I was happy to not have any eyes on me.

  I’m unremarkable, just a tan skinned twenty something dude (it is what it is), with long hair and sleepy brown eyes. My body has always been my struggle in life. I’d accepted that by now. What choice did I have?

  While hiking I could get away from myself and have time to breathe. The crisp air, the silence, and the unadulterated joy of not being at work. I pretend to be something I’m not everyday, so being at work was like playing double pretend. The not fun kind of roleplaying.

  Anyway, this trail wasn’t too out of the way, I’d gotten up before the inevitable crowds swarmed the place. The trees were decorated in the reds, yellows, and oranges that made the northeast so beautiful this time of year.

  Nature was the best therapist, and the only one I could afford! Here I didn’t have to worry about my boss. Or chores. Or rent. Or alerts on my phone, I’d purposefully left that hell machine at home today.

  After hiking my way to a small bridge over a shallow brook I took a moment to rest. The air was cold enough for each breath to be visible. This was the calmest I’d been in months.

  Living in the city was great, but the longer I was there the more I felt that it wasn’t healthy. Not that I would have really preferred living in a rural area, or god forbid, the dreaded suburbs. It was all exhausting. What other animal designs a habitat purposely optimized to make it miserable?

  I was doing it again. Overthinking. I took a deep breath, zipped my coat up and decided to get on with the rest of the hike. Suddenly, I felt a pang in my chest. Not just anxiety. This was different. Something inside me was deeply wrong. I fell to my knees and tried to call out for help, but I only managed a whisper. Blackness started crawling in from the edges of my vision.

  Death. I was going to die, without even making it to thirty without even being comfortable with myself.

  My face was on the cold wood of the bridge now, and the blackness was complete. I could only hear the sound of the water running through the brook. Then nothing.

  I felt the sun on my face. I heard the sound of birds. Humidity.

  I survived whatever that was. A heart condition maybe. Hell I needed a new job, the stress would literally kill me.

  Opening my eyes I saw towering trees above me, forming a thick canopy of multihued greens. Rays of light filtered through and illuminated the forest around me.

  I didn’t recognize these trees. They towered overhead like redwoods. Huge violet and scarlet birds flew amongst the tallest boughs. The patches of sky that I could spot through the canopy were teal…had the sky always been that color? And I wasn’t on the path anymore. What happened to the forest!?

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  I could hear chirps, and see all kinds of insects that I’d never seen before. Dragonflies weren’t supposed to be that big, certainly not the size of a hawk!

  As my senses slowly returned, I felt the ground underneath me, it was grass and…moss? Weirder still, I was naked. I felt the ground on my bare body. Someone must have moved me, and stripped me, for medical reasons I hoped.

  I climbed up and sat cross legged on the grass. Looking around I recoiled in horror! There was a snake right next to me! A species I didn’t recognize, it whipped around threateningly! Wait snakes don’t move like that, I realized. It wasn’t a snake, it was a tail, my tail.

  My light purple tail. With its smooth scales, tightly latticed together. The same scales that ran up my arms and legs and covered my whole body!

  As I continued to marvel at my new body, I realized that I was shorter now. I couldn’t be over 5 feet tall. Maybe a little taller counting the two cold chitinous horns that started at my forehead, and curled upwards like a goat’s. Then there was my hair: My very long black hair. Reaching down to my butt.

  My craziest feature was that instead of hands and feet, I had three talons at the end of each limb, each with wickedly sharp black claws

  And there was something else missing…something that I’d had very mixed feelings about for a very long time. In addition to the new part between my legs, I had two medium (and scaly) breasts, confirming what was becoming increasingly obvious. I had become a woman. A lizard(?) woman.

  Oh no no no, where are my clothes? This is clearly some sort of fantastical situation. But what if someone saw me like this?

  I jumped to my feet. Much more agile than I’d been in years. This body wasn’t all bad. But where was I? What happened to my body? Reincarnation, Isekai? Had I died? And why was I so starving!

  Between the smell of damp wood and rot I smelled something else, something delicious. Like a mix of a filet mignon steak from the best restaurant, but with a umami sweetness. I let the scent guide me, after all what was the harm in a little snack while I figured all this out.

  Lost in my instincts, I pushed my way through thick vegetation. Feeling my clawed talons digging into mud and god knows what.

  Branches scratched at my scales, but it wasn’t enough to cause any real damage. Why am I doing this? But did I want to stop? Nope. I’m hungry.

  The scent got stronger and stronger, until finally I saw it. A plump green fruit, with otherworldly yellow swirls dangling on the end of a thin dainty branch. Mesmerized, I reached out to pluck it. Suddenly, a sharp stick lashed out and slashed my face. From the underbrush emerged a creature made out of branches: Two long stick legs, an odd wooden log where its head would be, my blood dripped from its spear-like arm, the other arm dangled the fruit with the enticing scent.

  I fell for the classic angler fish routine!

  Finally, I snapped out of my daze and ran. The branch-thing chased after me, silently traversing the forest in wide strides. I was in a frenzy, tripping, falling, covered in mud. It was a monster! Not an animal, a monster. It would tear me to shreds, use me for fertilizer, or worse.

  I stole a glance behind me. It was further away, but still pursuing. A rocky outcropping was up ahead, peeking above the vegetation. There was a small opening in the rocks, a cave! I dived down on my talons and knees, the rocky entrance scraped at my scales. I crawled forward and finally the cave widened enough for me to sit up.

  It was damp, roots hung down from the ceiling, and the floor was littered with tiny bones. I stared at the passage I crawled from. The thing didn’t follow me.

  I curled up in the cave. No clothes. No idea where I was, or where I’d come from, or what I was. Strangely, I could feel my memories getting fuzzier by the minute. With an empty stomach, I fell asleep on the filthy cave floor.