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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:

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

“Mozart's Sister” by Mae Siu-Wai Stroshane

Submitted to Contest #128

Welcome to this house, where my brother was born. Look around you at the comfortable room that my late husband the Baron has provided for me. Feel the warmth of the crackling fire. As my maid serves you fine tea from China, see the light gleaming on the polished silver and the fine Dresden porcelain we inherited from his mother.I never want for food or care. Yet who would guess that once I played for the crowned heads of Europe, sitting at fine gilt harpsichords next to my little brother as we wove tapestries of brilliant sound? Who even rem...

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“Toll Road” by James Grasham

Submitted to Contest #128

* = Winter’s Breaking is capitalised as it is the name of the second month in the calendar of The Three Kingdoms, equivalent to February in the Gregorian calendar. *** Gerrod wrapped his cloak tightly around him and pulled up his hood to shield his face. Turning his back to the wind he blew gently on the kindling, willing the fire to take the dry wood he’d spent the last few minutes carefully arranging. This really was a far cry from the comfort of the King Edward inn just a week past. At last, orange flames rose in his little pit, danci...

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“The Interview” by Ernie Olson

Submitted to Contest #128

The InterviewBy Ernest LeeHe is an old fashioned individual.Truthfully, ‘old school’ would be a more accurate term to use in describing the man I wish to work for. So, when I was advised to dress traditionally, I understood precisely what was intended. I believe my appearance will be acceptable, however, I am apprehensive. There is much weighing upon the moment.I have never met him, not personally. I know what he looks like, of course. I have researched him and his firm extensively. As has he of me. This is most certain, for not everyone is ...

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“The Tea Party” by Jeremy A. Wall

Submitted to Contest #128

Tea reminded Haley of death. Not the taste, she never touched the stuff. It was the cups. Those little handles, decorative and curled, almost impossible for Haley to fit a finger through. The saucers. The delicate pot. When she closed her eyes she could still see them shattered on the floor, grey water pooling in the white shards. The stylish man doubled over in his chair, eyes frozen. Haley was twenty-four. It was her first year on the force. Her partner Dean kicked in the door. Michael Brown had not shown up for work. His friends were c...

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“Intertwined Fate” by Louise Muller

Submitted to Contest #128

Come, child, have a seat. Surely you have a few minutes to sit with an old woman before heading off trying to find the place where you long to go. I also got lost in these woods many times over the years. In fact, I’m very grateful that you took the wrong turn at the main road and traveled down to this neck of the woods. It’s been too long since someone has. Now, don’t worry, love, old age isn’t contagious, and I don’t bite. What’s that? Oh, yes, my tea is an interesting color indeed. Funny you should ask because I was just about to tel...

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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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“Was it the Tea?” by C. M. Sinnott

Submitted to Contest #128

The four legs of the aged, wooden chair screeched across the tiled floor as I pushed back from the kitchen table. I lazily lifted myself from my seat using the palms of my hands on the worn-down arm rests. "Tea?" I asked, offering a shallow yet reassuring smile to the stranger sitting on the opposite end of the table. He was decades younger than me, possibly late twenties, yet the look of fear on his cleanly shaven face exuded the naivety of a child in trouble. The poor lad was shivering, just recently enduring the brunt of the thunderstor...

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“An Earl Grey Allegory” by Shelby Knight

Submitted to Contest #128

Content Warning: This work contains mentions of sex, self harm/suicide, and death. It is not an explicit work by any means but it does refer to sensitive topics so please engage accordingly. The piercing squeal of a tea kettle disrupts the peaceful silence of the morning. Kate rises reluctantly and removes it from the burner. It’s an Earl Grey kind of day. The rain falls in relentless sheets outside the window as she pours the scalding water over the tea bag. Once her ivory mug is filled to the brim, she settles at the large dini...

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“The Introductory Resocialization Event” by P.V. Andrews

Submitted to Contest #128

“You’re the first teenager to be invited from this province,” said my mother, trying to sound cheery. I looked at her, then down at the new dress spread across my bed. It hurt my eyes with its shiny newness and bright color. I didn’t even like the texture – the material felt stiff and unyielding, and I knew it would be uncomfortable. I had only ever worn soft cotton pants and t-shirts in grey. “I don’t want to go,” I stated to the dress. “You must,” my mother said sternly, and she stood to help me put it over my head. “It’s a pretty dress,” ...

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“The Bureau of Awkward Feelings” by Scoop Rittersblock

Submitted to Contest #128

Rose pours hot water into her cup of T and smiles wanly for the benefit of anybody who may be watching…which on this occasion is nobody, then adds a tea spoon of brown sugar and a whiff of milk before walking slowly back to her desk in isle ‘Jacuzzi 66.’ All the isles are named after things which prompt associations of calm, beauty and relaxation such as 'Tropical 44 ' or 'Sunset 22' . This idea was zapped through from marketing and won them much acclaim including several awards. Rose likes the concept almost as much as she likes drinking th...

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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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“JC in Narnia” by Marie Cunningham Davidson

Submitted to Contest #128

Amy lifted the whistling steel kettle from the gas stove, using a blue gel pot holder. Carefully pouring the boiling water over the tea leaves in the glass teapot, she absently reached for her mug. Amy liked to drink her tea from a white china mug. After years of Nursing and grabbing the first available cup, Amy couldn’t now bring herself to drink tea out of any mug unless she could see the bottom of it.Having strained the tea leaves, she poured her first drink of tea for the day. Sitting back in her recliner chair, Amy cradled the mug in tw...

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“Infusion” by FJC Montenegro

Submitted to Contest #128

He took all his stuff with him, except the Le Creuset. I start filling it with water and immediately realize I don't know what I'm doing. Do I fill it up completely or do I put only as much as I'm gonna drink? I'm not really a tea kind of girl. He was the tea guy, through and through. Because of him, I know tea bags are for losers: the right way of making tea is with loose leaves. You can use an infuser, the best one is probably the basket infuser. Tea ball infusers and silicone infusers are fine too, even a french press — if you're into tha...

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“As the Tea Leaves” by Rich Hosek

Submitted to Contest #128

“What do I do next?” I asked the impossibly old woman sitting in the chair opposite me. She wore a crocheted shawl and had her pure white, whispy hair pulled up into a bun. Her skin looked like an elephant’s—an elephant who had been in the bath too long.She was so devoid of muscle or fat that you could see the contours of her skull and skeleton through her fine, wrinkled epidermis, like the Crypt Keeper on that old TV show.Her eyes were yellow—both the iris and the sclera—and her teeth, what remained of them, were of a similar tint, the...

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“Sweetie” by John F. Duffy

Submitted to Contest #128

Note: This story contains mentions of physical violence and derogatory language. Squeezing both bags, he stared at the coffee maker. Wood County was always out of everything. Grounds. Creamer. Actual sugar. Viscous brown water stained his fingers and dripped into the rippling tea in the styrofoam cup. When the sopping bags had given their all, he tossed them into the trash can under the sink. “Who are you seeing this morning?” a woman asked. Matthew turned, and seeing Candace, he smiled.&...

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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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