"Julie? Nina? What animal do you want to be first?" Jason glanced as the two of them leaned over his shoulders.
Rubbing his stubble, the father wobbled on his bent knees, his age peeking through yet again. Despite his discomfort, the two children scanned the list aloud in innocent contemplation and toothy spittle. Nina, scratching her auburn short hair, erupted into a chorus of ooo's and jumping; an idea struck her. Tugging Julie away from their father, the duo fumbled out of earshot by a nearby potted office fern, clutching their hands against the ceramic bowl in scheming. A few giggles and shushes tipped Jason to shake his head and stand at their devious plan. Turning back to the park attendant, he chuckled, palms outstretched.
"Those girls; I tell ya."
"Well Mr. Drake, our transformation process can be delayed up to a few dozen minutes; if it suits you, you can choose now and, hopefully by the time your children are done, they'll have their drinks just as you start transforming."
Mr. Drake glanced back at his kids, still hiding behind the meager green leaves.
"Julie! Nina! Hurry up or I'm choosing my animal without you," he hung on the last vowel like a call to supper.
The two girls peeked from their camouflage at the sound of their father's voice, checking with each other before returning his call with smiles.
"That's ok Dad; you pick first!"
Sighing, Jason rested the pamphlet against the receptionist counter, "I'll take Squirrel. Make it 6 minutes; I don't think they'll be that much longer."
"Very fine, Mr. Drake," the lady nodded as she fetched a chrome tube.
As she prepared the drink, she examined the label on the energy-drink-like container before unscrewing the cap and dripping a purple liquid from a syringe inside. Swirling the liquid inside, she presented the concoction to Jason.
"Here you are; don't mind the taste. The base formula is generally sweet, but the delaying additive is quite tart."
Pinching the transformation juice from her, Jason lifted the drink to his lips, giving a whiff. To his surprise, it smelt odorless. Peeking into the tube, he saw, what appeared to him, to be mercury with still dissolving blotches of grape juice trapped in a black interior. He bite back his fear and swigged the liquid back, wincing as the aftertaste assaulted his taste.
"Quite tart? How about unbearably tart? Ugh," he sputtered.
The devilish duo returned from their secret plant lair in time to see their father shudder.
"Oooh! What'd you pick, Dad?" Julie tugged on his sleeve.
"It's a secret," he winked.
"No fair! We were going to tell you!" chided Nina.
"Well, that's what you get for slinking off."
The two pouted, kicking against the receptionist desk in stress.
"Well, we
"Oh? And what is that?"
The two tiptoed to the receptionist's ear, hissing their whisper. Her face lit up, tapping two more chrome cases together with a tiny pinch of delay formula.
"Thank you," the duo spoke in unison before slurping the contents.
Jason smiled, seeing how well-behaved his girls could be. His appreciation fell short as Julie and Nina broke out into coughs and clenched faces, whining at the sudden taste.
"Well, everyone appears to be ready. If you follow the door out to my right, you'll find the central forest plaza. From there, pick a direction, start walking, and enjoy your stay."
Between tongue rubbing, the two girls wave, leading the way out the door.
"Thank you very much, miss," Jason nods before exiting into the midday forest sun.
"We both have our secrets, girls; who wants to share first?" Jason inquired as he picked a shallow beaten path through the forest leaf bed.
Nina opened her mouth, but Julie shoved her baseball cap in her sister's face.
"Wait and see! It's a surprise!"
"It's always a surprise with you two, but alright. I just hope we can spend some time together," Jason sighed, tapping his brown business loafer against the brown earth.
Grinning, the two begin to pick up their pace.
"Girls, wait for Daddy," Jason scratched his beard as he picked up his stride.
Wait, beard?
"I shaved this morning; how did-"
He tapped his face, feeling the bristles fill and travel up his face and down his neck. Looking down at his hand, he saw a growing black outline of skin along his palms. Worse still, his sleeves began to crumple enough to where he stuck a hand inside with his arm and barely filled it out.
"Honeys; I think it's starting! Come quick!"