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

Posted in Fluff on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 171 stories

“Tunnel Vision” by Shuvayon Mukherjee

Submitted to Contest #128

Lady Astor: “Winston, if I were your wife I’d put poison in your coffee.”Winston Churchill: “Nancy, if I were your husband I’d drink it.”Alison watched the powder dissolve into David’s tea with grim satisfaction. David liked his tea milky. He would never tell the difference.“How’s the tea?” he called from the other room.“On the way,” she shouted back. It was taking too long. She thrust a teaspoon into the mound of toxic grains and swirled it out of existence. Stirling silver clinked against bone china. She carefully put the spoon aside ...

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“Tea Talk” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #128

Tea Talk ~ by Greg Gillis Patty’s hand trembled as she poured the steaming Orange Pekoe tea into the two cups that laid upon the counter in front of her. She lifted the two cups by the saucers that they sat on and carried them toward the table in the dining room that sat adjacent to the kitchen. Drops of tea splashed over the edges and onto her fingers, but she dared not expose her pain. She just kept on walking. &n...

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“Lily's Tea Party” by Melony Beard

Submitted to Contest #128

Blonde ringlet curls bounced against rosy cheeks as Lily skipped down the hall wearing white patent shoes and a pink dress trimmed in lace on the hem.“Mr. Teddy,” Lily said as she entered the bedroom, “Today we’re having a special party.”Grabbing Mr. Teddy from the floor, she propped him in a chair at the four-seat table. “Wait right here while I prepare the tea.”Without blinking, Mr. Teddy. dressed in a single red bowtie, waited patiently as Lily retrieved four tiny cups. “You’re probably wondering why we need four cups instead of two, but ...

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“John's Tea Debacle” by Philip Ebuluofor

Submitted to Contest #128

“I wonders why he goes for something like this” John the priests servant murmured as he sets the table for morning meal. He had been living with the priest for three years now and since then, he had never seen him take any other type of tea but Lipton. He has tasted it on Many occasions the priest could not finish the one made for him and the taste had been awful. Tea spoon on the teacup facing downwards, sugar on the left side, bread at the center, butter by the left, hot water in the flasks and another green one ...

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“A Cup Of Cheer” by Kev Neylon

Submitted to Contest #128

“Make us a cup of tea love.” It’s always the same, my lazy tosser of a husband shouting through to me in the kitchen to make him a cup of tea. As if I’m not busy enough doing everything else in this house whilst he sits in front of the television watching sports or some other inane rubbish that anyone with half a brain wouldn’t touch with a barge pole. I switch the kettle on. At least when it boils it will mean I won’t be the only object in the kitchen with steam coming out of every orifice. I open the tea caddy and gingerly pick up one ...

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“The Priory” by Barbara Burgess

Submitted to Contest #128

Wendy flicked the switch on the kettle for her second cup of tea of the day as she drew on her third cigarette. Exhaling the smoke in a long stream, she wrapped her arm around her waist and shivered as she surveyed the whiteout through the small kitchen window. From the fields adjoining the garden to the hills beyond, there was nothing but snow. Half closing her eyes against the glare, she searched the distant slopes for signs the farmer had brought his sheep in for shelter. There had been little warning of a bad weather system enveloping ...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 171 stories

“Tunnel Vision” by Shuvayon Mukherjee

“Tea Talk” by Greg Gillis

“Lily's Tea Party” by Melony Beard

“John's Tea Debacle” by Philip Ebuluofor

“A Cup Of Cheer” by Kev Neylon

“The Priory” by Barbara Burgess

“Intertwined Fate” by Louise Muller

“Was it the Tea?” by C. M. Sinnott

“Toll Road” by James Grasham

“An Earl Grey Allegory” by Shelby Knight

“JC in Narnia” by Marie Cunningham Davidson

“The Bureau of Awkward Feelings” by Scoop Rittersblock

“Sweetie” by John F. Duffy

“Infusion” by FJC Montenegro

“As the Tea Leaves” by Rich Hosek

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story in a tea house.

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

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

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

Contest #128

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

298

Contest entries

160

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: