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

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 187 stories

“Twin Gardens” by McKinsee Abbott

Submitted to Contest #287

There once were two young boys, who were identical twins. Their parents died quite suddenly, and the boys were separated, each sent to a different caretaker. The first was sent to a caretaker who served him cake for lunch upon his arrival. The boy found this both delightful and unusual, because he'd never gotten to eat cake for lunch. He soon found out his caretaker would feed him all manner of sweets at every meal, because she wanted the boy to like her, and she didn't want him to complain. The second boy was sent to a caretaker with a gard...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Reflections” by Chloe Gardner

Submitted to Contest #287

The mug felt cold against Dr Kravolta’s skin as she held it loosely in her hand. It was a streaky sky blue colour littered with hand-painted daisies that had spots missed by whichever of her co-workers had created it in their pottery painting class following an excessive boozy-brunch. Too cheery. She picked up one of a charcoal-grey porcelain and inspected the ceramic. Too gloomy. She eventually settled on a clear glass inverted dome with a gold rim. Just boring enough.The kettle boiled on the counter in front of her. Its intense rumbling in...

4 comments 4

Read story

“3,808 Miles” by Andrew Darrah

Submitted to Contest #287

After the day’s game concluded, Henry promptly returned to his dingy little motel room, kicked off his shoes, untucked his shirt, and sat on the bed. He was not a large man, but the mattress eagerly submitted to his weight. Finding himself now several inches closer to the floor, Henry sighed, debating whether to just go to sleep at 7:30. He preferred night games, as they left him exhausted upon return, ready to let the night consume him. But today’s earlier start - and finish - left him with too much time to kill. He was depressed enou...

3 comments 3

Read story

“The Phoenix ” by Morgan Williams

Submitted to Contest #287

Brooding clouds sprinkled the earth in a blanket of sleet, the cold seeping through every crevice in the small cabin, layers of quilts doing nothing to defend me from the ice that dug into my core. Gone, he was gone. The silence within my measly home seemed to stretch miles, battered walls threatening to cave in as my steps thundered across the creaky floor. Suffocating, the silence descended. Until nothing remained but my booming thoughts. Thoughts of what I could have done better, what I should have said to rectify the situation...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Timeless Companion” by Georgia Sprague

Submitted to Contest #287

The sun shines across the horizon, turning what was once a blue sky into an array of pink and purple hues. Holly glances down at her hiking partner and pauses, a smile making its way across her face. Oliver begins wagging his tail, tongue lolling out of his mouth.“Hold on, boy. Just need to get a picture of this.” Holly reaches down to scratch behind Oliver’s ears before shrugging off her pack and pulling her camera out of it. Holly knows for a trip like this, that bringing her prized camera was perhaps not the smartest idea—at the end of th...

2 comments 2

Read story

“A bitter choice” by Laura Ethington

Submitted to Contest #287

The first thing he could recognize was an old, musty, wet scent. He's groggy, his mouth is dry, and his head hurts, but he feels warmth on his face. With that, he hears a crackling fire; attempting to lift his hand to his face, he realizes his hands are tied. His feet are tied. He opens his eyes and can see that he is tied to a chair. His eyes get used to the fire's dim light, and he is seated in an old, dusty room with wooden beams at a small round table with a teapot and teacup in the middle. He smells the scent of steeping tea. He starts...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Saved By Tea From The Sea” by Karen Duffell-Canham

Submitted to Contest #287

Tom had just finished the second watch on the battle ship, he felt parched from the wind whipping around him at warp speed for the last hundred miles. Fastening his oilskins around his body, he ducked below. Immediately the womb-like warmth encased him in its cozy caress. Greeting stoker Brown briefly, he went below to the canteen where the sight of the urn belching out steam cheered him no end. The young sailor poured a healthy slug of the beige liquid into a tin mug and followed it up with a splash of crea...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Kindness doesn't require omniscience” by Aristotle Hunter

Submitted to Contest #287

‘Kate lives near here.’ Augustus tried to push the thought from his head, but the more he attempted to discredit it, the more sense it made. After all, she already knew what he was going through and, up to this point, had been pretty actively involved. With newfound confidence, he made his way to her door and knocked. Just as he was about to turn away, the door swung open, but instead of Kate revealed her husband, Tae, standing in the doorway. “Is Kate around?” he asked, having somehow not seen this as a possibility when he darkened Ka...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Tea Teacher” by Alemu Bedane

Submitted to Contest #287

The sun hung heavy in the sky, its blistering rays casting long shadows across the dry, cracked earth. The village seemed suspended in time, far from the world I knew. The small school I had been assigned to sit isolated, far from the nearest source of clean water. The only water available came from a muddy pond that the villagers boiled before drinking. The other teachers had grown accustomed to it, their families had adapted, but I couldn’t. The sight of it made my stomach churn.I packed my bags and headed back to my hometown, seeking advi...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Tea for Two” by Jillian Faris

Submitted to Contest #287

I drop the teakettle when I hear the pounding on the door. It clamors against the stovetop, and the steam scalds my thumb.After all these months, he is finally here.Brushing my throbbing finger against the waistband of my blue floral skirt—his favorite—I rush to the door and roll back my shoulders before swinging it open.My ex-husband smiles hesitantly when he sees me, and his eyes graze over my body before he says, “It’s good to see you, Sammie.”“Samantha,” I correct. It is too soon for nicknames.He clears his throat. “May I come in?”Part o...

3 comments 3

Read story

“Bread, Tea, Life” by Antonio Rozich

Submitted to Contest #287

A steaming loaf of bread. For the last year, Marco, a UX designer by profession and a baker by hobby, has been fighting forgetfulness. Not sure how it started. Maybe there was a medical reason. He’d lay in bed thinking a tumor was cooking in the corner of his brain, slowly degenerating his memory. Closer to a stroke with each day. He didn’t even know if brain tumors and strokes had to do anything with one another. He just knew both were bad and didn’t want to know more. Or maybe it was all due to alcohol and cigarettes in his younger years. ...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Tea for the soul” by Mikahl Lev

Submitted to Contest #287

The train hummed beneath Edith, a steady rhythm that matched the measured rhythm of her thoughts. She sat alone, the latest newspaper in her hands, She could feel the crisp of the paper on her thumbs as she glanced down at the headline:“A Dead Man and the Wrong Cup of Tea.”A peculiar thing, really.“John, 75 years old was found lifeless at his home last night, his corpse sitting limply, half under his dining table, his cup half full. Authorities have yet to determine the cause of death. No signs of forced entry, no evidence of struggle. Neigh...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Ursa Major” by CRX SSXS

Submitted to Contest #287

TW: Descriptions of death Roman sat at his usual booth in Rancher’s Rest, a crisp newspaper spread across the table before him. The headline sent a shiver down his spine: LOCAL MAN FOUND DEAD—GRIZZLY ATTACK SUSPECTED. The article detailed the gruesome discovery—Martin Lovell, 43, deep gashes across the torso, limbs twisted at unnatural angles, and an expression of terror frozen on his lifeless face. Yet something didn’t sit right with Roman. There hadn’t been a confirmed bear sighting in years, and even if there had been, the way the body ha...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Ghost Tea” by Diana Davis

Submitted to Contest #287

Come home. Is it home anymore? Shower. As if it mattered. Eat the first few items from the pantry that she touches. Taste doesn’t matter. Boil the water for chamomile tea and steep it in her favorite mug for exactly 2 minutes. Hope it helps her sleep tonight. It never does. She makes it anyway. Sit and watch the television, tea in hand. The tea’s herbal scent is supposed to be soothing. It only serves as a painful reminder. But she sips at it anyway, indifferent to the taste. It doesn’t matter. The flickering light of the televi...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Lady is Fierce” by Cindy Miller

Submitted to Contest #287

December 17, 1773, just outside Boston, Massachusetts, the afternoon after the ‘Boston Tea Party’ “Cloise, please be a dear and arrange the tea for the Grinnells and Driscolls for this afternoon. I know Miss Stapleton has all of the particulars. But it never hurts to be certain.” “Yes, Mother,” Cloise Wilcox confirmed. She curtsied and departed the sitting room where her mother, Lady Jane Wilcox, and two of her mothers’ friends well as her friends’ daughters (schoolmates of Clo...

0 comments 0

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

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

Short Story – 72 stories

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

Angst – 56 stories

Write a story with a character pouring out their emotions.

Dramatic – 46 stories

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

Short Story – 47 stories

Contest #287

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Tea-rrific

$250

Prize money

408

Contest entries

173

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 31, 2025 EST

Won by Miranda Scotti 🏆

Title: Slow Burn

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 187 stories

“Twin Gardens” by McKinsee Abbott

“Reflections” by Chloe Gardner

“3,808 Miles” by Andrew Darrah

“The Phoenix ” by Morgan Williams

“Timeless Companion” by Georgia Sprague

“A bitter choice” by Laura Ethington

“Saved By Tea From The Sea” by Karen Duffell-Canham

“Kindness doesn't require omniscience” by Aristotle Hunter

“The Tea Teacher” by Alemu Bedane

“Tea for Two” by Jillian Faris

“Bread, Tea, Life” by Antonio Rozich

“Tea for the soul” by Mikahl Lev

“Ursa Major” by CRX SSXS

“Ghost Tea” by Diana Davis

“The Lady is Fierce” by Cindy Miller

🌟 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 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: