Question: Can a potion change our lives? The new physics suggests much of what occurs is related to what we expect to find, so why not?
Synopsis/Spoiler: The old woman was bent, and could not afford the cure.
The Physics of Belief
The peddler had sold all that he was going to sell in the little village. He was getting ready to leave and travel on to the next town, but he had one special mission to accomplish first. He had to find the old lady who lived at the edge of town and give her a special gift, by arrangement of a young man he had met the night before. He asked around and was given directions to her hut, and went straight away to see her. He knocked upon the door and heard a shuffle of feet. A couple of minutes later, the door slowly opened and the old woman (who could not look up) asked, "Who is it? What do you want with me?"
The peddler answered, "I have come with a gift." And he placed a small vial in her hands. "Here. Drink this. This is a potion made from the Waters of Forgetfulness, which will help you. A young man of the village has asked me to bring it to you and has paid for it himself, by special arrangement." With that, the peddler turned and walked away.
The old lady was left standing in her doorway, holding the small vial in her hands. "What? What did you say? Someone paid for this? Oh, my!" When she was sure the peddler was gone, she closed her door, turned and slowly moved over to the table in the center of her room. There she sat down and and set the vial on the table in front of her. Dare she believe? Soon tears began to stream down her face. She knew she was being foolish, but she must try just in case it was true.
Taking the vial gently in her hand, she lifted it to her lips, tipped it quickly and drank the contents all at once. Then she waited. At first, nothing happened. Then she began to feel a warmth that spread through her body, starting at her middle, and then moving into her arms and legs. She took a deep breath and tried to sit a little straighter in her chair. It did seem she could feel her old bones and muscles stretching a little. For the next few minutes, she began to straighten her body as she sat in the chair, until she could tell that she was no longer as stooped as she had been.
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