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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#128: Tea Time

Did you know that January is National Hot Tea Month? Tea is a wonderfully diverse beverage that’s enjoyed in many different ways all over the world. It can be a soothing drink, a social drink, and has even sparked conflicts (think the Boston Tea Party, or the First Opium War).

Inspired by the history and cultural significance of this beverage, here are the prompts for this week’s contest:

🥇 Winner

“my fellow passerine” by Jay Wayne

🏆 Winner of Contest #128

Content warning: Alcohol use, mild language, sexual themes, referenced sexual abuseWhen Bast hears the low groan from the bedroom, he quietly begins making tea. The motions are familiar, as soothing as the brew itself. He takes a handful of dried ironwort stalks down from the cupboard, the flower buds crinkling as he counts out six and returns the rest to the bundle.The floorboards creak with soft footsteps in the next room over.He fills a pot one-third of the way with water and adds the stalks whole. Some of them need to be folded in half t...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Zero” by Alex Sultan

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #128

When Japan’s fighter plane—the Zero—first appeared, it could outmaneuver any aircraft it encountered. It ruled the skies. Uncontested design. The allies found themselves at a loss to deal with it. Yet, Japan did not prepare for a long war. Shirua picked up an antique teapot, careful not to burn his hands. He poured out two cups. Steam rose from the water; sweet and floral. He placed the cups and teapot on a tray, then walked to the living room, sitting down on a cushion across from his grandfather.He handed him a cup. His grandfather sipped....

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“Mr Mallory's Traubles” by Hamzah Malik

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #128

Have you heard of Mr Mallory? Mr Mallory lives in a huge tree in a dense green forest. But it's what Mr Mallory can do that makes him truly special. Lost souls wander through the forest and stumble upon Mr Mallory's tree house, and he whispers for them to come up for some tea. There's a battered old tyre swing with a rope older than your granny's teeth that sways gently in the breeze. People sit in the tyre swing, and Mr Mallory slowly pulls them up towards him, high up in the canopy of the trees. He grunts and strains and clenches h...

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“A Cup of Suspicion” by Sharon Harris

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #128

Warning - If you accept your invitation to this tea party, there will be mentions of poison and murder. It starts at 3.30pm GMT. Don’t be late.Why had Hazel invited the taxman to tea? Was he the next to suffer, like they had? Last month she’d asked the planning officer who’d refused to let her build a conservatory, the month before that, it had been the headmistress who’d given Billy a detention.There was a pattern, but only Jude could see it. The other friends (or were they victims?) thought Hazel was a darling to invite such a range of peo...

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“Mango Tango Tea” by J.C. Lovero

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #128

Thursday, December 24th I paid the cashier for the hot water and tea bag. I’ve always preferred coffee for myself, but this seemed like a safer bet in the hospital cafeteria. Besides, tea was Nathan’s favorite, and he could drink it when he woke up. I dipped the tea bag up and down, watching the hot steam escape from the styrofoam cup. Its sweet, floral fragrance lingered in the air, tickling my nostrils as I sipped.I thought about the last time I spoke to Nathan. I could tell he was… off. I probed him about his medications, and he blew...

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“Eventually She Will Crack” by Diana Sadat

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #128

Eventually She Will Crack ‘Wait, you got fired again?’ ‘Yes. Do you have a lighter?’ Beverly reached over from the driving seat and sun in her glove compartment. She found a small silver lighter and handed it to Margot. ‘Thanks,’ said Margot, opening the car window and lighting the tip of her cigarette. ‘What for this time?’ Said Beverly, chancing glances between the road ahead and her sister in the passenger seat. ‘Punched my boss.’ ‘You what?’ Beverly’s shock took form in a lasting gaze at her sister, one that lingered a s...

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“The Composer” by Neil Deuchar

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #128

The Composer An elderly man is sitting perfectly still on a sofa. One hand hangs limply from the armrest, the other trembles on a familiar depression in the upholstery beside him. His head moves with his breath as he stares at the room out of the tops of his eyes. A mirror hangs over an unused fireplace. The mirror frames his head and shoulders with ornate gilt whenever he coaxes himself up onto his poles and, balance corrected, raises his head. There’s a small television on a corner table, its flex wound into a carrier bag. Behind it, win...

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This week's prompts

Start your story with someone making a cup of tea — either for themself or for someone else.

Fluff – 171 stories

Set your story in a tea house.

Spring – 36 stories

Write a story about a tea party that your character is reluctant to go to.

Summer – 44 stories

Write about a character who’s dying to “spill the tea” (gossip) about something.

Fluff – 21 stories

Write a story about a conflict that breaks out over something ordinary (like tea, perhaps).

High School – 26 stories

Stories

“my fellow passerine” by Jay Wayne

🏆 Winner of Contest #128

Content warning: Alcohol use, mild language, sexual themes, referenced sexual abuseWhen Bast hears the low groan from the bedroom, he quietly begins making tea. The motions are familiar, as soothing as the brew itself. He takes a handful of dried ironwort stalks down from the cupboard, the flower buds crinkling as he counts out six and returns the rest to the bundle.The floorboards creak with soft footsteps in the next room over.He fills a pot one-third of the way with water and adds the stalks whole. Some of them need to be folded in half t...

Read story

“Zero” by Alex Sultan

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #128

When Japan’s fighter plane—the Zero—first appeared, it could outmaneuver any aircraft it encountered. It ruled the skies. Uncontested design. The allies found themselves at a loss to deal with it. Yet, Japan did not prepare for a long war. Shirua picked up an antique teapot, careful not to burn his hands. He poured out two cups. Steam rose from the water; sweet and floral. He placed the cups and teapot on a tray, then walked to the living room, sitting down on a cushion across from his grandfather.He handed him a cup. His grandfather sipped....

Read story

“Pink Martini” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #128

“I don’t think I’m ready.”“You’re ready. Besides, you don’t have a choice.”“I don’t have a chance . . .” “C’mon. She’s sweet.”“She’s scary.”“She’s sweet and scary and—six years old. Look, I think you have a distinct advantage, being a grown up and all.”“Ugh . . . tell me what she wants to do again?”“She wants to have tea with her mommy’s new boyfriend.”“Where?”“In the treehouse.”“Do I have to climb the tree?”“Yes, you have to climb the tree—in your suit.”“Why do I have to wear a suit? I don’t even wear a suit to work.”“She wants a forma...

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“On Becoming A Writer:” by Scout Tahoe

Submitted to Contest #128

Real writers drink tea. I want to be a real writer, not just someone who pens as a pastime. So I wake up at writer’s-time: 7:00am, when the sun is bruising a soft periwinkle. The birds are chiming on the utility power lines and I know my body will be destroyed by this change to my sleep schedule. However, we writers make sacrifices all the time. I stay in my maroon sweatpants, overly large tank top, and mismatched socks. Fitting my glasses to my nose, I type “how to make tea” into the blinking Google search bar. Another note: real ...

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“The Enduring Present” by Beth Jackson

Submitted to Contest #128

“Why don’t you have a cup of tea?” Gina sounded weary, even over the phone. “You know, take a moment to relax.” Her voice leeched its warmth. “There’s no one after you, Matt.”“I’m driving.” Matt adjusted his grip on the steering wheel. “To your house.”Gina sighed. “Well, I’ll make one, then. Are you just leaving the farm? I’ll have it ready when you get here.”Matt glanced in the rearview mirror. Nothing. Just fingers of inky darkness stretching behind him.“Your doors locked?”“Yes, Matt.”“Don’t let anyone in.”“No.”“Stay away from the windows....

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“Tea by the Sea” by Howard Halsall

Submitted to Contest #128

I listened and waited for Lizzie to say, ‘when’ as I poured the milk into her teacup. Adding milk was the easy part, having committed to memory the exact shade of her favourite beverage. She’d always smile and claim my expertise was more due to luck than judgement. I’d chuckle in response and put it down to my discerning eye and training with inscrutable baristas in far-flung lands.‘Almost perfect,’ she’d say, after judging the colour of the steaming brew.‘You’d expect no less,’ I’d say, and she’d raise a finger to curtail our exchange and c...

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“In It To Win It ” by PJ Aitken

Submitted to Contest #128

“Two sugars?” asked Tony holding Colin’s cup of tea out towards his illustrious boss. “… no just milk, Tone,.” Colin responded with his voice set to “Won’t Suffer Fools” mode. “Really? Since when?” asked Tony sounding like he’d just discovered who assassinated JFK. “Since always, Tone. You just keep forgetting!” sighed Colin at his dim PA whilst also rolling his eyes, he decided not to pat his head as well. “No boss I don’t! If you took two sugars I’d remember that.” insisted Tony sounding like an injured bird if they could talk and make tea...

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“Woven” by A.R. Eakle

Submitted to Contest #128

I’m pouring us a cup of tea, just for the two of us. It’s not for the whole world, it isn’t even for the people down the street. It’s only for her and for me. The steam wafts up and warms my hands, wetting them. And it feels like a bit of it is melting, lightly like the way a flame slowly melts a candle. Mine, green. Hers, jasmine. She’s always been that way and in that is something I’ve always loved about her. Not too different, but different enough to notice. Maybe that’s the way she wants to be remembered, just a little different. Enough ...

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“The Phantom of the Shadows” by Nana Ansah

Submitted to Contest #128

“Don’t ever trust a soul, Vivian. This world is a very cold and wicked place.” Those are the warnings of my mother. To her, I am a normal girl, innocent, naive, and young. She’s worried for my safety as any mother should be, yet little does she know how wrong she is.The world should be scared of me.Because here I am, at home on a beautiful Saturday morning, having tea with a woman. A woman that I plan to kill.Let me explain. To put it quite candidly, I am a hitman. I kill people for living. Which is quite ironic considering most hitman are, ...

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“Mr Mallory's Traubles” by Hamzah Malik

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #128

Have you heard of Mr Mallory? Mr Mallory lives in a huge tree in a dense green forest. But it's what Mr Mallory can do that makes him truly special. Lost souls wander through the forest and stumble upon Mr Mallory's tree house, and he whispers for them to come up for some tea. There's a battered old tyre swing with a rope older than your granny's teeth that sways gently in the breeze. People sit in the tyre swing, and Mr Mallory slowly pulls them up towards him, high up in the canopy of the trees. He grunts and strains and clenches h...

Read story

“A Cup of Suspicion” by Sharon Harris

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #128

Warning - If you accept your invitation to this tea party, there will be mentions of poison and murder. It starts at 3.30pm GMT. Don’t be late.Why had Hazel invited the taxman to tea? Was he the next to suffer, like they had? Last month she’d asked the planning officer who’d refused to let her build a conservatory, the month before that, it had been the headmistress who’d given Billy a detention.There was a pattern, but only Jude could see it. The other friends (or were they victims?) thought Hazel was a darling to invite such a range of peo...

Read story

“Devil's Brew” by Daniel R. Hayes

Submitted to Contest #128

(Content Warning: Crude Humor, Mild Language.) Thick steam filled the great chamber in the Unholy Kingdom as Satan stirred his cauldron. The shadow of his silhouette danced along the blood-soaked walls like a Cirque du Soleil performer. His red skin glistened in the twinkling light of the fiery flames revealing a masculine boulder-like body that was chiseled from stone. Satan’s thick black curvy horns looked like trumpets from a grand orchestra, and his dark fingernails tapped his trident with great fervor as he mixed the ingredients t...

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“The perfect cup ” by Emerald Lace

Submitted to Contest #128

Rebecca stood in the kitchen, tears streaming her cheeks and a solid resolve were the only things keeping her out of bed. She opened the first cabinet and pulled out a fancy wooden box with a glass top. On the top, he’d etched the word tea in eloquent script, and she gently traced her finger over the word. Noah had bought her this storage box one Christmas when they’d first married. It was a silly thing, but the most thoughtful of the gifts he’d ever given her. She’d had a love for tea from an early age and often tried new flavo...

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“Cold Tea” by David Sweet

Submitted to Contest #128

"Shit. All I have left is Earl Grey. Is that okay?" "Sure," Angela replied curtly. She stretched and then succumbed to a long yawn, deciding to curl up on the apartment's only couch. Marcus had moved into the bottom floor of this 100-year-old shotgun house just outside of Cincinnati three months ago. The grip of December made the original hardwood uncomfortably cold. To compound the problem, the fireplace did not function. He had placed a menagerie of candles on the hearth and mantle. Last night, the wax had slowly trickled down th...

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“A Disturbance on the Austrian Line” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #128

Frankly, Alma, I find the entire affair unacceptable. Yes, please, more tea, but less sugar this time. It’s bad enough I’ve been up half the night. I don’t need to be bouncing off the cheap paneled walls of this ghastly locomotive. I told you we should have looked into an ocean liner for our restive month instead of roughing it aboard the Austrian Line. Now look where we are. Stopped in the middle of who-knows-where while some diminutive detective tries to solve the murder of a man nobody seems to like very much at all. I, for one, belie...

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$250

Prize money

298

Contest entries

160

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 14, 2022 EST

Won by Jay Wayne 🏆

Title: my fellow passerine

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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