Like Water in the Desert

Seems legit.

Salutations, friends! The approach for this retelling of The Perfidious Vizier came to me right away, but there were a few details I had to figure out. One of those details involves an unexpected cameo from some of my characters in A Tale of Two Tricksters. To be clear, I wasn't expecting them, but once I thought of it, there was no going back. Also, for those of you who like names, I took some special care choosing the names of the characters in this story. Enjoy!

Noel was well and truly lost. She'd gone out to the desert to hike with a group of friends. She was saving up for some expensive surgery, but hiking was free and something fun to do with everyone on a weekend. Noel stuck with her friends, like you were supposed to, but she saw something in the distance she wanted to check out. And by the time she realized she couldn't see her friends anymore, it was too late. She hadn't been getting cell signal for awhile, but she kept checking periodically anyway as she tried to make her way back.

After awhile, she wasn't sure how long, Noel saw something in the distance. Was it an old-fashioned pump? She still had a little water, but it was dwindling fast. So, picking up her pace, Noel came to the pump.

With little else to do, Noel started pumping. It took awhile, but water began coming out. At first, it was dirty, but soon it ran clear. Clear and refreshing. But there was always the possibility the water was tainted somehow. Noel sat down next to the pump. At least she'd be easier to find by a landmark like this. Hopefully.

Noel took a picture of herself. If she happened to get enough cell signal for that picture to backup to the cloud, maybe someone could see it and find her. It was a stretch, but it maybe it would happen. Noel tried to slow her breathing and meditate while she waited. It was better than panicking, anyway.

Eventually, as she knew she would, Noel ran out of water. The sun was beginning to set, and it was already getting colder. Noel shivered a little and looked at the pump again. The water had looked so clear.

In a fatalistic action, Noel decided she'd rather die of something else besides thirst. She put her water bottle down and pumped some clear water into it. Before she could think about it too much, Noel drank some.

All at once, she began to feel different. Her body was buzzing. "Maybe the water was poisoned!" Noel thought as she crumpled to the ground. It felt like her insides were shifting. For a moment, everything hurt. Then, the pain went away completely. She felt just like she had before. Except different.

Noel looked down at herself. Her shirt bulged in the front in an unfamiliar way. Just as she was beginning to put the pieces together, two people appeared next to her.

"Sorry, what does this water do again?"

"I told you. It changes whoever drinks from it into a woman. No one's found it in a long time, so everyone's pretty worried about it."

Noel jumped. "Who are you?"

There were two teenage girls standing near her. But they seemed on the older end of being teenagers. Maybe they were college students. They both had black hair, although one wore it long and the other wore it short, and neither one looked like she was dressed for a hike. How had they gotten here?

 "I'm Ju-"

Her friend with the short hair elbowed her. "We don't need to share our names. Look, somehow, you found this water pump that's incredibly old, and drank from it. Maybe not the best idea. There's a reason it was abandoned. And now it's changed you into a woman. So we're here to change you back."

"Change me back?" Noel was reeling. She looked down at herself again. Was this what it felt like? To be at home in your own body? Noel couldn't help but grin. "Why would I want to change back? This just saved me a fortune!"

The two girls looked at each other. "Are you trans?" the one with long hair asked her.

"Yes," Noel replied, wondering what their reaction would be.

The one with the short hair threw up her hands. "See? It's fine. She's happy this happened to her!"

Noel crinkled her forehead.  The girl was right, but the way she said it sounded like the beginning of an argument.

"Okay, but what are we going to do? We can't just leave her thinking magic is real."

"And what are we supposed to do instead? I'm not changing her into something she doesn't want to be."

Noel had started edging away from them.

"Just make her forget."

"And what? Make her think that aliens did this to her?"

The girl with the long her looked thoughtful for a moment, and Noel began to get worried. Maybe she was seeing things. The water had done something to her and all of this was a hallucination. Still, she'd feel better if she got away from these two.

"Wait. I've got it." The girl with the long hair turned to look at Noel, although she reached out to grab the other girl's hand. "I wish that she would forget that we were here and forget exactly how this happened to her, and be returned safely to her friends right now."

The girl with the short hair sighed, and Noel could feel something happening to her. She turned to run, but everything around her disappeared.

*

When everything reappeared, Noel was at the trailhead where she'd started with her friends. There were a few stragglers around and Noel headed to the parking lot. Something weird had happened to her out there. She felt different. And she couldn't remember how she had gotten back here.

"Noel!"

She looked up at the sound of her name. Her friend Tasnim was coming towards her.

"Where did you go? We looked everywhere! They're out searching for you!"

"I don't really remember," Noel said. Was it weird that her memories were fuzzy? She'd found some water. Maybe that was why. She shouldn't have drunk it.

"Noel?" Tasnim paused. "Did you get boobs?"

Noel looked down at herself and gasped. "I did! This is great!"

"How did it happen?" Tasnim asked.

Noel wracked her memory and slowly held up her water bottle. "I think it's something to do with this. I can't really remember though."

Tasnim gave her a worried look. "Come on. We'd better have a doctor look you over. And I've got to call off the search. I'm so glad you're safe!"

"Me too," Noel said, following her friend. She wasn't sure what exactly had happened out there, but at least she was safe now.