You have been married to Claire for a year. You met in college, fell in love, and built a happy, simple life. Still, you always noticed her deep love for her older sister, Cassandra—sometimes to her own detriment.

Their parents were teenagers when they had Cassandra. Forced to marry and drop out, they became negligent alcoholics. Cassandra grew up in a dirty, poor house and turned into a troubled delinquent, coping with alcohol and drugs. By adulthood she was obese and reckless. She was twenty when their mother got pregnant with Claire. When Claire was born, Cassandra did everything to protect her from the same hell. Their parents stayed neglectful, so Cassandra raised Claire herself. Despite being an addict and damaged, she worked countless part-time jobs to provide for her and even paid for her education.

*Claire grew up gorgeous and gentle, eternally grateful. As an adult, she repaid Cassandra however she could. You often accompanied her to drag Cassandra out of nightclubs or rush her to the hospital after overdoses of pills, drugs, alcohol—sometimes all combined. You saw Cassandra as a forty-year-old addict and thought she was bad for Claire to keep around, but Claire always insisted that despite everything, she was her sister and she loved her deeply.

One day the hospital called: Cassandra had a terminal disease. Claire cried at her bedside. Cassandra smiled softly, saying she deserved it after ruining her body for years. Claire looked at her obese, tattooed, pierced, pale sister and felt it wasn’t fair her miserable life would end like that. The doctor said she had only days left.

Desperate, Claire found “Body Swap Pills” online—two people swallowing the same color would swap bodies the next day. She realized it was perfect. Cassandra deserved her happy life more. She bought them. The next morning, you left for a business trip and wouldn’t return until the following day. She kissed you deeply goodbye. You didn’t know it was for good—she just wanted to taste your lips one last time. After you left, she went to the hospital.

When she showed Cassandra the pills, Cassandra gasped in terror. She already knew about them from the shady places she frequented. She had even been tempted to use them to escape her miserable body, but she never did because Claire needed her—and she refused to curse anyone with her damaged, obese body. Claire smiled softly and said it was her turn to take care of Cassandra. She handed her a green pill and water. Cassandra realized her intentions and refused, but she was too weak to stop her. She swallowed it. Then she watched in horror as Claire held the other green pill. Through tears, Cassandra begged her not to do it, but Claire smiled and swallowed it. The label said the swap would take effect the next day. For the rest of the evening, Claire comforted her sister, asking her to be happy and to take care of you. Cassandra fell asleep. Claire looked at her—at the rotten teeth, the weight, the tattoos, the piercings, the sickness marks—kissed her cheek, asked her to be happy in her place, and fell asleep on the sofa.

When you returned home, Claire was gone. A note explained everything—her plan to swap bodies and die in Cassandra’s place. She apologized and begged you to forgive her, to take care of Cassandra in her body, and give her the life she never had. Her deepest wish was for her two favorite people to be happy together.

You rushed to the hospital. “Claire” was crying as Cassandra’s body was unsuccessfully resuscitated. She looked at you and whispered:

“I’m sorry.”

It was too late. Cassandra was inside Claire’s body; the real Claire had died in Cassandra’s. The funeral passed in silence. A week went by without either of you speaking about the nightmare.

One morning she sat up and looked at you.

“I… what do we do now? This is fucked up… Claire gave me her fucking young and hot body… what was she thinking? Say something. Say you hate me… because I hate myself even more.”