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

“The Shadow of Light” by Rock Hahn

Submitted to Contest #128

In their kitchen, the tea kettle whistled violently as Cameron anxiously stared at it. They sat and watched as steam rushed out from the hole like a stampede before vanishing to thin air. A hand suddenly came down across from them, grabbing the handle to remove it from the stove. Like a child being ripped away from their parents. The hand had no arm nor a body attached to it. It was a floating hand - the opposite of a shadow - of brightness. The lid opened up as soon as the kettle was tilted. As the water flowed out, Cameron listened as...

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“The Yellow Box” by Maureen MacLennan

Submitted to Contest #128

The Yellow Box The security lights were on at the elementary school across the street so I could make out the windows of the classrooms on the east side of the building. I remembered the floor plan inside as I’d spent my childhood there what seemed tonight like a hundred years ago. This was the um...

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“Lukewarm” by Channa Brown

Submitted to Contest #128

It’s hot, more so than it should be this early. I feel a drop of sweat roll down my back, echoed by a tear rolling down my face. My bones ache and my muscles cramp from disuse. I choke back a sob as a tea tray comes into view, set gently on the table in front of me. His hand brushes the tear from my face, and I recoil, turning to look out the window. “You know I don’t want this either.” His voice is thick with feigned sorrow, and mine is hoarse.“Then, why? Why are we doing this?” I look at him now, trying to be fierce despite the pool o...

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“Birdcage” by Mandy Lee

Submitted to Contest #128

“Shall I pour you another cup, mam?” Mellie asks as she tiptoes over to my chair, hands shaking nervously causing the tea kettle to clink and water to spurt out. Though quiet and timid, and not much older than myself I found her company surpringingly enjoyable. “Yes, please. I can’t seem to warm up my bones this morning.” I confessed, though I knew this had less to do with the inclement weather and more to do with what lay ahead. &nbs...

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“What a Blessing” by Kristen Lester

Submitted to Contest #128

Gregory looked out the kitchen window and poured himself a cup of tea. The morning dew glistened in the garden. Somewhere near a bird sang a lovely song. Pride glowed inside him at his perfect backyard. Everything resembled a painting. He took the cup in his hand and sipped it when he felt his wife’s hand on his shoulder. With a smile, he turned to her and kissed her cheek. Sunlight struck her golden hair and made it shimmer. “Good morning,” she said and kissed the side of his mouth. Gregory bade her good morning. He took his cup of te...

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“ME, TEA, AND POETRY” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #128

Making my morning tea prior to sitting down at my writing desk is a favorite personal ritual. This morning I put the kettle on and while waiting for the water to boil, chose my tea for this morning of musing and writing. I chose peppermint for its power, lemon for its zest, and cherry for its sweetness. I placed the teabags in a small teapot I had purchased over forty years ago at a yard sale and smiled at the memories of those days which always leap into my mind whenever I brew tea in that teapot. The kettle sang, and I poured the boiling w...

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“For All the Tea in Texas” by Kate Zerrenner

Submitted to Contest #128

He placed his long, bony fingers on the edges of the lid. The container looked like an egg with its top and bottom lopped off. It shone like one of those Hercules beetles you find in rotting ash trees. If you caught one, you could turn it this way and that, and it changed colors in the sunlight. The container would probably do that too, with its streaks of gold in the black lacquer.Mr. Sasaki lifted the lid to reveal a green powder the color of the algae that spreads out on the water between the bald cypress trees in the lake. Setting down t...

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“A FAMILY LOVE Story ” by Sheila Sarrett

Submitted to Contest #128

Janice is a precocious and adorable five year old with blonde curly hair and a big smile. She was sitting in the shopping cart which her mom had standing in the aisle where she was looking for a cereal that she thought Janice would like. Her mother finally chose the cereal which Janice said she would try. Looking down the aisle Janice saw an elderly gentleman also looking for a cereal. Janice shouted out to her mother’s embarrassment “Hello Mr. old man. Maybe you would like the cereal my mom picked out. Her mom looked at the man to apologiz...

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“Mild January Drinks” by L.J Sunwing

Submitted to Contest #128

“You look like you need a cup of tea.” Ripley crosses her arms and looks at her friend sitting at the bar-like kitchen table. Ripley pulls her hair into a low bun, strands hanging down in her eyes over her thick-rimmed glasses. The small woman stands on her tip-toes to get a box of tea out of the cupboard and reaches across the stove to flip on the burner. The light shines in through the window, the weather is cool and damp but mild enough to take a walk outside in a light jacket. This made the simple warm drink seem all the more appealing t...

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“Not My Cup of Tea” by Isabel Mirassou

Submitted to Contest #128

I'm not a tea drinker, but while heading for Colombian coffee beans, I accidentally threw away the can of Earl Gray and Jasmine tea that Maria had just given me for my birthday. The can was luxurious, I had not looked at it carefully before, but now that it was in my hands and I felt the embossing of the can, I stopped to see the illustrations, read the ingredients, the history of the tea, and even the instructions for creating the perfect mug.I uncapped it and as soon as I opened the bag, I sensed an aromatic explosion of memories; the berg...

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“THERE IS A LITTLE DUCK IN MY CUP OF TEA” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #128

THERE IS A LITTLE DUCK IN MY CUP OF TEA Alice removed the paper and put the tea bag into the cup, while she waited for the water to boil. Of course she too knew that tea, a real tea should be prepared with the leaves of tea dried to the right point, on which to pour water at first boiling, without the presence of the filter, yes, very thin, but that however it was not tea. In tea bags the paper bag, even if very thin and very permeable to water, inevitably takes something away from the tea, from its most authentic ...

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“The Morning Ritual” by Sam Wilson

Submitted to Contest #128

Every day the kitchen window sill fills with the water-colored light of damp dawn. The brass kettle whistles with a high-pitched whine. The sound personifies my inner monologue as I grip the handle with a shaky hand. This tray of tea is not being prepared for only me. This offering of hot, inky water, is a gesture of my goodwill. “With milk?” I suggest staring into the hazy bedroom from the threshold of the door, clutching yesterday's tea tray. Every morning I ask, and every morning I receive no reply. “Milk.” I surmise to myse...

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“George?” by Krista Womack

Submitted to Contest #128

George? He stood over the gas stove with the kettle warming pulling it off seconds before the whistle as not to startle his friend in the next room. “Hey Dom, do you care what kind of tea?” Leo asked from the kitchen. Dom didn’t answer but gave a slight head nod. Leo entered carrying a tray with two mugs filled with hot water, a string hanging over the side, and bowls of sugar and milk. He set it down on the small table between the couch and chair where they sat. Dom continued to stare off at the wall, but his eyes stayed unfocused....

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“A Chance for Spring” by Dhruv Srivastava

Submitted to Contest #128

Every morning at 6:30, the neighbors of John Davos would notice his bedroom light flickering on almost exactly fifteen seconds after the clock bottomed out. That is, they would have noticed if they were awake, but John lived in a sleepy old town, full of retirees who went to bed early and slept in late almost every day. In fact, on most days the trunks of shiny Cadillacs and Lincolns could be heard thunking around noon as people packed their golf clubs and headed down to the range, even at the zenith of the swampy Florida heat. If the neighb...

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“Green Tea” by Anne McCarthy

Submitted to Contest #128

Deirdre and Makoto Yamaguchi sat cross-legged on cushions, facing each other, at the square miniature dining table in their tatami room overlooking their traditional Japanese garden in Tokyo. The scent of freshly lain straw mats underneath them blended with the rich aroma of green tea and soya bean deserts set out. A sense of expectation filled the air. The first cherry blossoms had bloomed in the garden this morning on the tree planted by Makoto’s grandfather after the war. Soon it would be time for ohanami, wher...

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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

“The Shadow of Light” by Rock Hahn

“The Yellow Box” by Maureen MacLennan

“Lukewarm” by Channa Brown

“Birdcage” by Mandy Lee

“What a Blessing” by Kristen Lester

“ME, TEA, AND POETRY” by Julia Corliss

“For All the Tea in Texas” by Kate Zerrenner

“A FAMILY LOVE Story ” by Sheila Sarrett

“Mild January Drinks” by L.J Sunwing

“Not My Cup of Tea” by Isabel Mirassou

“THERE IS A LITTLE DUCK IN MY CUP OF TEA” by Mara Masolini

“The Morning Ritual” by Sam Wilson

“George?” by Krista Womack

“A Chance for Spring” by Dhruv Srivastava

“Green Tea” by Anne McCarthy

🌟 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: