SCENE II
(KEIKO visits an alchemist’s shop the next afternoon. There is a sakura tree in full bloom just
outside the shop.)
KEIKO: Hello? Hello? Is someone here? The door was open so . . .
OLD WOMAN: (off stage) Come in, come in. I will be out in a minute.
(The OLD WOMAN enters with a walking stick.)
Hello there. How may I help you, dear?
KEIKO: Hello. I have a . . . pest I need to exterminate, and I’m looking for some of your
strongest . . . poison.
OLD WOMAN: Ahh. a pest, you say. I don’t keep what you’re looking for in the front.
Come.
(KEIKO follows the OLD WOMAN through a curtain to the back of the
shop.)
KEIKO: Interesting shop. How long have you been in business?
OLD WOMAN: Ahh. Longer than you’ve been around, dear. I inherited all this from my
late husband who inherited it from my father. He was an herbalist and an alchemist . . .
traveled all over for the rare and the exotic, for nature’s cures to all our ailments, for love
potions and poisons. What you’re looking for is on the top shelf to the left. It’s the bottle
with the purple desiccated petals.
KEIKO: This one?
OLD WOMAN: Let me have it. (She opens the flask and gently waves her hand over it to
whiff the contents.) Ahh, yes, Wolf ’s Bane. This will take care of your problem. Now you
must be very careful with this. This is strong enough to kill a black bear. (She hands the
flask back to KEIKO.)
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