Jon yawned, stretched, and opened his eyes just a little. Things looked...different. He didn't remember his room being walled with off-white ceramic tiles...nor did he remember there being a faucet on the opposite wall...wait, faucet? That was it, he was in the bathroom. Why was he in the bathroom? In the tub, no less? He was lying in the bathtub, with a cool, room-temperature bath run, but why? He vaguely remembered being carried into the bathroom while still half-asleep; was he sick?
He didn't feel sick. He felt weird for some reason, but he didn't feel sick. As a matter of fact, he'd never felt healthier. Had he somehow gotten injured in his sleep? It certainly didn't feel like it, but he took a look down at his body, just to be sure.
Only it wasn't his body.
From an anatomical standpoint, the most drastic and obvious difference was the fact that Jon's entire lower body was now a fish's tail, complete with rich green scales. The surface of the tail was seemingly unbroken, with only a tightly-closed, barely-visible slit indicating where Jon's naughty bits were hiding. Although Jon couldn't see it, a similar slit around back concealed the other impolite area. Jon's body, from the waist down, was clearly inhuman.
Yet somehow, it was the stuff from the waist up that Concerned Jon the most. Long golden hair, slender arms and delicate hands with smooth, creamy skin, and the two sizable breasts on Jon's chest were the primary indications that something was drastically wrong. Jon reached a clearly feminine hand down to the front slit, but even before confirming, Jon knew that she was now female. She drew her hand back in mingled shock and horror, and did the only thing she could think of.
The scream brought Jon's mother rushing into the bathroom. When she saw that her son-turned-daughter wasn't injured, she sighed and shook her head. "We were wondering when you'd wake up," she said. "I know this must be hard for you, but I just want you to know that, even though you've changed, you're still our child. Your father and I still love you just the same as we always have, and we don't expect to be a different person just because you're a girl now. We're going to do everything we can to make this transition as easy as possible for you."
Jon began to stammer unintelligibly. "Wh-why am I in th-the b-bathtub?" she finally managed to ask.
Jon's mother sighed. "I'm sorry about this," she said, "but we called the doctor when we saw you this morning, and his advice was to get immersed as soon as possible. Apparently, your scales will dry out if they're not kept damp, and it's not good for you to spend more time out of the water than absolutely necessary. Your dad's setting up the portable pool, and I've already talked to the city disabilities coordinator about getting a tank-house built for you, but for now, I'm afraid you're just going to have to stay in the tub. Besides, this'll be more convenient for when you have to go to the bathroom."
Jon had cleared the panic from her head and was about to ask her mother to bring her the stone when the phone suddenly rang. "Oh," she said, "I think that'll be the school. I'll be back in a few minutes, dear."
Jon watched her go. Shoot. The stone was sitting on top of her dresser, in her room, at the other end of the hall. If she could drag herself over there, she could fix this all right now, but could she make it before her mother got back?
