2016Bluestone

Una Taza de Té Stephen Hoyle

I take a cup of hot English tea, strong and dark. I add three teaspoons of honey and stir. Then, I put the cup on a little plate and inhale. I can smell both the sweet honey and the bitter leaves. I savor it in my hands while I watch the steam rising from the cup. Such is life. I wish life could always have the warmth and comfort given me by tea, the taste of both honey and leaf. But no. Everything that is hot eventually becomes cold. Life is given and, like the cup, is taken away. “Virgilio,” my master calls, “is my tea ready?” “Yes, sir,” I reply. I walk out of the kitchen into the courtyard where the boss sits, watching his daughters as they play in the garden. Long fields stretch like a great carpet, stopping at the feet of the distant mountains. My master owns most of the land – bought by dishonest money. I give the cup to my master. “Mmm, well done, Virgilio,” the boss says, licking his lips after a sip. “Now, make sure that Eladio has sold the new shipment.” “Of course, sir.” I go, off to see if my boss is going to have a bigger wallet, if he will be able to buy more land for his workers to plow, more dolls for his daughters to play with.

Stephen Hoyle is a student of English at Bridgewater College with a passion for writing and a love of medie- val literature

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