The inspiration for Body Swappers

Root 2

This is how Body Swappers came into being.

I witnessed first-hand as a friend of mine left an abusive relationship. He was a trifecta abuser: physical, emotional, and sexual. Often while listening to her stories about what had happened between them, I thought, “What if she could have swapped me into her body in that moment? I could have stopped it. I could have gotten her out.”

Photo by Alexander Krivitskiy on Unsplash

I imagined myself telling him all the things she was afraid to say. I imagined myself excusing her, saying she needed to use the restroom, and then just leaving the house. I imagined myself telling the police the truth about what he had done.

Then I started thinking, “What if someone at the scene of an accident could swap an EMT into their body? What if someone witnessing a crime could pull someone else into their body, to witness it with them? What if someone in a confrontation could pull a therapist in to advise them, en media res?”

I did what I could to support my friend. I offered her advice, like, “This is when it’s okay to break up through text. When you’re afraid of what they’d do if you did it in person,” and, “If you’re going to do it in person at least do it in a public place. Meet him at Starbucks!” And after she called me and told me she’d done it in private, and he’d hurt her and trapped her in the bathroom, I called the police. I testified against him in court. I told her I was glad she was out.

I didn’t understand how abuse victims often miss their abuser, and seek to continue the relationship even after the police get involved. She stopped confiding in me, and I thought afterward it was probably because she was going so far against my advice, and she knew I’d disapprove. We drifted apart. He sent her to the hospital before she really gave up on him.

Thoughts about these events ran round and round my head for long after my friend stopped talking to me. Often I imagined what would have happened had someone trained in self-defense been in my friend’s shoes. Could they have kept him from endangering her life?

Then I was given a writing assignment in my lit class. I jumped at the opportunity to bring Body Swappers to life. “Body Swappers 1” is a revised version of that first scene I wrote.

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Have you ever wished you could take over for someone? Wished someone could take over for you? I’d love for you to share a bit of your story below. Thanks for reading!