Start or end your story with a character making a cup of tea for themself or someone else.

Posted in Short Story on Jan 24, 2025

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✍️ 187 stories

“Time Travelers Photography - open from 11am to 4pm” by Euan Brennan

Submitted to Contest #287

Trigger warning: historical accuracy may not be the best, and certain historical figures are not treated with proper care. Everything is used in a non-serious manner. Arthur placed the cup of tea on the table. It was the porcelain cup with the floral pattern which we usually stored in the glass cabinet to spruce up the place for whenever unbearable guests visited. Now it was here filled with hot water, milk, one sugar, and ground tea leaves.“This isn’t happening,” I groaned.“Do you not love my tea?” Arthur displayed theatrics equivalent to a...

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“Just Desserts” by Simon Ireson

Submitted to Contest #287

Amber tilted the teapot and poured perfectly-brewed English Breakfast tea into two pristine oversized white cups. She is careful to pour the liquid so that it doesn’t drip or slosh as it flows. The clients, especially this client, are particular in their standards and spilling tea would be a disaster for her. She needed this evening to go well. She’d planned for too long.Placing the pot silently on the trolley beside her, Amber picked up a clear jug of milk and offered it to the diners. The man waved it away, but the woman across nodded and ...

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“NOVA 3000” by Chris Cancilla

Submitted to Contest #287

I drink coffee all day, maybe too much, but I can enjoy a good cup of tea in the evening. Honest-to-goodness tea, real tea, the type that looks like twigs! But with flavor. I’m not talking about those bags in a box, mind you. But I do keep a few around the house for emergencies. We visited a few historic places on a recent vacation to Jamestown, and I picked up a few loose teas. I have a little left and I savor the flavor. My go-to tea is Earl Gray, a black tea that is very flavorful. A close second is Lady Gray. Lately, I have found that si...

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“An Unexpected Guest” by Dannie Olguin

Submitted to Contest #287

[Note: This story contains implied references to possible child abuse. Nothing graphic, but take care of yourself!]A gust of wind rushes down the chimney, making the fire flicker before flaring brighter. The little girl is huddled in front of the fireplace, wrapped in the maroon chenille blanket from the back of my couch. The logs, real ones gathered from my property, pop and hiss away any remaining moisture.Trying to keep my movements light, I bustle around the kitchen, acting as if the child is nothing more than a niece or neighbor's kid. ...

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“Summer In Winter” by Andrés Marticorena Hillman

Submitted to Contest #287

Summer never quite seemed like it did when you were imagining it curled up in your blankets every winter morning before school. It was always a little hotter, slightly too humid, just a touch more unbearable that you dreamed it up to be. Suddenly you find yourself wishing for the soothing warmth of a cup of tea against colder air versus a sticky popsicle that melted before you could even close the freezer or pay for it at the local stand. This memory of summers wishing for winter and winters dreaming of the sun’s warmth repeated over and ove...

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“Pot of Tea” by Jo Freitag

Submitted to Contest #287

Plot-hole… Pothole… Potty… Pot of tea…Little Plump Jo, the current Artisan in Residence in Malory Tennyson’s Cloudbank Cabin for Arthurian Studies, had written herself into a plot hole again. Her five overexcitable canine companions, the Dabrowski Dogs, offered their opinions and suggested solutions.“Plot-hole… Pothole… Potty… Pot of tea…” chanted Sensual Dabrowski, who as well as trying to ensure that Jo included details about colours, textures, smells and sounds in her writing, also insisted on monitoring Jo’s personal comfort and wellbein...

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“What’s a bit of spilled tea between friends” by Ross Dyter

Submitted to Contest #287

“D’you want one?” Brian said, waving a box of tea bags in one hand.“You know why I’m here don’t you?” replied Tony, standing just inside the kitchen doorway.Brian stood with his back to him and said, “Yes, Tony, I do.” Then he flicked the switch on the kettle. “It was pretty obvious when you came through the front door.”“And yet, there you are making a cuppa.”“Yes, here I am making a cuppa.” He took a deep breath and leaned both hands on the kitchen worktop. “Tony, you’ve known me for what, ten years? If you think I’m going to do this withou...

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“~ Charlie Sue ~” by Jim Parker

Submitted to Contest #287

~ CHARLIE SUE ~Charlie Sue was aggravated. Having been ordered to drop everything, put her life on hold and just go, she was heading to see Lilith Primus. A founding member of the Majestic 12 and since Lucy Lange’s disappearance, the new Director. Her supervisor Dale was just the opposite, ecstatic. Are you kidding? Going to Dougway Proving Grounds in Utah. The oldest, most advanced alien research center in the world. In all of his 35 years of back engineering alien tech for the government, he had never even left the facility. He was excited...

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“I Am Not Pearl” by Princess Esther Osagie

Submitted to Contest #287

I watch the steam rise as I pour hot water into my mug of cocoa powder. I stir gently and wrap my hands around my mug, leaning against the kitchen counter. I take a long, slow sip. Bang! Bang! Bang! I almost choke on my hot cocoa when I hear the loud banging on my front door. I set the mug down gently on the kitchen counter and check the camera. I quickly open the door. “Aunt May?! What are you doing here?” I ask. My aunt steps into my house and looks around. “So this is where you live,” she says, totally ignoring my question. “Oh well. It w...

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“Almost” by Sophie Goldstein

Submitted to Contest #287

“It’s just like the tea set they use in Downton Abbey,” he says.“Is it?” Maria asks, “There are a lot of tea sets they use in Downtown Abbey.”“I know,” he huffs, “But this is the one that Mrs. Hughes uses. She always uses the same one.”“And you want this one?” she asks, staring at the fancier sets nearby. When he doesn’t respond she looks at him and sees that he’s staring lovingly at the Mrs. Hughes set. “Why do you want this one?” she asks.“Because…it’s used to comfort. Whenever Mrs. Hughes uses it, it’s always when someone needs a helping ...

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“Memento Mori” by Reilly Stuber

Submitted to Contest #287

"There was one other such as yourself." Madam Loru spoke softly. Her voice trailed off into what seemed a whisper, the hush exaggerating echo and making itself discernible. "Yet he was more willed. More capable, a little taller. He spoke with such passion and dignity that his irrefutable ask was out of my control to reject." She looked upon me with the eyes of a lantern. My fingers locked onto the bottom of the table, an irresistible urge to flee ringing in my ears. But I settled with it: sat at the wooden table with the Everlong Candle, com...

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“Remember me...” by Mara Ashcroft

Submitted to Contest #287

Her hands shook as she moved the cup from the microwave to the counter. The teabag bobbed on the surface of water that was not quite hot enough. Her breath came in staccato little gasps, not strong enough to take in the aroma. She would remember. She had to remember. The tea, it was his favorite. Wasn’t it? She darted a glance out the window, but no one was there. No one was ev...

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“A Morning Tea Among Thyme ” by Acia~ A

Submitted to Contest #287

Somehow, making tea had weaved into me, the roots of my soul. A vascular mesh that now throbs with a nectar so saccharine it smokes out of my pores like a bitter incense. Once I was led, from the time of falling flowers, into an unending labyrinth—clutching a clammy hand as its cold seeped into me, the sun blinding my eyes, and my heart, still wondering who had led me—where only the faint coiling of steam remained, soft against my face, like a mother of the trees promising me home. It felt as if, with nothing left to give, my existence defau...

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“The Sheer Magnetism of Tea ” by Ramona Scarborough

Submitted to Contest #287

The Sheer Magnetism of Tea He was running away from someone the day I met him. The jingle of Masie’s Tea Shop’s bell made me turn. He surveyed the room. An ordinary guy, short, compact. Out of place, tee shirt, jeans.His glance landed on me, classic sheath, sleek bob, sitting alone. As if I had stepped into a magnetic field, I could not turn away.Head up, his blue eyes held mine as he came closer.“Would you mind if I joined you?”The shop was not crowded. A recent survivor of a rip-your-heart-out divorce, the words “wary of men” d...

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“Brewed in Freedom” by Hillary Quilico

Submitted to Contest #287

Trigger warning: homicide as well as nondescript abuse in the form of physical and sexual. The kettle began its slow, mournful whistle, a sound that filled the silence of the small kitchen. Ana stood by the counter, her hands gripping the edge so tightly her knuckles whitened. The warped wood felt splintered under her fingertips, a small pain she welcomed—anything to drown out the storm brewing inside her. The kitchen smelled faintly of damp earth and charred wood, remnants of a fire long extinguished in the hearth. On the peeling walls, a l...

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Start or end your story with a character making a cup of tea for themself or someone else.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 187 stories

“Time Travelers Photography - open from 11am to 4pm” by Euan Brennan

“Just Desserts” by Simon Ireson

“NOVA 3000” by Chris Cancilla

“An Unexpected Guest” by Dannie Olguin

“Summer In Winter” by Andrés Marticorena Hillman

“Pot of Tea” by Jo Freitag

“What’s a bit of spilled tea between friends” by Ross Dyter

“~ Charlie Sue ~” by Jim Parker

“I Am Not Pearl” by Princess Esther Osagie

“Almost” by Sophie Goldstein

“Memento Mori” by Reilly Stuber

“Remember me...” by Mara Ashcroft

“A Morning Tea Among Thyme ” by Acia~ A

“The Sheer Magnetism of Tea ” by Ramona Scarborough

“Brewed in Freedom” by Hillary Quilico

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story in a café, garden, or restaurant.

Center your story around someone who’s boiling over with anger, frustration, or jealousy.

Write a story with a character pouring out their emotions.

Start or end your story with someone being soothed by a hug or words of comfort.

Contest #287

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

408

Contest entries

173

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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