Alchemy

Philosopher’s Stone Wonder of Alchemy!
Wisdom!
Wealth!!
Eternal Youth!!!

I regarded the sign with amusement. The dusky man behind it, an ageless thirty, smiled at me without hope.

“Buy?”

“No thanks,” I said. “Business slow?”

“Terrible.”

“No one’s gullible enough?”

“Oh, there are always some willing to try anything that promises money and beauty.” He sighed. “But every customer who has ever bought has demanded their money back.”

I smirked. “Gave up when it didn’t work, eh?”

“Everything I sell is true and genuine,” he bristled. “I myself am seven-hundred-and-thirty-six years old. No, they returned it because it worked. “