She couldn’t do it anymore, she couldn’t drink them, rate them or comment on them. She couldn’t go to their cafes; she couldn’t have biscuits with them and she couldn’t do her job. Why? Because of this imprudent pandemic
As her arm wheeled back, she ran forward and threw the rock as far as possible. Gliding across the bed, the rock skids forward and gets pulled down by his friends into the foam laced waters. No amount of throwing could diminish the pain felt by Emily Gilmore; the overwhelming emotion was excruciating but essential. Her heart has been lost; first Richard and now her job, her world was slowly falling apart.
Memories. These were the sole things she had left; and even these were not adequate for her to regenerate. Memories of her running on the farm; through the plants. The intoxicating smell would submerge her mind and whisper secrets, stories and schemes. Yorkshire: this is the place of her childhood, this is her abode; this is where her dream came from; but that dream is no longer real, it has evaporated just like her ecstasy.
She longed for it: Tea. She craved the relishing aroma bouncing in her mouth; going into the tip of her tongue causing her to salivate; she missed all of it and longed for it to come back, she wanted to go to cafes and review their infusions but she couldn’t.
***
Going past the café she saw it: the sign that said ‘Tea Town’; this was her 50th café of the year. She remembered that day like the back of her hand.
“Can I have one strawberry bubble tea” asked Emily; she knew it was their speciality because this used to be her café; before she became a Tea Taster; and gave it away to Sookie, the Tea Sommelier.
Penetrating her body, a peculiar brown herb-brew scent engulfed her mind and swarmed her nostrils. Dainty cups and saucers of egg-shell china were grouped about it, cream pots and souvenir spoons held up the sugar, but something wasn’t right, something was unfitting. But this was Sookie; nothing could be improper.
Sipping the tea, she gently took in the hot PUTRID taste; this was appalling. They had made it too sweet; this wasn’t like Sookie to do such a thing. The strawberry taste was saccharine and devastatingly disgusting.
“Where is the Tea Sommelier” demanded Emily.
“At the back” replied the waiter.
“I would like to speak to them” ordered Emily.
“Do they know you?” questioned the waiter.
“Yes, tell them I am the Tea Taster Queen” she answered; just as she said that the waiter looked flabbergasted. “I think you know me as well, be fast I don’t have all day.”
Crashing into the table, the waiter ran at full speed leaving a massive grin on Emily’s face. Well, he definitely knew who I was thought Emily.
Coming out from the back, a ginger haired man appeared; his curled-up moustache made him resemble the Go Compare guy; but this wasn’t Sookie. So, who was it then?
“Good Afternoon, I was wishing to speak to Sookie St. James” questioned Emily.
“Miss, I am afraid to tell you that Sookie is now in London; she is the head chef at a restaurant, I am Mark, the Tea Sommelier.”
Emily was baffled, yes, she was. Her biggest mistake was that she thought people cared for her as much as she does for them; no one likes her, yes NO-ONE; even though she loves them they don’t love her. Sookie didn’t call or even tell her that she was going away and that hurt Emily; that hurt Emily a lot. It hurt her because Sookie mattered to her.
“Can I help you with anything” asked Mark.
“Yes, I have some complains about this tea; first of all, it is too sweet; too sweet is an understatement; because this bubble tea is sickly sweet...”
“Yes ma’am, I will get that sorted out for you” replied Mark.
“I WASN’T FINISHED!” roared Emily “you should’ve done it better the first time; furthermore, when I got it, it was room temperature and you should know that bubble tea should be either piping hot or ice cold.”
“Sorry, I will get you a replacement right away.”
“There will be no need for that; I shall go and give my review” said Emily.
“Everyone makes mistakes and everyone deserves a second chance. Please stay…” replied Mark.
Without even hearing his words she left the café; she couldn’t remain there; it reminds her too much of Sookie. She knew that she had been too harsh but she couldn’t do anything about it now; in her defence the bubble tea was absolutely atrocious.
***
Looking into the café she saw the sign:
Closed due to lockdown
Even though she was seeing this every day in different cafes it still managed to wound her somehow. Throbbing with pain, her heart started beating but with every alternate thump it knocked over a chunk of her cheerfulness.
***
As she walked down the road into an alleyway; she remembered the conversation that she had with her daughter
Whispering in her ear Lorelai – her daughter – was telling her the solution to her problem of not being able to go and test teas; and Emily thought that it was a fabulous idea.
***
Walking through the alleyway; Emily was overwhelmed with joy. The alleyway of softly reflecting sunbeams forever in the golden hour, be it dawn, noon or evening light. A hug of houses stands as if sentries to the alleyway.
Coming out of the alleyway, her heart skipped a beat and she saw them: yes, she did, she saw all of them all holding pots of tea for her to test; all wearing masks and standing 2 meters away from each other. There was Mark holding a new recipe of bubble tea for Emily to try. Sipping the bubble tea from the plastic cup, it flowed down her throat tremendously, it was sweet but not too sweet and was piping hot; in fact, it was the best bubble tea she ever tasted.
There she was: Sookie: her best friend, with speckles of tears glistening in her eyes.
“I’m so sorry Emily” said Sookie “I should’ve told you, but I thought that you wouldn’t care.”
“I do care; I always care about you” said Emily and hugged Sookie.
Acknowledging everyone, Emily rated their teas; some were Ginger teas, Chamomiles, Mint teas, and her favourite: Earl Grey Tea; which is also drank by the Royal Family.
Even though it’s not as good as being in the café it was a good compromise. Tea testing is art and art is something to be able to compromise for.
After all tomorrow is another day and who knows what tomorrow will bring.
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201 comments
Sorry it took so long for me to read this- I have been SO busy lately. This story was so great! The only thing I have to say is there were a few grammatical errors (but someone else already said those in another comment). Other than that, this story was so cute! Excellent job!! :)
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Thank you so much Katie !!!
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:) No problem!
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Awww thank you so much Kate. I will definitely pass it on :))
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Ofcccc! That’s good to hear :)
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I can play the Harry Potter theme song on piano :)
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I can learning how to do that; it is so hard because whenever I'm learning a new song my hand is all over the place. Anyway, I just finished off 'love story' by Taylor Swift and it has been one of my favourite songs. Yay , I'm so happy :)) What other songs can you play on the piano ?
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Memories, Happier, Alone, Canon in D, I take piano lessons so I play a variety of songs <3
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Wow that is amazing; well done. I have also learnt how to play the titanic theme song so I normally just sing that at the top of my voice :))
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I suck at singinggg XD
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Same, but I still do it anyway :))
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An apple a day keeps a doctor away
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Yay well done !!! I'll give you a shoutout in my bio :))
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This is a good story idea, using tea to highlight how lockdown has affected Emily and what she misses although I have to say she wasn't a very likeable character! This is a personal style thing but I think you could use less dialogue tags. You could replace the 'demanded', 'replied', 'ordered', 'questioned', 'answered' with 'said' or nothing at all and it would flow better. But that's just my opinion. Lovely story, well done! p.s. I read your riddle of the week... does he give her seven apples so she eats one every day and keeps the doct...
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Yeah she wasn't; I think I was trying to convey the fact that she is so passionate about her job that sometimes she would get out of control and emphasizing that she is really honest, even if it means negative criticism. Oh okay, Thank you so much for your suggestion. I think that would work really well :)) Thanks for your feedback Rachel and you have answered the riddle correctly I have given you a shoutout in my bio. Have a good day :))
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Thanks 🙂
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Hiii
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Hey Aerinn How are you doing ?
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Great job Palak! This story was very simple but had little pieces that really hooked you. I have a few critiques: 1. In the story you seem to switch from present tense to past tense and vice versa. Before posting remember to proofread. 2. A repeating grammatical error you had was this: “Where is the Tea Sommelier” demanded Emily. Add a comma to every sentence that doesn't have punctuation. Ex. "Where is the Tea Sommelier," demanded Emily 3. A few of your ideas were disconnected and made the story a little confusing. You didn't ex...
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Oh okay. I understand your points . Thank you so much for your feedback and I will try to be a little bit more specific in my next stories. :)) ~Palak :))
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You're welcome Palak, it was a pleasure to read your work. ;)
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I love how you used simple “tea” to emphasize that what we have all lost during this lock down period is the beauty that simple things bring. Wonderfully created story !
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Thank you so much Angela you have just phrased that beautifully :))
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Wait, a one-story house doesn't have stairs... Is that the answer??
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Yay well done I have given you a shoutout !!!
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YAY!
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:)))
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Hey Palak! This was a great read, and I liked the plot. Some feedback would be to MAKE SURE you have punctuation at the end of each new line of dialogue. Good job! :)
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Thanks for your feedback Jasey I will make sure that I am extra careful next time on my punctuation. I hope you have a good day
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You too :)
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:))
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hehehehe...I love riddles and this one is easy, there are no stairs :) I hope you are having a good day!
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Yay well done that is the right answer. I have given you a shoutout in my bio. I also hope you have a good day :))
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:))) <333 How have you been?
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I'm good. How are you doing ?
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pretty good :) a lot has been happening this week and last, but it's coming clearer now :)
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Yeah same my week always goes so fast and I just can't keep up !!!
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I love how you wrote this story with showing something that happened with this lady and then finishing it by showing how that problem was resolved with the weird COVID restrictions. Ok, the way I'm trying to word it doesn't really make sense lol but basically, I like how you thought outside of the box on this prompt! You made the protagonist seem to be very cold and work-oriented but it was awesome to see how you made her human by still caring about her friend! I love the ending and especially the "art is something able to compromise for" -...
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Thanks Janey for this amazing feedback. It has just made my day.
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aww, of course! I'm glad :)
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:))
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This is really cool, intense and raw emotion, gritty and compelling at the same time, well done. Less double spacing and dialogue tags but otherwise good, she really wasnt a likeable character. U did a nice job though.
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Yeah she wasn't, I really wanted her to be like that in order to show how much passion she has for her job. Thanks for reading and sharing your feedback :))
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It was interesting but I would have thought tea taster's to be kinder, more social - I like that you put a diff kind of twist, your not afraid to take a chance.
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Yeah I thought it would be as well; but I really wanted Emily to be unlikeable character and to be honest I have never actually met a Tea Taster so I really don't know how they work. Nevertheless, it seems like a great job to have.
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wowwweee!!! good good job palak
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Thanks Elle for reading and commenting :))
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of course!! keep writing :)
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Nice story! I didn't even know there was such a thing as a tea taster. I liked the upbeat ending. You do have some tense issues at the beginning. It's written in the past tense but then you said the rock skids and gets pulled, which is present tense. I would also double check your use of semi colons and colons. There are also a few run on sentences. I think this was a clever take on the prompt. good job
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Thanks Barbi for commenting. Yes, I will pay attention to my tense as I have slipped up a little bit and I will also check my grammar. Thanks for pointing it out !!!
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Hey hey!! Great new story, i love the vibe on this one!!! The last sentence was AMAZING!
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Thank you so much Izzie :))
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:O WOWEEEEEE this was good :) I like how you took a not-so-recognized job and amplified it into a story :) You had really good word choice, good job for that (who doesn't love learning vocab! XD)! I noticed a couple tiny grammar errors (I know you can't edit anymore *I am sorry for being so late*, but I'll just put these here for future use :]) "“Where is the Tea Sommelier” demanded Emily." Put a '?' at the end of the quotation :) "“At the back” replied the waiter." Put a comma after the quotation :) Really just those 2 little things I...
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Thank you so much for your feedback Amethyst; it was great seeing you here. I will bear in mind the grammar errors when I write my text story. Thanks for reading. Have a good day :))
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Np! :) It was fun to read too :) You too!
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Aww thank you so much Akshaya. I will definitely pass it on.
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No problem! :)
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Hey, just wanted to let you know that The Adapters Part 3 is out and you are featured! :) (If you haven't already please read Part 1 and 2 first)
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Thank you so much Abigail. It is a wonderful story !!!!
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Thank you! <3
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Well done; you got it right !!!! I have given you a shoutout in my bio :))
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