The Illusion of Appearances

Sometimes, the greatest lie isn’t what is said —

it’s the body that looks far too familiar to be questioned.

“But I just told you — it’s me… your brother-in-law.”

The words came out in a rush, tangled with panic. Gary ran a hand through his hair — too long, too soft — a gesture that no longer truly belonged to him.

“My sister and I switched bodies after my lunatic father decided to test one of his experiments,” he went on, almost begging to be believed. “Now he’s trapped in my mother’s body… and I’m here. In hers.”

The shock in his voice clashed violently with the unsettling calm of the man standing in front of him.

His sister’s husband simply smirked and began unbuttoning his shirt, as if that revelation were nothing more than an inconvenient detail — not a logical earthquake about to shatter reality.

“It doesn’t matter what you think you know,” he replied, his voice far too steady to ignore. “What matters is what everyone sees.”

He stepped closer, eyes fixed on a body he knew better than any scientific theory ever could.

“That body belongs to my wife. Legally, socially, in every way that actually matters… we are a married couple.”

A chill ran down Gary’s spine, a mix of fear and disbelief tightening his chest.

“And we’re going to keep up appearances,” he continued, now wearing a calculated half-smile. “Unless you plan on walking around telling people about body swaps, secret experiments, and mad science.”

He paused — just long enough for the threat to settle.

“Because if you do… who do you think they’ll lock up first?”

The silence that followed was heavy.

There was no room left for logic.
Only for choices — all of them wrong.