Tea?
🤍💜
“Thank you so much for coming.”
“Of course.”
“It means a lot.”
“How are you holding up?”
“I’m fi-”
“Is that Maggie bloody Jones? I haven’t seen her in donkey’s years. She’s looking old.”
“Me neither. She is a bit.”
“Good turnout though, dear. Good turnout.”
“Yes. He would have appreciated it.”
“Yes. He always liked people.”
“He did. Always so much more extroverted than me.”
“Can I get you something? You look a little pale. Tea? A nip of sherry?”
“No, no thank you, I’m fine.”
“There’s coffee. Over there. Or a sandwich?”
“I’ll get something in a minute.”
“You should sit.”
“I’m fine standing, thank you.”
“He hated when people hovered.”
“Sorry—did he tell you that?”
“He mentioned it once.”
“Did he mention anything else?”
“Not much.”
“No. Were you…?”
“I’m sorry?”
“From work?”
“Yes. Mostly.”
“Mostly?”
“We shared a project.”
“Ah. Of course. Serena.”
“He was very dedicated.”
“He was.”
“Too dedicated, sometimes.”
“That’s what made him tired.”
“That’s what made him good.”
“Do you need a chair?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re shaking.”
“It’s cold in here.”
“They keep it like that.”
“Yes. For preservation. Funny that, really.”
“Funny?”
“Yes. Funny. They’re going to burn him.”
“Ha. Yes. Funny.”
“He always complained about it.”
“About th- the burning?”
“No. The cold.”
“Oh.”
“Yes. He said. Sorry. He used to say he’d be warm for the first time at the crem. Ha! He said it jokingly, of course. Funny.”
“Of course. He joked a lot.”
“He did.”
“Do you remember his trip to Prague?”
“Yes.”
“You were there, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“He said it was work.”
“It was.”
“The conference ended early.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Then, there were delays.”
“There always were.”
“Flights.”
“Yes.”
“He was so happy. He swam every morning.”
“In the morning?”
“Yes.”
“He couldn’t swim.”
“He could… I’m sorry. Are you ok?”
“No, just—Yes. It’s his… ”
“I shouldn’t have said that. I should leave”
“No. It’s fine.”
“You don’t have to—”
“Stay.”
“…Okay.”
“I need some air.”
“Of course.”
“Can you—”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“I can stand over there.”
“That’s fine.”
“They’re bringing food.”
“I should help.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I do.”
“Okay.”
“Do you want tea or coffee?”
“Tea.”
“Milk?”
“Yes.”
“Sugar?”
“No.”
“He took sugar.”
“I know.”
“…I didn’t.”
“It’s fine.”
“It’s just—”
“It’s fine.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you for coming.”
“Of course.”
“Serena…”
“Yes?”
“This is how people survive each other, isn’t it?”
“…Yes. Yes, it is.”
“John. My dear, John. Thank you so much for coming! Tea?”
About the Creator
River and Celia in Underland
Mad-hap shenanigans, scrawlings, art and stuff ;)
Poetry Collection, Is this All We Get?
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Incident Preparedness Guidelines: Safety Procedures for Unplanned Incidents.. Honorable Mention in Instructions Included Challenge.
Dear New Staff Member, Herein are instructions that are provided as a courtesy to ensure safety across our green campus. Please follow them carefully. As you are aware from your recent onboarding course, your wellbeing and that of the children in your care is paramount to our institution. Consistency is key. In precarious situations, panic is somewhat inevitable. Naturally, we aim to minimise this as much as humanly possible. You will invariably, from your mandatory attendance of the above-named course, recall that children under undue pressure respond best to routines that are both familiar and rehearsed.
By River and Celia in Underland about a month ago in Fiction
This Is What I Do When People Throw Rocks At Me
Rocks have been thrown at me for a greater part of my life. Some have been small and missed hitting me. When people don't get a reaction from me, they throw bigger rocks with a better aim. Many have been hurled at me with precision over the years. For a long time, I thought my only options were to dodge them or be crushed by them.
By Margaret Minnicksa day ago in Confessions
Comments (17)
Well done on your win! Be very, VERY pleased and smile a lot 😁🎉😁 Then keep writing 😊 You are full of wins.
Congratulations on your win. This was great
Congrats on the win! I loved how much emotion there was despite the brevity of what was being said. Great writing!
Wooohooooo congratulations on your win! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Congratulations on your win! 🎉
POWERFUL POEM. Love it.
Celia, This reads like you were listening more than you were writing. The dialogue feels overheard, not constructed and that tells me you’re paying close attention to human behavior in fragile moments. It makes the piece feel intimate without ever being invasive.
This is how people survive each other...BAM...subtly. Simply Fantastic
The moment where the talk keeps circling tea, milk, sugar—especially “He took sugar” followed by that quiet “I know”—felt like grief leaking out sideways, through all the things no one can quite say out loud. I could feel the tension in the pauses and half-finished sentences, that strange intimacy of standing next to someone who knows a version of the same person you loved, but differently. It reminded me how funerals are less about the dead and more about the living carefully negotiating each other’s pain. When you wrote that last line about this being how people survive each other, did it feel more like resignation to you, or a small kind of mercy?
This is beautifully controlled. The repetition, interruptions, and silences do so much emotional work! Well deserved top story x
Wonderfyol prose poem
Wow, I could see them in my head like a movie in cinema, with all the tiny details. Well done! Congrats on the top story, well deserved!
I was there in the room with them, the awkard knowing the slight nods. Wonderfully written with emotion and We could seee the characters. Congratualtions
Back to say congrats on quick Top Story.
I could see the conversation unfolding in my mind.
Excellent story telling using only dialogue. I found it very moving. ✨
This felt so real. Well done