Raynelle the goddess

Comes now the story of Raynelle the goddess.

From the moment she was born, Raynelle was given the power to shift from one person's consciousness to the next. She didn't fully understand it as a baby, she just felt that she was having odd dreams when she thought she'd turned into her mother or her father.

But as Raynelle grew older, she realized that it wasn't a leap of her imagination but of her mind. She didn't use it often because she feared the transition and she worried that any decisions she made would have unintended consequences, so she used her power briefly and usually with a churlish motivation. Raynelle was never denied a snack when she asked her mother's permission. She stayed up as late as she wanted and her father never turned her down when she wanted to play outside past dark.

When she entered school Raynelle began to branch out her abilities but again was judicious with regards to what mind she jumped to. Just as with her parents, Raynelle did it for selfish reasons though not too indulgent. Some B's became A's and some C's became B's.

When she did jump, it wasn't for an extended period of time. It was usually just for a few minutes and usually when the person was in her presence.

As it happens with some kids, Raynelle was sometimes bullied by others for being of a different ethnicity than most of those around her. She sought refuge with those who looked like her but there were many times she couldn't be protected. One bully in particular, an older boy, constantly chased her and pushed her to the ground. Raynelle felt terrorized and did everything she could to avoid him. She didn't understand what his problem was or why he was so mean.

Raynelle told her parents about what was happening and their advice was rarely helpful. They didn't act as though her problem was that big a deal. They just kept telling her to stand up to him. That seemed a tall order for Raynelle as her bully was several times larger than her.

Toward the end of the school year, Raynelle was leaving the cafeteria when she saw her bully approach her. She tried to run but he caught up to her quickly. Instead of pushing her down, he closed his fist and was about to strike her in the head. Rather than feel the pain, she jumped to another boy who was standing by watching. Raynelle saw herself being beaten and it was worse than usual. What was the boy's problem, she wondered.

She realized the body she was in was bigger than her bully. Raynelle charged her bully and knocked him to the ground. She closed her fists in the bigger body and wailed on the boy until he was bloody and crying.

The fight was eventually broken up and all three, Raynelle, her bully and the bystander were taken to the principal's office. Raynelle returned to herself and told the principal what had been going on. When the principal sought confirmation with the bystander, Raynelle jumped to him to agree with herself. The bully was eventually suspended and he never attacked Raynelle again. But what stood out in the moment was not what happened to the bully but to the bystander. When Raynelle jumped back to herself, the boy was extremely confused about what had happened.

As they left the office she talked to him and asked how he was feeling. The boy told her that he wasn't sure what he had done and was worried that he had hurt the bully. Raynelle asked him if he felt like he was right to defend her. The boy just stared at her blankly and could not answer. Raynelle worried this was a side effect of her decision.

The moon spoke to her that evening and told her to be careful with her ability. Raynelle believed it though she felt justified in jumping when she needed to.

As she got older, Raynelle's life did not always go as well as she wanted. She showed little interest in receiving an education or a career. She got to the point that when she needed something, she would just jump to a person who could help her whether it was buying shoes at a discount in a store, getting free food at a restaurant or avoiding getting fired from her job.

One night, after she drank excessively, she got into a fight with a boyfriend. When the police arrived, the boyfriend accused her of being violent. The cop believed him and took Raynelle into custody.

As she sat in the patrol car heading towards the lockup, Raynelle spotted a woman walking a dog on the sidewalk. Not wanting to stay in jail, she jumped to the woman. She was immediately confused and distraught. She realized that she didn't know who the woman was or where she lived. Raynelle looked at the tag on the dog's collar and found an address and walked to it.

Living someone else's life sight unseen was more difficult than she realized. Raynelle didn't know the woman's job, the woman's wife or even the password to her phone. When her wife asked what was wrong when she got to the house, Raynelle jumped to a man who was outside in a yard at a different house. She again ran into the same problems. She didn't know his name, his wife or how to work the hedge trimmer he was currently using.

Raynelle jumped back to herself and was in a jail cell. It was cold, her clothes were rough and wet. The experience was unpleasant. She saw a woman guard about to leave the jail and jumped to her to get free.

She immediately left the jail, not wanting to return in the slightest. Raynelle never knew how she was able to live her life when she wasn't in her body but she wished the vessel well and never looked back.

Raynelle stayed with the guard long enough to get something to eat. From there she jumped to a man in a suit and took a turn driving his expensive car. Realizing that he was probably on the way to somewhere important, she leaped again and again and again.

She enjoyed the change of scenery. As the days and weeks went on Raynelle found people interesting and learned to adapt to the changing perspective. She found living as a man interesting. She also loved to live in men who had authority whether it was a judge, a police officer, a business owner or a politician.

While she learned to sustain herself longer in their bodies, she could rarely stay long before those around the person realized they were not fully themselves and it would be time to jump again.

Years passed and eventually, Raynelle forgot about her original life and even her name. While living as a suburban woman with a well-paid husband, she thought about returning to herself only she couldn't remember her name or how to get back.

Raynelle wanted to return but couldn't remember who she was. She became a goddess always shifting in consciousness.