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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

“TranquiliTea” by Quinn Cavanagh

Submitted to Contest #128

If I were to start my own tea house, it’d be called TranquiliTea. I would sell orange pekoe and earl grey and dirty chai tea lattes, and maybe they'd go by names like 'Elixir of the Sun" or "Liquid Ecstasy" (warning: does not contain real ecstasy). I’d sit in as a barista alongside my carefully crafted coworkers, I’d pour each brew with a smile on my face and a warmth in my gut (probably from the three teas I’d have already downed by then), and I’d cap the environmentally-friendly, locally-sourced disposable cups with a wonderfully mundane b...

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“Masala Chai & I ” by Kathrine J. N. Rajalingam

Submitted to Contest #128

Ashvin was staring at the water in the pot as it was boiling, added the sugar first, black tea powder followed by cardamom, cloves, black pepper, coriander, fennel, star anise, cinnamon, and nutmeg that he crushed with the mortar and pestle that he brought from India when he first came to American. He added whole milk and waited while the chai boiled. 'Ginger,' he said out loud. Masala chai, without ginger, was a crime, his mother would always say, and he wasn't about to commit that forbidden act. Ashvin hurried to the fridge, opened the cri...

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“Dirty business” by E. Roux

Submitted to Contest #128

It’s been about an hour since I was waiting in the tea house. I get my phone out of my bag and check again the message he send me this morning. I will explain everything. Meet me at Charlie’s at 4 o’clock. I’m not in the wrong place. However, is 5.15 and he’s nowhere to be seen. I give him a call. Voicemail. I let out a sigh and put my phone on the table. The waitress comes towards me, putting on her face her best smile. I take a quick look on the menu she had left on the table when I entered. “What can I bring you?” she asked. “Ear...

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“Everyone Likes a Waffle” by Mary Catherine Kingfisher

Submitted to Contest #128

“Let me share a secret with you." I said, into the dark room. I was in the mood to let it fly.“No one believes your show anymore," I shout-whispered at him, leaning down. "The charming, funny guy who danced on tables at parties in college? It’s over. I hate to break it to you, but everyone knows you're a dick.”I sighed, exhausted. “You’re a dick and I’m an idiot,” I said. At this point, I knew I was only talking to myself.A few minutes before this last hurrah, as I was rehashing our latest go-round, he’d simply looked at me, turned off the l...

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“a tale to tell over tea” by Joan Warburton

Submitted to Contest #128

Miranda hummed as she got ready; she was eager to meet her friends for their usual cuppa and cake in Nancy’s Tea Room; bursting to the gills really and couldn’t wait to get there and give them the low down. Finally deciding on her mint and white dress, M&S of course, with matching cardigan, silk buttons fastened to the waist to empathise her slim waist she slipped into white kid heels smoothed the imaginary line down her sheer tights; she was ready. As it was a beautiful summer’s day she decided to walk instead...

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“The Tea-rex Mug” by Patrick Borosky

Submitted to Contest #128

Carl stared into the murky depths of his mug as he sat at the bar. Since he became an adult, he had always been a coffee person. He bought into the stereotype that it was a drink for a strong person. The strong bitter taste and the caffeine surge were precisely what he needed to start a new day. After all, life itself was bitter, and the drink seemed a perfect accompaniment to it. Finally, to this day, hardly anyone on this earth could argue that few things matched the fragrant aroma of a freshly made cup of coffee. Pair that scent with a si...

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“Admission” by Terrie Graves

Submitted to Contest #128

Just awake. My eye twitched & I didn’t know if it was an excess of coffee or tears. So, chai it is…less caffeine. Glancing my thumb over the screen, I skipped last weekend, still marked with his return. 545 AM. I rubbed the sleep from my sore eyes, as if further irritation made a difference. Reborn at his touch. Aged to white in a sentence. Falling back to my pillow, the wince surprised me, and not. I thought stab wounds to the belly took longer to kill you, but clearly she had poisoned the blade. I recalled how numb chill had ...

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“Stronger for the Fire” by Heather McGuire

Submitted to Contest #128

Meghan watched the ripple of creamy silk flutter down the pillowy fabric like wind blowing softly over a milky pond. From her mother’s shoulder to the place where her apron cinched tightly around her narrow waste, the silk danced delicately as her arm moved the tea bag up and down. Steam unfurled in spindly whisps like a tiny chimney and Meghan imagined the look on her mother’s face to be wistful, but she knew it was more likely to be a scowl. She absentmindedly stroked her niece’s perfectly round head while she grabbed another rock wit...

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“The Last Cuppa” by Kip Koelsch

Submitted to Contest #128

For some time, I’ve been reusing my tea leaves—waiting patiently until the spent remnants barely tinted or flavored the hot water before moving on to a fresh scoop. Sadly, this evening’s bedtime cup reached that woefully uncivilized nadir. While I knew these leaves were nearly exhausted, there was just enough taste to maintain the emotional comfort of my nightly ritual and temporarily ease the now persistent sharp pangs in my abdomen. Relaxed and burrowed under my puffy down duvet, I drifted off to sleep s...

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“Shadowy Garnet” by Elizabeth Maxson

Submitted to Contest #128

Oolong…Earl Grey…Black…the tea selection was daunting in the cabinet. Grandma Charlie always had boxes of tea although I never saw her drink any. Now, as I was sifting through her belongings it only seemed right to make myself a cup of tea. That and there was no coffee pot in the house and the nearest Starbucks was a twenty-minute drive into town. I had been the only visitor to Grandma Charlie’s since she refused to move into the nursing home last year. She threw my mother out of the house and never liked my father, so he didn’t e...

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“Scout” by Anne Sellers

Submitted to Contest #128

“Why do I have to drink the damn tea?” Anyone could tell that Scout was worked up. My grandma explained to him, for the umpteenth time, that he couldn’t have coffee anymore, on doctor's orders. Coffee, she explained, would get him too riled up because of all the caffeine. Scout furiously kicked his crossed leg while wringing his hands in his lap. He was muttering something to himself, but I couldn’t quite make it out. It was something like,”Leave me alone, no fire.” I tried not to stare. Scout was at least mid-30s when I firs...

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“The Golden Teapot” by Tanya Humphreys

Submitted to Contest #128

Egret and Heron sat at opposite sides of the small table in the parlor of their castle. In the center of the table sat a gleaming silver tea set consisting of a pot with more curves than their mother, two cups with fancy scrolled handles, saucers, a creamer with tiny lion’s feet, and a sugar bowl. The noon sun’s rays plunged through the tall, multi-paned windows and dazzling white reflections from every shiny surface buffeted round the room like a light-filled kaleidoscope.The handle of the sugar spoon was an eagle with a garnet eye. Th...

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“The Shy Man and the Fortune Cookie” by Clyde Mcculley

Submitted to Contest #128

The Shy Man and the Fortune Cookie He was in his late twenties, lonely and awkward. Love had failed him after several attempts at dating women. His right eye had a nervous twitch. After finishing college, he decided to move to a small town near where the college was located. He did not want to make a big change in his life. He found a small sparsely furnished apartment on the second floor above a mattress store in the downtown area. It was a chilly evening as he walked down the street to find something to eat. He discovered a sma...

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“Clara and the Teapot” by Liz Neylon

Submitted to Contest #128

Clara and the Teapot Clara checked her phone, the text from Janine, the journalist, said she was running late: “Terribly sorry, have been delayed, more like 4.30 pm and looking forward to a cup of tea!”. It wasn’t great, this was when clients started coming back in, but they would have to manage. Guy, the trainee chef, appeared from the kitchen; wearing a messy blue and white striped apron, a tea towel draped over his arm. “Do I look the part?” he grinned, blonde fringe falling over one eye. Then he pivoted round, taking an exaggerated pos...

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“Right Place, Right Time” by Katy Rose

Submitted to Contest #128

‘I can’t drink it,’‘Oh, come on Susan, what good is this doing anybody?’‘None! It’s not doing any good - for anyone!’ Susan slammed the tea cup down, the light brown liquid sloshed over the sides and onto her Eichholtz Umberto Dining Table.‘Susan!’ George jumped up and rushed to the kitchen, bringing back a napkin to wipe up the tea, ‘what’s come over you?’Susan didn’t answer but stood and made her way towards the dining room door, eying the ridiculously expensive ornaments on her fireplace as she left.It was a glorious summer day outside bu...

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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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