(Lights up. The Electric Elk, a pub in Belarus. ARKSANA tends bar. After a moment, PIATRO enters. Both are in their early-twenties and dressed in casual work clothes.)

ARKSANA
Hi!

PIATRO
Hello.

ARKSANA
Long day?

PIATRO
Long week.

ARKSANA
What can I get you?

PIATRO
Birch sap.

ARKSANA
Birch sap? Is it your birthday?

PIATRO
No.

ARKSANA
When I was growing up, my grandmother would only let me have birch sap for special occasions. Birthdays. Holidays. Unique days.

PIATRO
My grandparents were the same way. My mother and father didn't care, they'd let us have it whenever we wanted. But my grandparents believed in rituals and... what did you call them? Unique days.

ARKSANA
So it's not your birthday?

PIATRO
No.

ARKSANA
Is today a holiday I don't know about?

PIATRO
No. It's not.

ARKSANA
Are you celebrating an anniversary?

PIATRO
No.

ARKSANA
So why is today a unique day?

PIATRO
Wedding.

ARKSANA
You're getting married?

PIATRO
No.

ARKSANA
Whose wedding then?

PIATRO
Mine.

ARKSANA
I'm confused.

PIATRO
We cancelled it.

ARKSANA
Oh. I... nothing tragic, I hope.

PIATRO
No. She just changed her mind. Three days ago. The wedding was supposed to be today at 2:00.

ARKSANA
Not much notice.

PIATRO
No. I've been calling people non-stop, telling them not to come.

(Pause. ARKSANA takes a bottle of birch sap out from under the bar and places it between them.)

ARKSANA
It's funny, I haven't had birch sap in years. My grandmother used to take me to a grove just outside of town every March 20th and we would collect our own. We would...

PIATRO
Wait! Let me guess... Tie a bottle to the tree.

ARKSANA
Yes! Then drill a little hole into the trunk...

PIATRO
Insert the tube into the hole...

ARKSANA
Put the other end of the tube into the bottle...

PIATRO
Fill it up...

ARKSANA
Collect everything, and then...

PIATRO & ARKSANA
Thank the tree.

ARKSANA
Right!

PIATRO
"Thanks, tree!"

ARKSANA
We would add, "See you next year!"

PIATRO
My father used to take my brothers and me.

ARKSANA
Maybe we saw each other!

PIATRO
What day did you say you went?

ARKSANA
March 20th, every year. It was our own, private family holiday. Our own unique day.

PIATRO
We always went at the beginning of April.

ARKSANA
It probably wasn't even the same grove.

PIATRO
Probably not. There are a lot of trees out there.

ARKSANA
We'd have the sap for less than a week before it spoiled. We tried to freeze some of it, but it never tasted the same.

PIATRO
Us, too. Those few days that it was fresh were wonderful, though.

ARKSANA
Yes. Sweet and wonderful.

PIATRO
Unique!

ARKSANA
Yes!

(Pause. ARKSANA collects two glasses and places them on the bar.)

ARKSANA
Are you okay?

PIATRO
I don't know. I suppose I am.

ARKSANA
Heartbroken?

PIATRO
Yes. And angry. And embarrassed. And confused.

ARKSANA
Why did she call it off?

PIATRO
She said we rushed into things.

ARKSANA
Did you rush into things?

PIATRO
We were engaged for two years. We dated for a year-and-a-half before that.

ARKSANA
That doesn't sound very rushed.

PIATRO
I thought it was plenty of time. I was ready to propose after three months. Every time I saw her, every time we were in the same room together I would think "This is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with." I thought she felt the same way.

ARKSANA
I suppose you asking her to marry you and her saying yes could lead you to believe that.

PIATRO
Exactly! There really shouldn't have been any confusion!

ARKSANA
I'm sorry.

PIATRO
Thanks.

(Pause.)

PIATRO
I always think of birch sap as a winter thing, even though in late-March it's already heading toward spring.

ARKSANA
It's the taste. It tastes like winter.

PIATRO
Right! Especially when it's chilled. Cool, sweet...

ARKSANA
Crisp, fresh...

PIATRO
Woody...

ARKSANA
Green...

PIATRO
Subtle...

ARKSANA
Like a winter forest.

PIATRO
A sweet winter forest.

ARKSANA
I used to love it.

PIATRO
Me, too.

(Pause.)

PIATRO
Are you married?

ARKSANA
Why? Are you already interested in a new fiancé?

PIATRO
Very funny. I just... I want someone to tell me if it's all worth it. Dating, marriage, love.

ARKSANA
Well, I'm not married. I have been in love, but it didn't last.

PIATRO
No?

ARKSANA
No. He cheated on me. With a friend of mine. A good friend of mine.

PIATRO
Ouch!

ARKSANA
But I still think it was worth it.

PIATRO
Really?

ARKSANA
Yes, really. I was in love and it felt wonderful. Even if it was only for a little while.

PIATRO
A few unique days.

ARKSANA
Exactly.

(ARKSANA pours two glasses of birch sap.)

ARKSANA
Do you mind if I join you?

PIATRO
Not at all.

ARKSANA
This stuff is full of preservatives, not fresh right out of the tree, but I guess it'll do.

PIATRO
Nothing's ever as good as it used to be.

(ARKSANA raises a glass.)

ARKSANA
To love.

(PIATRO raises his glass.)

PIATRO
To the sweetness of unique days..

(They clink glasses and drink. Lights down.)