Millie was sitting at the register one day going over inventory and what ingredients she needed to get that weekend, when suddenly the pungent smell of dead fish wafted through the shop. She thought someone had come in and it just happened to smell terrible outside, but when the smell grew stronger, she looked up to see a figure heavily cloaked. Millie put down the notebook and started to ask the stranger what they needed as they pulled the hood back to reveal bulbous black eyes. It was a Siren. No wonder it smelled so badly of ocean water. She had gray green skin and tangled dark hair. The figure didn’t say anything but laid a piece of paper on the counter. Millie reached over to see it was asking for a specific healing potion. She looked at the siren, but before she could say anything Noah came through the front door. “What is that!” he yelled. “It smells like they move the entire wharf in here. Oh my god.” As he walked close, he finally saw the figure standing at the register. “Nice man, this is why no one comes here.” The Siren turned her head away from Noah and Millie knew she was seething inside.


    Millie took the piece of paper and asked the Siren who the potion was for. She didn’t say anything but motioned for the paper back and pulled out a pen and began to write. “My Dad”, it said.


    “Can’t talk?” Noah asked.


    The Siren nodded. “Sea witches must be charging voices for legs. Hopefully it’s only temporary?” The Siren nodded and wrote “only with legs”. “Makes sense” Millie agreed. Noah leaned over to look at the recipe.


    “Don’t you have a job you need to get to?” She snapped as Noah leaned closer to her.


    “Not till 9.”


    “Maybe you should try to get there early”


    She looked at the Siren, “I can make this, but probably not tonight. It’s almost time to close.” The Siren started to shake her head and pulled the paper back. “Need tonight. Only few hours.” Millie sighed, she certainly wasn’t going to offer her a place to stay in her apartment, she’d never get the smell out. She was actually surprised Raven hadn’t wandered down to see what the smell was.


    “Okay. I’ll need some time to get it together.” The Siren smiled, showing her pointed teeth. “But you both have to leave.”


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    The Siren stared at her, “Go for a walk. And you go to work!”


    “So grumpy, geeze” Noah sighed as he turned to leave. She pointed to the door, motioning for the Siren to leave as well. The Siren looked unsure, but she left with Noah.


    Millie started to grab ingredients off the shelf. Some honey, mandrake root, silver leaf, and aloe vera. She had a jar of “sacred spring water” upstairs. Lucky for her, there was a sacred spring not too far from where she lived, so it wasn’t as hard to come by as it was in some places. At least this wasn’t something that required a certain day or moonlight or anything. It was mostly mixing these things together in the right order and right amount. It was a pretty common healing potion; to be honest. Millie had made it several times before in the last few months. Strange that a Siren would want it though. They usually had their own medicine and cures for things, but she needed the money for rent. And again, she wasn’t really doing anything else.


    It took some time to lay everything out and boil the water before adding things in one at a time. It was almost two hours by the time it was done.


    Millie went back downstairs and found the Siren waiting at the front door. She opened the door and handed her the mason jar. “Make sure this stays dry, so it doesn''t all float away or whatever. But it should help with whatever is wrong with him. If he doesn’t get better, come back and I’ll try something else.”


    The Siren smiled and excitedly took the jar. She leaned in for a hug but hesitated, seeing the look on Millie’s face. She opted instead for a friendly wave before running off into the night. Millie watched her leave and sighed. Hopefully that fixed whatever was wrong, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it now. Not unless the Siren came back to say it didn’t work.


    A few weeks later Noah came in carrying a pile of green slime. “What the hell is this?”


    Millie looked at it, “Why did you that pick up? With your bare hands!”


    Noah quickly put it on the register desk and began rubbing the slime off his hands. “What is it?!”


    She chuckled and went to grab an empty container from under a shelf. “Well, like most beautiful things in the ocean,” she began, filling up the container with water and placing the slime inside. There were some rocks in the mass, and she moved those around the bottom to keep the slime steady. After a few moments, the slime began to rise and resemble seaweed. There were a few buds in the mix and they began to open to reveal pearlescent flowers. The seaweed and flowers moved in the container as if they could still feel the waves of the ocean and took on a green-blue light of their own.


    Noah stared in wonder at the gift.


    “They usually look better under water than on land”


    Millie smiled as she stared at the ocean bloom and thought the potion must have worked.