The Tea Set

On the day the stranger arrived, Doug and Darryl sat outside on their rocking chairs in silence. It was a mild, cloudless day, and after decades of running an antique shop, there was no need for conversation. They sat outside together, and that was enough.

As they sat, a small, red car pulled up. The sun cast a glare on the windshield, making it impossible to see the driver. It rolled to a stop in their gravel parking lot, the stones crunching beneath its tires. The door opened, and a stranger stepped out. From their clothes and the way they carried themself, Doug and Darryl knew this stranger couldn't be from the nearest town. More likely, they were just passing through and had stopped for directions.

The stranger approached. They dragged their feet slightly as they walked, sending stones scattering ahead of them. "Are you still open?" the stranger asked, gesturing at the shop.

Doug and Darryl looked at each other, then back to the stranger. "Uh, yep." Doug took his hat off and scratched an itch on the top of his head. "I'm Doug. This is Darryl. Feel free to take a look around and give one of us a holler if'n you need somethin' or wanna check out."

"Nice to meet you, Doug and Darryl." said the Stranger, "I was curious; this spinning wheel in the window caught my eye as I pulled in. What's its story?"

"Used to belong to a Mrs. Jones from a little town down the way." Doug pointed with his hat down the road before returning it to his head. "Her kids brought it 'ere after she passed some twenty years back."

"Yeah, 'pparently, she used to use it to make Christmas sweaters for the family every year," Darryl added, "but none of 'er kids live in town no more, nor know how to use it neither, so they dropped it 'ere on their way out. S'about thirty bucks if you want it."

The stranger smiled. "Thank you, I'm just gonna look around inside for a bit if that's okay."

"No problem, take yer time."

The stranger nodded, and stepped inside, being careful not to trip over the brick that was propping the door open by a couple inches to allow air to flow through the building. The bell above the door gave a soft, welcoming jingle.

A few minutes passed before the stranger called out to them. "Doug! Could you come and tell me about this lamp?"

Doug propped his hands on his knees to push himself out of his chair. Stepping inside, he found his way over to the stranger.

"Oh, that lamp there was my daughter's actually."

The stranger looked surprised.

"Yeah, you know how you young folks can be. 'Fore she started college, she practically begged me to get 'er the ugly thing. Then, by the end of the semester, she couldn't stand to look at it no more." Doug chuckled. "Thing probably sat in my garage for fifteen years or so before we bought this place. It's been 'ere ever since."

The stranger smiled. "Yeah, I might've had one or two moments like that myself." They stepped over to a nearby shelf. "This painting here is really impressive."

"That one's got a bit of a sad story, actually. Kid named Molly painted that. He want-- er, I mean she wanted to go to art school, but 'er parents wouldn't support it, so she had to join up with the military." Doug paused, unsure if he should continue, but something about this stranger compelled him to keep talking. "She never made it back, sadly. Her ma 'nd pa couldn't stand to keep it in the house after that. Folks 'round 'ere can be stubborn... Always end up learnin' the hard way how what they say can hurt."

The stranger traced a finger down the edge of the frame. "It really is beautiful." they murmured.

Pulling themself away, the stranger stepped around a corner, and Doug followed, giving the painting a final glance.

"This tea set here. What's its story?"

"Y'know, I'm not sure I can remember how that one got 'ere." Doug gave a shout toward the front door. "Hey, Darryl! D'you remember who brought in the tea set?"

"Couldn't tell ya!" Darryl answered.

Doug gave the stranger a shrug. "Sorry, old age."

Carefully, the stranger picked up one of the tea cups and examined it. "Well, I guess I'll just have to give it one then."

"Knock yerself out. I reckon 'bout sixty bucks oughta cover it."

The stranger set the cup down and pulled their wallet from their back pocket. Looking inside they counted and pulled out the cash inside. "Wouldn't you know it, it looks like sixty bucks is exactly what I have on me today."

"Well how 'bout that! That's pretty sender... serepy..."

"Serendipitous?"

"That's the one! S'pretty serendipitous, don't ya think?"

The stranger held out the cash with a smile. "Absolutely."

Doug took the money and pushed it into his back pocket. "Anything else I can help you with?"

"If it's not too much trouble, do you mind if I have cup of tea with you and Darryl before I leave?"

Doug was surprised, but he wasn't about to forego his hospitality. "Why the hell not? We got a stove in the back, so I can go boil some water for us, and Darryl keeps a few boxes of oolong back there."

"Great! I'll see you out front."

Doug went to the back as promised and heated a pot of water on the stove and pulled a box of oolong tea from a cabinet. When Doug came back out front, the stranger had placed the set on a small table and was explaining to Darryl that it was a Chinese tea set, and the little clay tiger figurine it came with was something called a "tea pet", which was given any wasted tea.

Doug gave the stranger the water and tea and then sat back down in his rocking chair.

As the stranger made the tea, they explained the process of waking up the teaware by first pouring water over and rinsing it. Then, they tore open a couple bags of oolong and poured them into the pot. Once again, they went through a process of pouring the tea through each piece of the set, and gave the first cups of tea all to the tea pet, explaining that the tea doesn't get its best flavor with the first cup. refilling the teapot with water and pouring the tea into the cups once again, the stranger finally passed them out to Doug and Darryl, taking one for themself.

They drank tea like this for hours as the sun moved through the sky. Bag after bag of oolong was torn open, drank, and discarded. And as they drank, they talked.

Doug and Darryl told the stranger how they met, and why they decided to open the antique shop together. They talked about how much even this small corner of the world had changed over the years. One nearby town had been around when they were boys, but was completely uninhabited now. The dirt roads were overgrown, and an old gas station and a handful of rundown houses were the only sign anybody had ever lived there.

The stranger asked if this meant things were always so slow here.

"Sure are," Darryl answered, "but it's not like we're hard for cash or nothin'. Was easier to get some savings when we were young, and we retired well. All in all, we got it pretty good sittin' here takin' in the quiet."

The stranger lifted their teacup in a toast. "To the quiet."

"To the quiet." said Doug and Darryl.

They rose their cups to their lips and finished the last of their tea together.

Rising from their spot on the ground, the stranger thanked Doug and Darryl for having tea with them, remarked that it was getting dark and they had better go, got in their car, and drove off.

Doug and Darryl watched as the red car blended with the rosy orange of the sunset.

"They never did tell us their name." said Darryl.

"Left the tea set behind, too." remarked Doug, noticing it for the first time.

"Huh." said Darryl.