The Witch and The Mermaid

In the northern region of a kingdom named Essora, there lies a mystical forest and inside that forest, there lives a witch. A witch as powerful as she is brilliant, her name is Melanie.

As the morning light shines through Melanie’s bedroom windows, she opens her eyes and slowly sits up in bed. She stretches a bit and places her feet on the cold wood flooring. Once Melanie reaches the bathroom, she brushes her long auburn-brown hair and then her teeth. She rubs her pale green eyes one last time and she goes to get changed. She changes into one of her favorite outfits, a medium length black dress, with a cream crew neck sweater under-neat, with a pair of black rain boots. Adding socks and her favorite faux-leather bag to finish the look she is out the door and ready to start her day.

Once Melanie steps outside she feels the chill of autumn on her skin. Before she leaves she grabs her black witches hat off the hook by the door to her small cottage, puts it on and heads out.

Starting her day out in the woods is one of Melanie’s favorite parts of her day, especially bright and early in the morning. Melanie spots a creek she usually stops at to collect water and some rocks. Before she reaches the creek Melanie notices something weird, she wonders if something is in the creek. Usually, the creek has some small tadpoles in it but nothing more.

As Melanie inches closer to the creek, she is surprised by a BIG SPLASH! She backs up, trying not to get wet and finally notices what was in the water.

“Hello!” says a girl as she pops out of the water.

“Um… Hi.” says Melanie, responding sheepishly.

Melanie keeps her distance as she isn’t sure what is happening. She doesn’t know if this is some random girl in the middle of the creek or something else. The girl looks at Melanie confused.

“Am I… Is this your creek?” The girl asks, seeming a little scared.

“No! No. You’re not in my creek. I’ve just never seen anyone swim in the creek before, that’s all. I’m usually up here alone.” Melanie says, trying to reassure this girl.

“Oh wonderful!” The girl says as she twirls in the water. “I was worried I was trespassing.”

“Do you mind if I ask, why you’re in the creek?” Melanie asks.

The girl looks at Melanie confused again, as if it’s odd that she would ask this. “I saw this small opening as I was swimming in from a river. Thought this would be a nice place to relax.” She says without skipping a beat, seeming very confident in her decision.

As the strange girl answer’s Melanie’s question, Melanie can’t stop staring at her. Melanie has never seen her before, she is usually the only one in the forest most of the time and Melanie has never seen her in town either. She wonders if maybe this girl is from somewhere far away and visiting. But visiting who?

This girl can see Melanie ponder over what to say next. “You’re trying to figure me out, aren’t you?” She says as she swims closer to the edge of the creek and places her arms over the side, laying her chin down on her arms.

Melanie is caught off guard by this. “Quite frankly, yes I am. Most of the time I’m the only one in this forest, except for the animals of course and I’ve never seen you in town before.” Melanie says bluntly.

“You don’t hold back, do you? Haven’t you noticed yet? I’ve certainly noticed you, little witch.” The girl says bluntly back.

“Notice what?” Melanie retorts back, as soon as she does the girl moves as if she is going to kick her feet up but instead it’s a tail… Melanie soon realizes this girl is a mermaid. She’s never seen one in person before, only heard stories and legends of sirens making ships crash and sink. She can’t believe her eyes, Melanie stares in awe. Most people would be shocked or even frightened by this discovery. But Melanie is excited!

“Oh my GOSH! A mermaid, here! Right in front of my eyes!” Melanie says as she spins around in the air. The mermaid starts to giggle at the site of this.

“You’re an exciting one. What’s your name?” The mermaid asks.

“My name is Melanie. What’s yours?” Melanie says excitedly as she sits down near the edge of the creek, but still keeping a safe distance.

“I’m Reka. It’s nice to meet you Melanie.” Reka says. She seems nice. Nothing like the stories Melanie has heard.

“It’s nice to meet you too. I’m wondering though, how could you tell that I was a witch?” Melanie asks.

Reka points at the air over her head. “The hat! A little stereotypical, isn’t it?”

“Oh! Of course, the hat. I’ve worn it for so long I barely notice that I grab it when I leave the house.” Melanie says, a little embarrassed. “But the witch hat, it’s more of a symbol than anything else. It has meaning, ya know?”

“I see. As long as you like it.” Reka responds.

Some awkward silence starts to fill the air and Melanie tries to quickly change the subject. “So, you said you swam in from the river.”

“I did.” Reka says quickly.

“Why were you in the river? If you don’t mind me asking, I just thought all mermaids lived in the ocean.” Melanie asks, she’s trying not to step on any… fins.

“Not all mermaids live in the ocean. You humans don’t really know anything about us, do you?” Reka states.

“To be fair, all I’ve heard are folk tales about sirens making ships crash and sink into the ocean. Or stories from when I was a kid that my mom used to tell me. So, I guess you’re right.” Melanie says. She has to admit that humans really don’t know much about mermaids.

“Ah the sirens. That is a whole different type of beast in itself. Think of them as a distant cousin of mermaids.” Reka says as she giggles a little at the fact that Melanie would compare her to a siren.

“Good to know. You guys also don’t just drown people, right?” Melanie nervously asks. She isn’t sure if this is crossing a line or not but Melanie has to make sure she isn’t in a sticky situation.

“Only if they annoy me.” Reka bluntly responds.

“Am I annoying you?” Melanie asks, a little scared.

Reka looks Melanie up and down, she can tell Melanie is a bit on edge after she has said that. Reka doesn’t want to scare her away, it was just a reflex for her to respond like that.

“No, I’m actually really enjoying this conversation. It’s the first I’ve had for a while.” Reka says, trying to reassure Melanie. It seems to work as Melanie starts to relax a bit more.

“I’m glad you are.” Melanie says as she pulls out a journal from her bag. “Do you mind if I write some of this down and ask a couple questions?”

Reka’s face lights up as Melanie asks this. She’s excited that someone is taking an interest in her. “Of course, ask away.” Reka says as she is pushing her light aqua hair out of her face. Melanie notices Reka’s royal blue eyes for the first time, she also notices how happy Reka is. Melanie blushes and continues with her line of questioning.

As the day goes on and as the two get to know each other, Melanie and Reka notice how close to night it is getting. They must have talked for hours without feeling how much time passed by. They’ve enjoyed each other’s company throughout the whole day but now Melanie feels as if she needs to get back to get home and get ready to prepare dinner for herself. Melanie shifts to her knees and puts her journal back into her bag.

Melanie looks at Reka and gives her a soft smile. “I have to go now, it’s almost night time and I’m starting to get a little hungry. But I hope we can continue this conversation later… Maybe tomorrow?”

Reka’s eyes light up and she shakes her head. “Yes, definitely. You’ve given me a reason to stay around here.” She says excitedly.

“I gave you a reason?” Melanie says as she giggles a bit, still enjoying the conversation with Reka.

“You gave me a friend and something to look forward to.” As Reka says that she can feel herself blushing but she says with so much confidence.

Hearing Reka say this has Melanie shocked. “I don’t know what to say.” She says and she cups her hands together.

“You don’t have to say anything, just promise to come back, okay?” Reka says with hope in her voice.

Melanie looks at Reka and smiles. “Of course I’ll come back, I promise.” As Melanie says that she waves goodbye to Reka and turns to walk away. Reka then follows my swimming away up stream back to the river.

Melanie can’t believe how this day has gone, it was definitely unexpected but it was a wonderful surprise. She feels as if the world seems bigger and brighter now. But that also fills her with so many more questions. Once Melanie reaches her front door, she places her hand on it, looks back towards where the creek is, remembering her very first interaction with a real mermaid.

She looks back to the door and says to herself “A friend… what a lovely thought.” And she then opens her and steps inside for the night.

THE END