"So, I haven't seen you at the yoga studio lately." Jen sipped her white wine and cocked an eyebrow.

Meg sighed, picking up her own glass. It was early on Friday afternoon and the two women were the only ones in the bar. "Yeah, I know. Big project at work has been taking all my time, and I mean all my time. Evenings, weekends ... Heck, I've even been dreaming about the office."

"Ooh, the corporate toil," Jen clucked in sympathy. "Working for the man sucks. I couldn't prostitute myself like that. Er, no offence."

"None taken," Meg laughed. She knew she and Jen were total opposites - she was a total workaholic and the laidback Jen was a bit - OK, a lot - of a hippie. Yet when they'd met at the yoga studio they'd become immediate friends. Maybe because they were total opposites? she mused.

A waiter came and refilled their glasses. "But that's over now, right?" Jen said as he returned to the bar.

"Yeah, it's back to just the everyday madness. But God, it's left me so stressed!" Meg stretched, as if to get the kinks out of her back. "I really need to unwind. I actually rang that spa place Bianca recommended to see if I could get in this weekend but they were full up. Maybe some other time. God knows I could do with a massage or six. Hey! Maybe we could go together! I could even pay for you - I'd be getting a twin room anyway, so it's not that much more."

"Aw, that's sweet of you," Jen smiled. "But I've got something better than a spa."

"Really?"

"So much better than a spa," Jen almost sang, a far away look in her eyes. "Real nourishment for the soul. A mind-blower."

"Are you going to tell me what it is?"

And Jen told her.

And Meg said, "You have got to be shitting me."

********************************************************

"OK, welcome to my humble abode," Jen said, flinging open the door. "Make yourself at home. I'll be back in a minute. Bathroom's down the hall, should the need arise."

"Nice place," Meg said. And it was. Light and airy, with walls and floorboards both painted white, Buddhist prints on the wall and well worn but comfy-looking furniture. Everything in the room just seemed to fit there ... well, except for a large flowerpot in the corner that contained fresh earth but no actual plants. Guess she must not have got around to planting any yet.

"Hey, I never realised how close we live to each other! We could walk to the yoga studio together!"

"That would be cool!" Jen called from the kitchen. "We could make tomorrow afternoon's class. I know Tara would be pleased to see you back. She said something to me the other day about missing you." She entered the room clutching two tumblers filled with a rich golden fluid.

"That's it?" Meg asked as she was given a glass.

Jen smiled. "Uh-huh."

Cautiously Meg held her glass up to the light, then took a sniff. "What's in it?"

"A super secret combination of herbs that has been handed down through my family for years. And scotch. Very, very good scotch. But wait!" Jen urged as Meg began to raise the glass to her lips. "Let's set this thing up properly."

She set her glass down on a side table and opened a drawer in it, handing the lighter inside it to Meg. "Could you light some of the candles on the mantelpiece while I get things together?"

The candles were glowing invitingly as the day outside grew darker when Jen returned. Meg raised an eyebrow, then another. First, Jen was carrying a plastic wading pool. And second, she was naked.

"Trust me, clothes only get in the way," she said, placing the pool in the middle of the room. "Jewellery too. If you've got any on, take it off. Do you have any piercings?"

"Um, no."

"That's good. Got a belly button ring a few years ago. A few weeks later I changed and out it came. I haven't had anything pierced since." Jen picked up her glass and stepped into the pool.

"OK, I'm ready! I'll go first, just to demonstrate. Now, if you start to freak, don't worry about me. It's OK to just leave. I don't want you to feel you have to do anything you don't want to do. Alright then, down the hatch ..." She downed the liquid in one go, then placed the glass on the floor outside the pool.

Turning, Jen smiled at Meg. "Keep your eyes on me now ... Because here I go ..."

And she changed.

As Meg watched her friend, all the colour seemed to drain out of Jen's body. For an instant she was a transparent statue shaped like a woman. And then the column dissolved, flowing together into the pool until it was about a third full.

Meg realised her mouth was open when she slowly closed it. She stared at the pool.

She had just seen her friend turn into water.

Something in her brain was fighting her eyes to tell her that wasn't what she'd seen but no, she had to own up to reality. The tranquil pool of water before her demanded it.

"It's really you," she whispered. "Jen, it's really you!"

Was she imagining things or did the water seem to ripple for just a second?

Meg supposed she should be feeling disbelief, even horror. Instead she realised she felt fascination ... And excitement? Yes, excitement.

Suddenly she couldn't wait to get in the pool. Meg kicked off her shoes and shrugged out of her business jacket and skirt, then her blouse. Finally she unclasped her bra and wriggled out of her panties, dropping them on the floor.

"OK Jen, I hope the water's fine because I'm coming in!"

Gingerly Meg stepped into the pool - it was at room temperature; for some reason she had thought it would be cooler - and raised her glass to her lips.

Jen was right - there was some very good scotch in the drink, along with a spicy aftertaste and ... rosemary? It went down smoothly and quickly, filling her with a warm afterglow. Meg put her glass down and waited, slightly nervously, to see what would happen.

It began with a tingle that rapidly spread through her body until it seemed like every bit of her was vibrating. It's working! Meg thought. My molecules are being transformed into H2O!

She hadn't known what to expect from the transformation but it hadn't been anything this pleasurable, that's for sure! She had never felt more alive or sensitive. It was like she was riding a wave as the change took hold.

Meg looked down at her body. Oh! she thought. I'm transparent! I can see right through me! Wait, wait, shouldn't I be able to see my organs? No, hang on, I'm water. I don't have any organs.

God, my legs are joining together! And where are my arms going? My breasts? Oh, I can feel my face collapsing. That's weird, that's for sure. Oh, I'm almost gone! Goodbye, body! See you later - I hope!

And as the candles flickered, the pool grew still and silent.

****************************************************************

She'd done it.

Meg was a liquid.

And it was ... bliss!

She couldn't believe just how incredible she felt. She loved yoga, the sensations of stretching her muscles out. She appreciated a good massage with oil. But this ... this went beyond anything she had seen before.

The muscular aches she had experienced over the past fortnight had vanished. So had her constant low-level headache. Of course, the fact that her muscles and head had also vanished might have had something to do with it.

She felt like she was floating in space, which in a way she was. *This is so amazing!*

*Told you it was a mind-blower*, came the somewhat amused reply.

*Jen! That's you?*

*Uh-huh. How are you doing, Meg?*

*I feel so incredible. But Jen, how come I can hear you?*

*Because I am you - and you're me. We're both the water. Just like a river that flows into the ocean.*

*Oh God, I didn't even think of that. Is that a problem? Will we be stuck together when we change back? Can we change back?*

Was that a chuckle? It felt like it, anyway.

*Relax, Meg, we've merged together because we're a liquid. When we change back, we won't be merged, because that's not our natural state as solids. In fact, it would be harder to stay merged than it would be to separate. You could tip the pool over, even evaporate the water, and we'd still change back to us. Without the potion, our molecules want to be you and me ... If that makes sense.*

*Phew, well, that's a relief ... But Jen, how is this possible? How can we talk to each other? If we're really water, how are we even having thoughts?*

*You want the scientific answer? It's magic.* And another laugh rippled through the pool.

*********************************************************************
Meg was here to rest, and rest she did. Floating and formless, she felt carefree and totally chill.

*I am Meg,* she mused, *and I'm also Jen. And she is me, and she is her, and we're both together. We are the water and the water is us. We are everywhere in this pool, together, all the time.*

*Googoogajoob!* Jen finished joyously.

Meg couldn't have told you how long she spent as water. She fell into, not sleep, but something more like the deepest meditation. Jen was a constant presence, warm and reassuring.

The candles had long ago burnt out. Eventually the first flushes of dawn crept through the window and the room began to grow light. The sun began to warm the house.

*Meg?*

*Hmm?*

*I'm going to change back soon. I can feel it coming.*

*It's almost over?*

*Afraid so. But you have another 10 minutes or so to go.*

*Jen? I don't know if I'll be able to hear you but ... can you tell me what I look like?*

********************************************************
The water level in the pool began to drop as something began to rise out of it at one end. It grew and grew until it stood tall in the room, then began to assume a vaguely female shape. More and more details filled in until with a shudder it changed to colour and Jen stepped out of the pool.

"I always expect to be wet after I finish a change and I never am," she said, giving her body a quick check. "Yep, everything in its place ... Oh, hey, Meg!" she turned towards the pool. She crouched down to speak to the water. "I know you can hear me. And, well, you look beautiful, my friend. Still and peaceful and without a ripple.

"Here, I know you'll enjoy this." Jen leaned over, dipped her hand in and stirred the water's surface.

Enjoy it? Meg found it positively orgasmic. She was a wave, a flurry, twisting and twirling in, on and through herself. And then she could feel her surface began to tingle and her atoms began to join together to end her journey.

Back to being a human ...

****************************************************

When Meg stepped back out of the pool, there were dozens of sentences in her head. Instead she simply embraced her friend. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you fir that gift. That's an experience I will never, ever forget."

"Hey, no problem," Jen laughed. "Like I said, way better than a spa weekend. Definitely in my top three most relaxing ways to spend the day."

"Top three? What are the others?"

"Well, one is actually Tara's yoga class, and the other one ..."

Jen gestured towards the flowerpot.

The flowerpot with earth but no flowers.

A little lightbulb went off in Meg's head. The two women looked at each other and began to giggle.

"So," Jen said as casually as possible. "What say we get some clothes on, meet back here at two, take in a yoga session and some dinner, and then ...

"Well, have you ever thought about being a sunflower?"