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COFFEE SHOP

 


Short Story


COFFEE SHOP

“A cappuccino and a slice of chocolate cheesecake, please” – Just another day, although this time he simply decided to go out since he felt like relaxing in a café and dedicate some time to his writing.

The place wasn’t bustling with customers and the atmosphere offered a much-needed peace and quiet… just a little out of the ordinary place for writing since mostly he’d do it at home.

The place felt warm and cozy, with dimmed lights and a comfortable, green-velveted chair and a nice sturdy table to sit at. A sip of warm coffee with a touch of cinnamon felt great in his palate as he proceeded to take out his laptop. “What should I write about?” – What does it take to write if not a simple word or a sentence and see it how it flourishes like a flower in spring. The magic is there, and it doesn’t matter the topic because our minds are so creative by nature that one would just start with a word and take it from there.

He pondered his own experiences, bad and good… he thought about the people in that coffee shop or the company which made the furniture around him. Anything can be written about, there are no rules – at least not for him since he’d write of whatever without following a guideline or those “writing tips” on social media or that he must write this way or that way-. For him, writing was just a process of pouring out words and ideas and see them physically typed whilst representing a thought or a feeling. A feeling. Nothing more, nothing less. A feeling.

He has started seeing things from a different angle and not just by whatever his eyes could physically see, and a bigger picture of things and people in general started to unfold right before his eyes. A principle he understood was not particularly exceptional although not so many would be interested in discovering or even thinking about it. He appreciated the fact that just being in that place while sipping a warm beverage wasn’t just average, that he was there because he wanted to be there, because he needed it and because he’d be surrounded by other humans with feelings, stories, and experiences he’d wonder about just by looking at them, their clothes, their manners and expressions. And perhaps, to connect with them in a different level.

He started typing a chunk of words and while doing so he noticed a young woman of about her age. She was there, having a coffee as well while looking away at nothing with a slightly saddened expression in her luster face. She was wearing a light hue of rosy make-up, her hair let loose at the sides, well-kept hands and nails and a very simple and delicate golden bracelet. Her clothes were nice, not fashionable, or exquisite, but certainly nice to her body constitution and expression. As she was having another sip, he noticed how her eyes started getting filled up with latent tears. He felt her pain and sadness, he wanted to soothe her sorrow and tell her that everything would be fine. He made out the notion she was feeling in this manner because of someone, as she was scrolling and tapping her phone. “Perhaps she’s looking at the photos of someone who’s broken her heart” – He thought.

Sympathy. A quality that we all have. Some, more than other. In his case, you’d say it was overflowing within himself. He couldn’t come to terms with the notion that suffering is a part of life that we all deal with to grow internally, spiritually even. If it was up to him, he’d erase all kinds of suffering in this world, and everybody would be chanting hymns of joy and creating the most beautiful music ever composed. Sadly, the reality was another, embracing every single one.

He couldn’t take it anymore. He saw her sadness, he felt it deep inside as if it was tearing him apart. He stood up, for a moment he hesitated to take a step while looking around. Nobody seemed to be aware of the girl sitting there trying to dissimulate her tears. He slowly came up to her and in a soft voice he said: “Whatever or whoever caused those tears in your eyes, know that what you’re going through in this moment is temporal and that you will soon feel better and look at this moment as a lesson for growing”

She looked up. A river of questions rushing in her head about the man standing in front of her. She realized she needed those words, that they were like honey for her soul. His tone was soothing and yet firm and hopeful. She felt warm inside, that not everything was lost. “Thank you...sorry you had to see that” she said softly while wiping away her tears.

It takes nothing, literally nothing to be there for someone, to say something that could comfort someone in a difficult moment, to give a couple of coins to a beggar, to help a colleague at work who’s struggling with a task, to help educating a child. He understood that basic principle of which we all know, yet not everyone attempts to give it a try. It’s easy to offer a hand here and there, to see somebody smile because you have helped them, to transform our lives into something more positive and humane.

“No problem, I hope that next time, if we come across with each other you will have a sunny smile” he told her.

End.

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