Welcome to this week’s installment of many micro stories, ranging in length from 100 words to 500 words.
With each story we hope to deliver a little whimsy into the lives of our readers.
A THIMBLEFUL OF SUGAR
The crows alert me of your coming long before you arrive. Through their eyes, I watch you. Mud spatters you, and your hair carries more twigs than a bird’s nest.
The way to me isn’t easy and you are just a child. You climb over tripping roots and wriggle past strangling vines. Thorny brambles and buzzing insects slow you but a little.
I put down my sewing and set a kettle to boil.
That’s how you arrive at my door: scratched and dirty, staring up at me with blazing eyes. Your hands are balled into fists, ready to fight. Anger covering the fear I could shut my door in your face.
“Come in,” I say. “Let me make you some tea.”
“What will it cost?” You plant your feet on the threshold and fold your arms.
The price is different for every visitor, and I never ask for more than can be given.
Blood trickles from a cut on your forehead, dripping from your chin. I whisk the thimble from my thumb and catch a drop. “I’d say you’ve paid enough, wouldn’t you?”
The kettle whistles and you step inside.
Accepted into my shop, my home, you relax a little, taking it—and me—in. The twisted tree-trunk walls, as lined and knobbled as my body. The stacks of dusty teacups and jars lining shelves that follow every bend and curve of the shop. None of them have labels—I know their contents as well as I know myself. You lift your nose, sniff the air, and wince.
Too many smells mix—cinnamon and garlic, sea holly and lavender—for it to be pleasant.
“You really got a tea for anything?” You’re not one for chitchat.
I lift my kettle from the heat. “Some say so. It depends.”
“I want a tea for my family.” The words spill out in a rush. “To make them love me.”
“Ah.” I gather jars—mugwort, peppermint, sugar—and add a thimbleful from each to a teapot. “Changing the minds of others isn’t something I do.” Milk thistle. Chicory. I pour in the boiled water. “Do you think they’d love you better if they were stoats? Physical transformation is easy.”
You chew your lip as if it’s an idea worth considering. “A tea to change me, then.”
“Do you want to be a stoat?” You shake your head. “Choose a teacup.” Some agonise over that choice, you grab the closest you can reach.
I pour your tea. The pot weighs heavy in my stiff hands.
You take a sip and immediately spit. “That’s so bitter.”
“So’s the truth, sometimes.” I lower myself to a stool and pick up the sock I was darning.
You stare into your cup for a long moment, then take a gulp. This time, you swallow it all down.
“There’s a bit of sweet,” you say.
I let you go without another word.
You close my door behind you, but open it again, sign in hand. Tea Shop: Apprentice Wanted.
Aggie lives with her wife by the beach in Australia, where she spends most of her time hiding from the sun and heat. She writes around studying for her pharmacy degree and entertaining her three dogs. She loves all kinds of speculative fiction and often draws inspiration from Slavic folklore and mythology. When not writing she can be found drinking tea and reading everything in sight. Her published works can be found in Hexagon, Flash Fiction Online and more! For the full list see http://aggienovak.com
If you enjoyed this story you can find it and more in the Hawthorn & Ash 2023 anthology.
Iron Faerie Publishing 