone wearing them, especially so many at once.

Alyssa reached for the door, but it was locked. She looked at the sign on the wall. "Saturday: 12 PM - 8 PM." Alyssa checked her phone. It was 11:51 AM.

"Sorry, guess they're closed," said Alyssa. "They're opening in about ten minutes though."

"No, wait, look," said Kat, walking around to the corner of the building. "There's a hole here." She pointed to a slot a few feet away from the door, on a metal panel labeled "MAIL".

"The mail slot?" asked Alyssa, confused. "What about it?"

"Yeah," said Kat. "I wonder why they have one, this place looks pretty new."

"Umm...so the mailman will have a place to deliver the mail?"

"They still use mail for stuff like that in your dimension?" asked Kat, surprised. "Where I'm from they just use computers for everything, do you not have e-mail here?"

"Yeah, we do," said Alyssa. "But we don't use it for everything." Alyssa thought for a second. "Actually that is kinda weird now that you mention it."

"In my world they've never used mail for anything that would fit in that slot in more than thirty years," said Kat. "Way too inefficient."

"Thirty years ago was 1986," said Alyssa. "We didn't have the Internet then."

"Huh, I guess my dimension's technology is more advanced," said Kat.

"Why does your dimension have to get all the good stuff?" asked Alyssa, a little annoyed.

"Well having stuff like imprinting certainly helps us do things more efficiently. Probably sped everything up," suggested Kat. "Besides, I'm sure your dimension is better at something."

"Yeah, that's true," said Alyssa, checking her phone. 11:55. She remembered how the conversation had started. "Wait, why did you point out the mail slot in the first place?"

"Oh yeah," said Kat. Looking around, she bent down and picked up a receipt that someone had littered. "This is why," she said, showing it to Alyssa.

"What are you doing with that?" asked Alyssa.

Kat didn't say anything, letting her actions speak for themselves as she imprinted on the receipt, her body vanishing into it as it turned black. No longer being held, the receipt (which was now Kat) gently fell to the ground. Alyssa bent over and picked it up. As she expected, the text had turned pink.

Alyssa watched as the text on the receipt rearranged itself to say "PUT ME IN THE MAIL SLOT, ALYSSA!" The remaining text turned into a cute drawing of Kat giving a thumbs up.

Reluctantly, Alyssa did as Kat said. "Just don't do anything stupid in there," she said. "Hide somewhere for a few minutes until they open, you're good at that." Watching Kat exit the receipt, which landed in a basket on the checkout counter, she added, "Go to the fitting room, the small empty room in the back." Pausing for a second as Kat looked confused, she explained what a fitting room was. "It's for people to make sure the stuff fits them; it looks kind of like a bathroom but it's nicer and there's no toilets or anything." That was something Kat hadn't thought of. The selection was so much more limited than human imagination, and not everything fits everyone? That must suck, she thought.

Alyssa looked away for a second to check her phone. 11:58. "They open in two minutes!" she yelled to Kat as she looked back, but she couldn't see her anywhere. "Be careful," she added, sitting down on a bench.

Two minutes later, at noon, Alyssa saw someone walk out from the back room, unlock the door, and walk behind the counter. Alyssa walked into the store and started browsing. She looked for Kat in the fitting room, but didn't see her. She was probably hiding somewhere in her special way, she thought.

Shortly after, a tan-skinned, brown-haired woman walked in and started browsing herself. She picked out a black dress with pink stripes on it, which looked like something Kat would wear, and brought it to the fitting room. A minute or two later, Alyssa heard a shriek coming from that direction, as Kat ran out laughing. It didn't take long for Alyssa to deduce what had happened.

"Hey, I was curious what it was like to be a dress," she said innocently. "I didn't know someone would try me on," she laughed. "It was fun though."

Alyssa couldn't help but laugh a bit as well as she imagined the situation that had occurred. Good thing there were no cameras in the fitting rooms, she thought—while she certainly didn't want imprinting to remain hidden from anyone, a video of something like that certainly wouldn't be a good first impression for the world.

Just then the woman ran out, shocked and embarrassed. "How did I not see her in the stall," she quietly yelled to herself. "And I know this wasn't gold and white when I put it on!" she said as she put the dress back. The woman looked at Kat, embarrassed, as she ran out of the store.

"Huh, guess she didn't see me come out," said Kat. "Probably thought I was in the room the whole time." She and Alyssa both laughed.

At that point, they left the store as well, since there really wasn't much else to see. After grabbing a bite to eat, they decided to go back home the long way. On the way, Kat showed off her imprinting abilities some more, becoming a tree, a fire hydrant, and even a car someone else was driving, no doubt freaking out the people inside ("inside" referring to the traditional meaning) by talking to them through the stereo. At one point, Alyssa got worried, afraid she had hurt her friend when a sidewalk tile turned Kat's color scheme just before she stepped on it. As Kat gracefully rose head-first from the rippling tile without changing her stance, her hands on her hips, she said, "Relax, Lyss, the sidewalk was made to be stepped on," laughing.

When they got home, Kat got an idea. "Watch this!" she told Alyssa. Her body faded into nothingness, appearing to float away like vapor as it did.

"Kat? Where did you go?" asked Alyssa. "You okay?"

Alyssa heard Kat's voice coming from all around her, with a faint echo to it. "I'm all around you!"

Alyssa looked around, but didn't see her anywhere.

Kat's voice came again. "I'm the air," she said. A clear, pink-colored cloud, resembling iodine vapor, faded into view. It shaped itself into a wispy silhouette of Kat, waving to Alyssa. "Right here!" With a look of amazement, Alyssa reached out her hand to touch Kat, but she only felt air, her hand scattering the vapor as it mixed with the air like food coloring in water. As it scattered, Kat's incorporeal form split in two, the two of them high-fiving each other. "You've got to try this," came Kat's voice from one of them. "It's a lot of fun," said the other. Both of them floated away, losing their shape, as they suddenly swirled through the air like a miniature tornado, becoming a single figure again.

"Look behind you," came Kat's voice from behind Alyssa. She turned around, expecting to see another Kat made of pink mist, but saw nothing. When she turned back, Kat was waving to her as she lost what form she had, floating quickly as a formless cloud to the other side of the room in a fraction of a second. "Over here," she said regaining her vaporous form, putting her legs in the air, and her hands behind her head as she relaxed, floating on nothing. "Ahhh..." she said as she stretched, losing her form once more as she spread throughout the entire room, filling it with a faint pink haze. Sitting down on the couch, Alyssa breathed in deeply, holding Kat in her lungs for a while, before exhaling with a sigh of pleasure.

"Mmmm...you sure are refreshing," said Alyssa.

The pink vapor collected once more in the center of the room, forming a swirling tornado again. The vapor got darker as the tornado instantly evaporated, leaving Kat's solid, human body where it was. "So what did you think?" she said.

"That's amazing," said Alyssa. "What did you do, imprint on the air?"

"Yep," said Kat. "I love doing that. It's a great way to relax, just floating around as nothing. Took some practice though, it's not nearly as easy as becoming something solid."

That night, Alyssa invited Kat to sleep in her bed with her, not wanting her to have to sleep on the couch. She was delighted to, and in her half-asleep state, she snuggled close to Alyssa, putting her arm around her, as Alyssa returned the gesture. Smiling contently, they let themselves fall asleep together.

As she slept, Alyssa had a dream that she was imprinting like Kat. She didn't remember the details, but she didn't think her dream's portrayal was entirely accurate. When she woke up, she was naturally disappointed it had only been a dream.

She did, however, notice an odd sensation. Often, when you wake up, you don't really feel the position of your body until you move. What Alyssa felt was sort of like that, except when she did feel her body, she felt...different, somehow. She felt very large and unwieldy, and couldn't feel her extremities, at least not any familiar ones. She felt a warm lump inside of her, which felt very pleasant somehow. Waiting for the feeling to pass, she grew concerned as it didn't. "Kat?" she said. The warm sensation inside her started to move.

"Yes...where are you?" said Kat, who shortly after made a surprised gasp. Alyssa saw Kat leaning over her, looking down, a look of pleasant surprise on her face.

And Kat saw Alyssa's face staring back up at her from the bed sheets.