(aghast)

Really, Fox!

INT. OLD-FASHIONED HOME / BATHROOM - LATER

White Fox peeking in on Gray-haired Woman applying a dark salve to the inside of her mouth before dipping a toe into a large bath of milk.

White Fox GASPS.

GRAY-HAIRED WOMAN

(frustrated)

Come in then, you little fox.

White Fox guiltily edges into the room.

GRAY-HAIRED WOMAN

Closer.

White Fox nears the edge of the bath and looks into the liquid.

It turns out it isn’t milk but rather something gummy and shining.

White Fox tries to dip her finger into the liquid, and the Gray-haired Woman tries to stop her, nudging her in accidentally.

WHITE FOX falls and grabs for the Gray-haired Woman’s dressing gown before dunking into the bath with a SPLASH, clothes and all.

CLOSE IN on White Fox’s surprised face emerging from the viscous goop.

WHITE FOX (V.O.)

I felt that I was drowning: This liquid filled my nose, my mouth, my eyes. It tasted sweet, like mulberries, and poisonous.

INT. OLD-FASHIONED HOME / BEDROOM - NIGHT

White Fox examines the roots of her hair, which have begun to grow in white. OLDER GIRL sees her and whispers to FRIEND. White Fox turns to them both, and they silently leave her.

White Fox finds Gray-haired Woman and cries to her.

WHITE FOX

(clutching hair)

What have you done to me?

GRAY-HAIRED WOMAN

(angrily)

Like giving good dreams to a pig.

Gray-haired Woman’s expression is one of contempt.

WHITE FOX (V.O.)

Giving good dreams to a pig. I had not heard this expression before. And I would not realize what had happened until years later. For the next few months, my hair would grow in white, but nothing else would change. They would begin to call me White Fox, and still Madame would not explain what I had done.

INT. OLD-FASHIONED HOME / LIVING QUARTERS - DAY

OLDER GIRLS packing up and leaving the house to much fanfare.

WHITE FOX (V.O.)

As the other girls completed their training, they began to leave. I alone was left, and I began my training in earnest.

INT. OLD-FASHIONED HOME / BEDROOM - DAY

White Fox learning appropriate harp techniques.

White Fox learning how to move elegantly.

White Fox staining her hair with a mix of charcoal and mulberries.

WHITE FOX (V.O.)

As the years passed, I remained petite and young as ever. Some of my features blossomed, but were it not for my way of speaking and acting and my white hair, I imagine I could have passed for a teenager my entire life. But one day everything changed.

INT. OLD-FASHIONED HOME / LIVING QUARTERS - DAY

White Fox coughs during a practice performance and sees a stain of shining blood in her hand.

WHITE FOX (V.O.)

I told Madame, of course.

INT. OLD-FASHIONED HOME / BATHROOM - NIGHT

WHITE FOX receiving a small tub of dark paste from Gray-haired Woman.

GRAY-HAIRED WOMAN