Holding up the vial to the dim basement light I read the label. Or, more accurately, tried to read the label: It was in some Chinese or Japanese writing. Neat handwriting, for what it was worth, but still nothing I could read. I suppose that is what I get for being mono-lingual. The liquid itself was a clear, emerald green, which somehow reminded me of spring.
I went to put it back, then hesitated. What did it smell like?
Shrugging, I uncorked the vial and tentatively held it up to my nose. It smelled good-- like sun warmed fields... My mind drifted away from the dim basement, and the cold, snowy outside. I was somewhere warm, but not yet too hot-- a clean, fresh somewhere...
My arm felt like it was getting ready to cram. How long had I been standing there, breathing the vapor from the vial? Blinking slowly, I looked around. This time of year, all one could tell by looking outdoors was whether it was daylight, or night, and I had left my watch upstairs with my books. (I don't know why, but sometimes taking it off seems to help me concentrate better..., I guess I am weird like that.)
Once more, I started to put the vial back in the box. Man, my mouth and throat felt dry! And the vial had smelled so good... Huh?! I didn't know what was in there! Probably just colored water..., but...
I honestly could not bring myself to put the stopper back on the vial, much less return it to the box. And then there was the smell, once more drifting to my nose. How could anything which smelled so good be bad...? And I felt so dry!
"Oh hell, it's probably only colored water!" I muttered, bring the vial to my lips and slamming it down in one gulp. Warm sunlight. Soft fields of grass and flowers. Winter ending and the promise of summer. New growth. Long, lazy days of endless sun, warm nights, spring.
Someone slammed the door upstairs and stomped into the kitchen. I mentally returned from wherever I had been. Well, now I had no problems putting the cork back onto the vial. As I did, I noticed for the first time that it had a number on it. "07"
And the lid of the box had numbers printed on it, with English translations of the Chinese(?) characters after it. Curious, I found 07 on the list and read what it was supposed to do. It was supposed to be a potion of: