The Chaser

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1940

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The Dirty Phial

The proprietor of the store may be meticulous in his habits, but his store, and the things he sells, are not maintained as if they mattered. The walls of his store are dirty, and the furniture is plain. The love potion itself is described as dirty. Alan Austen has come to the store seeking intimacy and the birth of new love, yet his notions of it seem untouched by experience; indeed, he barely knows the object of his affection. One would expect the store-bought solution to his problem would have the gleam of a new perfume bottle. The condition of the bottle may represent the reality of the older man’s experience of love. Love is not a gleaming thing that remains forever new, but something that collects wear and tear, and which requires ongoing maintenance. It may also represent an unfulfilled promise; the bottle is dirty on the outside because it the product inside is tarnished by a fundamental flaw.

The Colorless, Odorless Liquid

There is a list of strong, evocative flavors to which the older man alludes when describing how to apply his potions. Tea, soup, orange juice; each of these evokes an unwitting response in the reader, because each has a distinct flavor and evokes the rituals of domesticity and attachment.

By contrast, the potions the old man sells insinuate themselves flavorlessly and odorlessly into these stronger flavors. Like a television advertisement for breakfast cereal, they present a wholesome package, evoking all the love and care of a homecooked meal, but supplanting the purpose of said meal with a new and unstated purpose. Instead of distributing selfless love, these poisons aggrandize the server of the meal, controlling or even killing the receiver. As with most commercial enterprise, this redounds to the powerful person at the throttle of this exchange, for whom a cash exchange is all the love they need. Like the liquid itself, such a person is a colorless and flavorless mixture of disparate character, better avoided than engaged.

The Obscure Location

There is something mysterious about the nondescript location of the proprietor’s business, which has an edge of criminal enterprise. The proprietor advertises by word of mouth, and is wary enough to know the name of the person entering his establishment before they ever introduce themselves. The elder man combines the slick patter of the salesperson with the tight-lipped immorality of a gangster.

Such people are inclined to not being described at all, the better to profit and disappear into the night with their earnings. This should be especially true of someone in the business of selling emotions, which themselves are often imperfectly embodied through word and gesture. The facelessness of the old man is matched by the fleetingness of his place of business, which could be packed up and moved out in an evening. It also serves the false intimacy of his business, which convinces his customer and puts him at ease. A business that loudly advertised these kinds of wares would be repellent.