A Relaxing(?) Bath

Returning to the bathroom, you examine the bathtub. Fiddling with the faucets, you are a little surprised at how readily the hot water comes out. How can the water heater be working with the power out? Putting the question out of your mind for the moment, you remove your new clothes and carefully place them on a nearby hamper. In doing so, however, you accidentally knock a bottle of some sort into the tub. The contents cause the water to foam and have a distinct floral odor. Shrugging, you fish the bottle out. There doesn’t seem to be any label but it’s obviously some sort of bubble bath. Not your usual taste, but it certainly won’t hurt.

As you’re about to enter the tub, you notice an old-timey shower cap hanging in the wall. Curious, you pick it up and turn it over in your hands. Not quite sure why, you slip it over your hair then laugh at your reflection in the mirror. Then you step into the tub, gently lowering yourself into the sudsy water.

The water temperature is perfect. Hot but not enough to be uncomfortable. You lie back and let the heat seep into your body. Your muscles unclench and you lie comfortably, your head resting back on the edge of the tub. Without really thinking about it, you start gently rubbing your body, really working the water into every pore. The floral scent fills your nose and makes you feel … light? You bring your hands up, rubbing the scented water on your face.

You’re not sure how long you lay in the water, but it feels like hours. Yet it hardly seems to have cooled when you finally bring yourself to stand and reach for a towel to dry yourself. As you do so, you notice some small dark hairs adhering to the towel. You look down at yourself and are shocked at what you see. Every hair on your body is now gone. Your skin is as bare as a child’s. Come to think of it, it appears… smoother? You look in the mirror. What little stubble there was on your neck and chin is gone. Your eyebrows are still there but wisps of their former selves, just thin arches over your shocked gaze. At least your eyelashes seem unaffected. They almost look… thicker? Longer? But it must jut be an optical illusion with so little hair left elsewhere. You’re glad you impulsively put on the shower cap, or you’d probably be completely bald now.

As your thoughts arrive at the shower cap, you become aware for the first time of an odd sensation coming from under it. A sort of tingling, burning. Fearing the worst, you reach up and pull it off, expecting to see a mangy mess. But what greets your eyes is … not that. Instead, locks of golden tresses tumble down your shoulders. Your formerly short, plain hair is now a strawberry blonde long enough to tickle between your shoulder blades. You reach up and run your fingers through the wavy strands, unable to believe they’re actually part of you. You stare in shock at your unfamiliar reflection. What is going on?!