Sand n' Snow
This is for larathelabrat on FA (commonly known as Ness) for being an awesome friend. I've been thinking about his love for body swapping, so I came up with this: what if two furs far away from distant lands swapped minds?
Sand n' Snow
By fastbreak333
Somewhere in Asia, there are two men, one in the Persian Gulf and the other near the Himalayas. They've been living in their respective climates since birth and they have appreciated their lives for many years. Yet, they both desire something they've been living with all their lives.
An anthropomorphic camel, who had lived nicely in the Persian Gulf desert with his 5 siblings looks at his television with a sigh. The news is reporting a group of hikers that just reached Mt. Everest with no causalities and he admires the snow that's beneath their feet and on the mountains. He wishes to feel that snow for himself; he wants to grab a fist full of snow and feel it cool his sweaty hands. He sighs knowing that any place with even a slightly cool climate is too far from his hometown.
Meanwhile, a polar bear, the son of an immigrant from the Arctic, reads a magazine in his warm home as the fireplace provides the warmth he needs to survive those cold nights. The magazine, known as National Geographic, has a special on Egyptian archeology. He sees the archeologists working hard and the townsfolk marching around the bazaar. He wants that warm sun to hit his white fur, without a cloud in the sky. Sadly, like the camel, he cannot afford to go anywhere warm.
The two look at their medias, their wishful thinking happening simultaneously. They suddenly feel pretty drowsy. The camel yawns as he turns off the television and decides to take a quick nap on the couch. The polar bear puts out the fire as he drops the magazine on the rocking chair he was on and goes to also take a nap, but on his luscious bedspread. Both of them close their eyes as they drift to sleep, dreaming of taking a vacation at Aspen or Jamaica respectively.
After about an hour of sleep, the camel awakens, stretching his arms. He reaches up to rub his eyes and gets off of the bed. He realizes that something is wrong and looks behind him, seeing the bed. He swears that he was sleeping on the couch. He takes a look at the room and finds something very wrong: it isn't a house, it's a cabin! He looks around some more and reaches out to touch the walls...seeing that his hand is suddenly furrier and white! He feels his own face in shock, noticing that his nose is much smaller now! He quickly scans around for a mirror and finds the vanity. He takes a good look at himself and screams, grabbing at the cheeks of his face.
Somewhere in the Arabian Desert, his body is inhabited by the polar bear, where he screams at his new body in the mirror as well. He tries to reason that it is all a dream. He proceeds to pinch himself as well as he can with his hoofed hand. He even punches himself across the face! All he received was pain and confusion; this was definitely all real.
Both of them look around, wondering where they are. Eventually, the two spot a window and see what they've wished for so many years. The polar bear sees nothing but miles of sand in the camel's backyard. The camel looks to find snow behind the polar bear's house, already precipitating from the sky. The two look on in wonder and begin to walk out the back door.
The polar bear feels the sun beat down on his body and the sand lightly burn his feet. He doesn't seem to mind the heat though. He loves the feeling of it! The polar bear bellows in a happy voice as he faces the sun with his eyes closed and jumps in joy! The camel, now in the cold snow, does the same thing, grabbing a fistful of it and throwing it in the air. He allows the snow to hit his body, which isn't wearing the parka that's still hanging in the coat closet.
The polar bear soon rushes back inside and grabs a plastic cup from the kitchen. He looks around a bit, rubbing his chin. The kitchen is pretty cramped and the floor is poorly installed. Not to mention the couch he woke up on was pretty lumpy. He must be a poor camel. The polar bear takes note of this and only fills up the water halfway to be courteous. He drinks it, feeling the cool water touch his tongue. He never felt so refreshed after playing in the sun.
The camel decides to try something he saw on TV once. He gets down into the snow and starts to make a snow angel. He falls onto the snow, not realizing that it's a bit harder than it looks, but he could care less. He starts moving his arms and legs against the snow in a jumping jack motion for about five minutes. He gets up and looks at the snow angel he just created. He never could do that in the harsh sand. He looks around and notices the flora. He's never seen such huge trees up close. The camel thinks about how much shade they'd provide. It'd really help back home.
However, as the minutes pass by, the heat and cold start to increase. Suddenly, the polar bear is drinking a lot more water than he needs to beat the heat (as well as going to the bathroom). He wipes the sweat from his forehead, realizing that it was now noon and the sun was way up in the sky. He looks at the mercury thermometer on the wall: 42.5 C. Suddenly, the polar bear wishes he was home and back in his body. He also realizes a terrible scenario...what if he can't switch back?
Likewise, the camel quickly rushes back inside, shivering like crazy as the snowfall increases outside. He wishes to battle against the cold somehow as gets out of the polar bear's wet clothes. He changes into a lovely set of silk pajamas; he wishes he could afford such nice clothes. Suddenly, as he looks into the mirror, he starts to miss his old body, which is either lying lifelessly or...inhabited by this very polar bear. He then remembers about his phone number and walks to the living room, eyeing the telephone that rests on a small table with a drawer. He pulls out the drawer and looks at the phone book to find instructions on making international calls. He carefully looks at the page and the keypad and finally manages to dial his number.
As the polar bear, breathes heavily, wanting to escape the heat, he hears the phone ringing. He wonders if he should pick up the call. If it's a family member or a friend, then he might act completely weird. They probably would be shocked to find a different person inhabiting this body or would think he's insane and haul him away to jail. Still, that ringing is giving him a headache and he decides to get up and go to the kitchen where the phone rests on the wall. He picks it up and holds it to his ear as the two finally contact each other.
"Hello?"