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scallioncreamcheesebagel
There was something new at the fish market.
Minali had only come to pick up something fresh for dinner like she always did. She wasn’t the type to be squeamish around fish, always ate the heads, not like her brother who whined about the eyes. She’d just never seen one stare back at her with a human face.
The mermaid eyed her with an icy glare, huddled up with the end of her tail hanging out of a basin much too small for her. The tail fin was torn up, almost shredded, though the injury didn’t look recent. Silvery scales covered her body up to her collarbone and hands–zip-tied together by the wrists. A sign emblazoned with Catch of the day! hung above her.
She’d never seen a mermaid in real life before, and certainly had never seen one at her local market.
“Interested?” the fishmonger, not one she had bought from before, asked. “She’s a pretty penny, but you’re never gonna see something like this again.”
“Is selling mermaids legal?” she asked.
The fishmonger shrugged. “You a cop? There’s no way she survives the sea anyway. You see that fin. These things aren’t stupid, that’s why nobody ever catches ‘em. Probably only went for the bait because she couldn’t catch anything that could actually swim away. Throw her back and she’d die. Might as well make a sale if it’s the same either way.”
Minali was frozen to the spot, holding her basket of dinner close. There were people everywhere, many also taking an eye at the mermaid, though everyone seemed to be scared off by the price tag. But soon enough, someone would surely come along who wasn’t scared off.
An image wormed its way into Minali’s head against her will: this mermaid, on her kitchen counter, her smooth neck under her knife as a pan sizzled with oil on the stove.
She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head until the image faded.
“I’ll take her.” The words left her mouth before she could stop them.
Before she knew it, she’d blown half her rent money and had a mermaid sitting in a wagon sloshing with water, which the fishmonger threw in ‘on the house’. The mermaid bore her teeth, sharp things meant for tearing apart prey.
“Can you understand me?” she asked.
To her surprise, the mermaid gave a quick nod.
“I’m not going to eat you.” Better to get that out of the way immediately. “I’m Minali. Do you have a name?”
The mermaid’s glare softened just a bit, though she still looked reasonably wary. “Ee,” she squeaked, like a dolphin might’ve. Minali doubted she was physically capable of human speech, even if she understood it.
“It’s, um, it’s nice to meet you, Ee,” she stammered, pulling the wagon along. “Do you… wanna go back to the ocean? Or, like, a specific part? Or do you wanna go back to my place? Because the fishmonger said–”
Ee interrupted her ramble with a swing of her bound arms, a finger pointing straight toward the ocean, nearly visible on the horizon.
“Got it. Oh, let me take care of that. I’ll cut the tie away.” Minali dropped the wagon’s handle, pulling a pocketknife from her purse.
Ee hissed, pupils constricting to slits.
“I won’t hurt you!” Minali raised her hands up, though one still held the knife. “Just the tie! Honest! So you can use your hands!”
After a beat, Ee hesitantly offered her hands, her eyes never leaving the knife.
Minali couldn’t possibly imagine how terrified she must be. Abducted to what must have been akin to an alien planet, sold as food, able to understand every horrifying detail of her situation, but unable to communicate herself or get away.
She took the offering preciously. “Thank you for trusting me,” she said, her voice soft. Moving slow, she brought the knife to the zip tie, stepping back as soon as it snapped.
Ee just stared at her, no less wary.
“I’ll take you back to the ocean. Just like you asked.” Even if Ee would die, it would be on her own terms, at least. Hopefully, she would be comfortable. Maybe she would be surrounded by family. She couldn’t know.
She replaced the knife, took the wagon’s handle back up, and continued on. As she walked, Ee reached forward to grab the fish out of Minali’s basket. She did not protest, and the mermaid munched away, bones and all, until the basket was empty.
At least the market was close enough to the sea that she didn’t have to worry about loading a mermaid into her car. Minali pulled the wagon to the end of the dock, sweat beading down her face.
“We’re here,” she announced, just because she felt like she should say something. “Do you need help out of the wagon?”
For a second, Ee seemed to consider, then held out her hand.
The moment Minali grabbed it, it was like the whole world flipped upside down, the dock falling away under her. At first, she didn’t even realize what was happening. Not until she hit the water.
Ee grabbed her by the arms, holding them to her sides, and placed her teeth around Minali’s neck. She could feel every prick ready to tear her throat to shreds, and squeezed her eyes shut so at least she wouldn’t have to see.
The teeth stayed there, second after second, not breaking the skin, until Ee pulled away with a smirk.
I could eat you and I won’t.