Skin #2: Michael Phelps

I suppose I should update you on last weekend. I know I sounded a bit angry in my last post but, I was so shocked and frustrated about my rug getting ruined, I couldn't help but get a little red in the face.

So last weekend Danny honored my request and hung out with me by the beach, however, he dishonored my request to take the form of Heath Ledger while around me. He found me leaning against the lightpost.

“Jackie!” He called.

I turned around and gaped at Michael Phelps staring me straight in the face.

“Is Mr. Phelps really that short, Danny?”

“Isn’t this body great!? I’ve been meaning to try it out ever since I saw it on TV during the Olympics. Damn. I can’t adequately explain to you how exhilarating it feels… I feel heavy with muscle, but sleek and smooth, I feel like Michelangelo carved me from marble and God breathed life into my lungs.”

“Well aren’t you humble.”

He shrugged. “I’ve never been that great with words. I just say things and pray that they come out sounding somewhat impressive.”

I laughed. He seemed to be more comfortable around me after I found out his secret. He was never really that talkative before… Just the casual “Hello”, “How are you?” “Good” “What’s new?” “Nothing much” conversation. I haven’t really figured out yet if this is who he really is, or if this is just how Michael Phelps is. Does he take on the personality of the people he changes into, does he make up a different personality each time on his own, or is he just becoming more comfortable around me? I forgot to ask him about that on Sunday.

“So why Michael Phelps?” I asked.

“Isn’t it obvious? You said to meet you at the beach. I haven’t swam in Lake Michigan yet since I moved here and being that you know my secret, I figured I’d try out Michael Phelps!”

His brown eyes lit up with this boyish enthusiasm as if they were made of chocolate and Pop Rocks. It like he had just received a new LEGO set he couldn’t wait to build. Is that how he sees the people he impersonates… as empty shells to climb into and scurry about in, as shiny new bicycles to take a spin around the block in? The thought gives me a sort of chill, I must admit, however, if I was a shapeshifter, I suppose the world and the people in it would look a bit different wouldn’t it?

I held onto my shoes as we walked along the shore; it was about 65 degrees out, a slight wind, but tame for The Lake. My head swam with a million questions, and it almost ached from holding the chaos all in. I wished I had a list of what I wanted to ask, and in what order, but I would have gone mad if I stayed silent trying to calculate everything perfectly.

“So I get to interview you right?”

“Did you know that Michael Phelps’s body is the perfect swimmer’s body… almost like genes and evolution were working together to create a perfect specimen of a swimmer? I mean look at his build. He has a long torso and short legs in comparison, and his feet are huge, look at these things, they are like flippers. I wonder if his ears…”

“You’re avoiding the interview… Come on. You promised!”

“Yes, fine, interview me. Or interrogate me… however you look at it. You may ask any question you so wish but I cannot guarantee an answer for all.”

He has a sort of hybrid but not unnatural rhythm to his speech… the way a college professor might. You know, the professor who is Indian, born in Australia, grew up in Africa, schooled in England, and teaches in The U.S.

“Well, I know you are new to Chicago, and when I first talked to you, you told me that you had moved from California. Is that true?”

“Yeah, that’s true. San Francisco.”

“Is that where you are from?”

“Well I came from there, to Chicago, so yes.”

“No, I mean, is that where you originated from… or did you live somewhere else before then?”

“I’ve lived in many places.”

He was clearly avoiding the heart of the question. And I didn’t quite know how to rephrase it without sounding like a lunatic or insulting. He’s a SHAPESHIFTER. I mean… is he a freak of nature from this planet. Is he an alien from outer space? After a brief pause, I slowly formed the question,

“Well, you told me you were a shapeshifter. I saw you change. I need to know… What are you? Where are you from?”

I might have winced, almost embarrassed of the question.

“I can be anything you wanna, be, Baby.” He blurted out in his smoothest voice. I glared. He blushed. “Don’t mind me I just say things…”

“You’re avoiding my question.”

“I suppose I am.”

“Look, you gotta give me something. Who or what are you?”

He opened his mouth to say something, closed it again, then looked off into the waves.

“Can’t I just try out this new body now? I’m aching to get into the water.” He whined.

“Not until you tell me SOMETHING about yourself.”

He stared off into The Lake again watching boats off all shapes and sizes hum across the water in the distance. We both were growing impatient, but I wasn’t going to budge until I got some answers. Finally, he gave in… a little anyways.

“I am a mirror.” He said. “I know that sounds abstract, but that’s the best way I can describe myself. I see a person, and reflect what I perceive. I’m a shapeshifter. I prefer to call myself a Doppelganger though. It’s a German term for ‘Ghostly Double’. I think it has a cool ring to it, but I think shapeshifter is more accurate being that I am not, in fact, a ghost.

“Are you the only one?”

“We live a lonely existence” He said with a drawn out sigh. And to be honest, I’m still puzzled by that answer. I’m not even sure if he confirmed or denied it the question.

“Can you only change into humans? Or can you change into inanimate objects too? I don’t know… tell me how changing works.”

He laughed, “Well, I’ve never tried changing into anything other than human before, but I believe that I could. I’m afraid to, though, because I don’t know if I’d be guaranteed to change back. Like… when I change into a person, I change into my perceived persona of them. Like… If I changed into Albert Einstein, because I perceive him to be intelligent and wise, I would be intelligent and wise. If by chance, I had never heard of Einstein before and thought, ‘that sounds like a dumb name. He’s probably some idiot who can’t even count to ten’. Then I would change into the physical body of Einstein, but with the brain of an idiot. Do you follow me?”

I nodded, I can’t remember saying anything at this point, I was so ecstatic that I was able to get him on a role and actually say more than a sentence or two! I didn’t want to disrupt his flow!

“Having that in mind, I have the perception that trees don’t have brains, thoughts, or feelings in the way we do, so if I changed into a tree, I might forfeit my mental capacity to think and will myself to change back. I would be stuck as a tree forever.”

“What about animals though? Like a dog or something.” I asked.

“Ah, I’ve wondered that myself many a time. I guess it comes down to my perception of animal’s mental capacity doesn’t it. I’ve been so curious as to what it would be like to change into a dog, but I haven’t made up my mind as to whether I think they are intelligent enough or not! And I really don’t want to be stuck as a cocker spaniel for the rest of my life!”

“I see your point. Ok, I have to know, what were you doing as a sexy black man, the other night?”

"Oh I took Mara out to dinner. She prefers black men to white men."

I have to admit that my heart sunk a little when he told me this, but just wait... then he went on and told me,

"It's one of those casual dates. We see each other from time to time, never looking for anything serious. Just wanting a bit of company. She's actually much old than me... 45 I think. She's one of my favorite people."

He smiled, then that awkward silence crept up on us (you know, the one after a conversation ends and neither of you know quite what to say)and he stared out into the water again. I dislike silence so I broke it and asked,

"And why did you change in front of me? Why did you 'blow your cover'. so to speak? You could have just stayed in the form of the black man and left.

"I panicked." He said shamefully. "When I'm in a situation, where I've made a huge error, when I've been found out, when I'm stuck... I react by changing unwillingly. I'm sorry about the rug", he apologized. "I'll buy you a new one."

This time I changed the subject, I'd had too much information for one day. I didn't need to start remembering the remorse I have for the ruined rug.

“You’re aching to swim aren’t you?

His mouth slipped into a child-like smile. I told him to go ahead and he threw off his shirt and ran into the water. So that's 7 gold medal body, I thought. It was a bit too cold for swimming outside, and no one else was out there, but I don’t think he noticed or cared.

I sat on the warm sand and watched him zip back and forth doing freestyle, backstroke, breast stroke, and lastly butterfly. He really was extremely fast. My mouth had contorted into a shape, and I couldn't tell if it was a smile or a frown, but my muscles were taught. Mesmerized by the Olympic swimmer performing like a dolphin before my eyes, I realized that I never really learned to swim well.