"I believe that two of my beloved subjects have been indulging in negative self-talk, and I will not stand for it."

Mistress Kitten stood on the stage of The Claremont, a small club that the local hypno group booked out once a month for their play party. Behind her sat a row of empty chairs. In front of her, chairs filled with people.

"Samantha and Crystal, would you please come up here and have a seat?"

"Oh no," Samantha thought to herself. "Miss Kitten must've overheard me ripping on myself about the weight I gained during the holidays, and now I'm going to hear it. Oh well, at least I get to have some kinky fun at the party?"

Samantha and Crystal took a seat a few chairs apart, as Mistress Kitten looked at them disapprovingly. "What do you girls have to say for yourselves?"

"I'm sorry Miss Kitten, it will never happen again!" Crystal squeaked. Samantha restrained herself from rolling her eyes; Crystal's ultra-girly personality made her cringe, but she knew better than to let Miss Kitten see.

"And you, Samantha?"

Samantha also knew better than to lie to Miss Kitten. "What can I say? It was a moment of weakness."

"That will not do! I will not have anyone insulting my subjects, including themselves! But perhaps I can offer a little help?"

"Yes please, Miss Kitten!," exclaimed Crystal, followed by a "sure" from Samantha.

Mistress Kitten looked at them intently and spoke, "Crystal: Sleep! Samantha: Sleep!" Both girls closed their eyes and went limp in their chairs.

"Good girls," said Mistress Kitten approvingly. After a few additional words of deepening, she gave them instructions.

"Now listen to me carefully. When the two of you awaken, you will believe you have switched bodies. In fact, you will believe it so thoroughly, so deeply, that it may even be true. As far as you are both concerned, every bit your essence — every bit your very heart and soul — has been transferred into the other's body. Crystal, you are now Samantha. Samantha, you are now Crystal. Do you understand?"

"Yes Mistress," their faint voices said in unison.

"Very good. Crystal: Awaken. Samantha: Awaken."

Samantha opened her eyes and felt briefly disoriented, as she thought to herself, "Huh, wasn't I sitting over-- wait, that's me!"

"Whoa whoa whoa," she said aloud, in a voice that sounded like Crystal doing a dead-on impression of her. "What is this? What's going on?!"

"I think it's plainly obvious," smiled Mistress Kitten. "I've switched both of your bodies."

"But Miss Kitten," objected Crystal, in a voice that sounded like Samantha doing a similarly dead-on impression. "How can this be possible? You always tell us that hypnosis doesn't work like it does in movies."

"You are of course correct, my dear Crystal. I have merely convinced you that you've switched bodies, and now you are pretending to be one another."

"No, no, no," Samantha said, waving a hand for emphasis. "This is not pretend! This feels way too real."

"Prove it to me," responded Mistress Kitten. "What can you do to convince me you're both who you believe yourselves to be?"

Crystal immediately shouted out to her boyfriend in the audience. "Matt, tell her it's me!"

"But Crystal!" He paused to stifle a laugh, because he just referred to Samantha as Crystal. "How would I know it's actually you?"

"Because!" Crystal eyes searched the air for an answer. "Because-- oh! Remember on the car ride here? I was talking about Taylor Swift!"

Murmurs filled the room as audience members turned to look at Matt.

"Yeah, but you're always talking about Taylor Swift!" The audience laughed because it was true.

"Ma-att!" She let out a defeated sigh.

"Wait, I know," Samantha chimed in with Crystal's voice. "What if--"

"Samantha: Freeze," Miss Kitten cut her off.

Samantha is a huge fan of immobility, and Mistress Kitten loves to tease her by strategically using her freeze trigger at the most frustratingly inopportune moments. But wait, if Samantha was really just Crystal pretending to be Samantha, which one was going to freeze?

Mistress Kitten and Samantha's body looked at Crystal's body and then at each other. Mistress Kitten laughed. "You know, I think I'm almost convinced."

"Crystal: Sleep."

"Samantha: Sleep."

Both girls went limp.

Miss Kitten moved closer and gave the two additional instructions. "Now when you awaken, each of you will discover that you are now deeply, passionately smitten with your old body. You have never realized until now just how astonishingly attractive you are. But you must restrain yourself! It would be rude to fondle yourself without first asking the permission of its current resident."

Upon waking, Samantha and Crystal locked eyes, and were completely speechless. Mistress Kitten addressed Crystal first.

"Tell me, Crystal, what are your favorite features of your old body?"

"Wow, my eyes are amazing? And my cute perky nose! Oh, and my waist looks so...touchable. How did I not know I was so smoking hot, Miss!?"

"That's right, Crystal, you are smoking hot. And how about you, Samantha? What are your favorite features?"

"That fine behind! Omigosh, I did not just say that. No."

"Yes, dear. And what else?"

"My cheekbones are so perfect. And I have such soft...pillowy...lips. Oh, I want to kiss them..."

"You know, dear, you can ask Crystal if you can kiss them," Mistress Kitten helpfully noted.

"Crystal, can I kiss my-- your-- my lips?," Samantha asked awkwardly.

"Yes. Can I put my hands on this waist?" The two were already standing.

"Yes," replied Samantha, just before they locked lips.

Mistress Kitten was unsure how long to let their makeout session go on, before asking them to go back to their seats so she could revert back them to normal. Or mostly normal. She left one final suggestion:

"For the next 24 hours, every time you see your reflection, you will discover you are still just as deeply attracted to yourself. And even once it does wear off, you will still remember how you felt about yourself."

Samantha and Crystal had a much more positive outlook on their bodies after that, and became close friends after bonding over the shared experience. But to this day, they couldn't tell you for sure whether they actually switched bodies or not.