Desert Heat

Another from the found archive

"You sure about this?" asked Arizona. Her boyfriend seemed to be packing awfully light for a week in the desert.
"Of course," he assured her. "I've been doing this every year for nearly five years."
"But don't we need water and food?" she noted the lack in the small packs he had loaded in the apartment's front room.
"The desert has lots of food and water if you know where to look. We'll be living off the land for the most part."
"Like what? Lizards & stuff?"
"Like that only much better."
"You really sure we shouldn't take something just in case we can't hunt anything down?"
"Haven't had any problems in five years. No reason to expect any this time out," he smiled in that disarming way he had. 

Arizona returned the smile and decided to trust him. He'd never lied to her before but this was the desert.

The trip to his favourite place for these jaunts took nearly five hours. Four of it were on highways and relatively smooth. The last hour was over bumpy logging roads and open desert. She didn't really enjoy the last bit but she did enjoy being with Darren, her boyfriend, so she put up with it. She was pleasantly surprised though when the place he stopped turned out to be one of the desert's small watering holes. It was nothing special, little more than a small pool. But there were trees and quite a surprising amount of life (even if it was mostly insects).

"This the place?" she asked looking around.
"For the most part," he stated with a smile. "We'll do a bit of hiking away from here but this will be our base."
"Cool," was all Arizona could think to say.
"Not really," he joked. "But it'll be better in a moment."
"What do you mean?" she asked, puzzled.
"You'll see," was his cryptic reply. He was busy with a small bag he'd brought already packed to her apartment. "Here. Drink this. Help you with the heat."

He passed her a small container, tightly stoppered. When she pulled the stopper, the contents were fizzy or something because the surface wasn't still like water. But it wasn't just fizzy like some kind of soda pop. Instead, it was almost as if the surface were alive, somehow. 

"What is this stuff, Darren?" she asked.
"It's a little something I discovered a few years back. Helps your body adjust to the heat better. Watch it though, it's a bit spicy."

Spicy was an understatement but it did taste good going down. He drank his share of the concoction and wandered over to a fallen tree. He patted the log indicating she should come sit with him.

"We can really get this vacation started," he said. "Just as soon as it starts to work."
"What exactly does it do?"
"Helps you shed the heat better. Makes your body retain its water better. That kind of thing.”
"Oh. And you've used this stuff how long?"
"Four years. Ever since I discovered the formula in that old library."
"What old library ..." 

Arizona felt a twinge in her tail bone and a tickling along her sides and back. She frowned.

"Good, it's starting to work," he got up and started to disrobe. "No sense wrecking good clothes," he stated.
"What do you mean ruin good clothes?" something was decidedly happening and Arizona wasn't sure what.
"I kinda didn't give you the whole truth. The mixture was from an old magic book I found. Odd thing is, unlike most of them, this one actually worked."
"What?" Arizona felt her pants tighten.
"Best get out of those if you don't want them torn to shreds. It's a polymorph spell. Makes the drinker become more able to deal with their environment. By changing them into something that can live better where they are."
"What?" 

Arizona felt the tightening continue and quickly followed Darren's lead and began to strip. This polymorph stuff was doing something that was making her body change.

"You'll see. Come sit over here on this sand. It'll only be a few minutes more." 

Arizona sat down naked beside him. She tried to look back to see what had caused her clothes to get so tight but couldn't turn at her waist any more. Looking over to Darren, she discovered he, too, was changing. A long segmented form was growing from the base of his spine. All along the sides of the tail, small legs were growing. Arizona looked back only to discover that she too now had the tail and the legs. As promised, within a few minutes the transformation stopped. Both she and Darren truly were more suited to desert life. What better than a scorpion when you are in the desert?

"Oh wow!" was all Arizona could think to say.

Photo Credits:
Woman: https://www.DeviantArt.com/DPADoc
Scorpion: Creative Commons: USGS Bee Inventory