Once Upon a Tea

An assortment of shops fringed the quaint streets of the Olde Brooke countryside. Art booths, antique stalls and souvenir kiosks. There was even a purple tent embroidered with stars and crescent moons with a gypsy inside who wore a colourful gown with flower motifs and huge gold baubles in her ears. She gazed into a crystal ball and read colourful decks of cards with pictures to whisper ‘good beginnings’ and ‘happily- ever- afters’ to her customers.

The Antiquity Tea Ware store which was uniquely shaped like a huge teapot stood in the centre of a rose garden at the crossroads of this street. Mr. Green, the curator of this age-old shop, was a wizened old man with hair so white that he looked as ancient as the Earth himself. He had a twinkle in his friendly blue eyes and fine lines around it— signs of him smiling and serving everyone with joy. The shop had been in the family for generations. Every day, he polished the pristine shelves and row upon row of fragile bone china, silverware, crystalline showpieces and the ceramic teapots with a velvet cloth, sometimes satin with so much love and tenderness as if one would a new-born baby.

The glass walls of Tea Ware gave one an ample view of the lovely tea groceries and the delicious goodies inside. I stood at my usual spot looking out at the bleak weather, raindrops splattering on the duck pond in the rose garden and also beating hard on the window panes blurring the scenery outside. The warmth of the fireplace did nothing to fade away the gloom in my heart. My best friend who always stood beside me with his cheerful face was leaving today to go home. His new home. One of his hands was outstretched in a perpetual friendly wave like a spout of a teapot and the other formed a curve like the handle of a teapot.

Teapots we were; Ceramic ones—him a Mickey Mouse and I, The Ugly Duckling—the last one standing in the teapot section of the Antiquity Tea Ware Shop.

Well, to cut a long story short, Mickey teapot was bubble wrapped and packed. I knew that in his heart he was feeling torn. Doubly, because he was separated from his lady-love Minnie some weeks back who was gift-wrapped as a souvenir and all set to go a faraway land never to be seen again. He was left behind all because two teapots would cost a fortune to the family who was only buying one for the whim and fancy of a toddler who was throwing a tantrum at the shop. But Mickey was on his way to his new family too.

Over the past couple of months, my siblings the yellow chicks were gone one by one or in two’s. Mama too had left along with one of my brothers. When I had first emerged from the furnace, my glazed ceramic face was as grey as a raincloud. My spout was an outstretched frail and unsightly wing which held little appeal to little girls who wanted to hold doll tea parties on Sundays. And so I remained…a mute spectator to bid tearful goodbyes to my family and friends when they were sent off one by one.

The shop was not for the clumsy footed and butter-fingered. A sign which hung inside screamed loud and clear “Nice to hold, Once broken consider it sold”. In spite of which, a few days back Tweety teapot, my canary soul sister was taken off the shelf when she cracked her tail upon getting knocked off by an over enthusiastic boy who favoured the Sylvester teapot for his like-mindedness with him. Tweety was sent along with the naughty boy just like sign in the shop had warned.  The family had paid a heavy price for it as did Tweety teapot, although for no fault of hers.

Dusk was gathering now and the shop was closing for the day. This was the first time that I would be spending the night alone in the dark. The lone teapot on the shelves of the Teapot aisle.

With my duck family all gone, with my friends and extended family teapots packed away to foster homes all that remained in this shop was darkness, tea groceries, cutlery… and the delicate and expensive hand-crafted figurines of cake-tier Disney Princess dolls staring at me with eyes that looked unusually spooky today in the moonlight.

***

Months passed. Autumn and winter came and went. Christmas was ages ago and none wanted me…not even to gift me away. It seemed like I would be the oldest resident in this shop save for the ancient owner. Finally came a clear spring day with cloudless skies. My dull grey feathers had faded into an almost white. Salt and pepper as they call it. I had lost all hopes to go into a family with doll parties when the silvery chimes of the bells that hung at the door tinkled the arrival of a pretty young thing. Five year old June bounded in and looked at me with such awe that it melted my heart.

“Mommy, I do so want an Ugly Duckling teapot for my birthday present. I have never seen an Ugly Duckling teapot before”. With great reluctance, Mommy gave in and wonder of wonders, I was being packaged. The pretty girl chose a lilac bow and a paper with floral prints for the wrap. I was finally going to be the centrepiece at a tea party.

June opened me up with her delicate hands upon reaching home. It was a delightful country cottage. Mommy must have saved the money to buy more essential things but the love for one’s own, made her give in to buy me from Tea Ware. Sunday was three days away and great preparations were made for the doll party plus June’s birthday party which was going to be a special one. It was a great ice breaker for the little girl to make new friends in a new town. The great day dawned bright and clear.

Friends arrived with their dolls, cookies and presents. I was filled up to the brim with an aromatic, delicious amber liquid steeped in Chamomile and Chrysanthemums. It warmed my heart and soul. I stood proudly as the centrepiece on a lace doily with the tea steaming inside me. I was surrounded by plates of cucumber-egg sandwiches, biscuits and eclairs, cups of ice-cream and jelly, glasses of hot cocoa and Chamomile tea and a huge bowl of… fruit punch! The birthday chocolate cake stole the show with a strawberry on top. I happened to look to my right and to my pleasant surprise what do I see, but Mickey teapot who had arrived with his little boy! How unbelievable!

With his ceramic arms in an outstretched wave and a grin plastered on his ceramic face, he beamed at me with such joy. I was reunited with my cheerful friend. Long, precious moments of catching up with each other went by unnoticed and it was well into the party when suddenly, a squabble broke out among the children over a trivial matter and it went out of control. Their high pitched screeching and screaming gave me an earache and a headache I had never known before.

Before I knew what was happening, the new friends out of spite, roughly grabbed me by my handle and smashed me to the ground. The tea made an amber puddle on the carpet which was spreading fast and staining it… I felt like it left me bleeding. My wing was broken and it rolled under the table, my head was under the chair and other unrecognizable pieces went flying all over.

The girl not to be outdone, grabbed Mickey teapot and smashed him to the ground as well. Mickey’s outstretched arm was lying near my broken wing and his face with his grin was so comfortingly close to my head that it made me forget my splintering pain. Mickey as usual was very reassuring. Hand in wing, we rose high above Olde Brooke into the bright blue skies towards toy heaven leaving our ceramic remains behind. As we flew over Tea Ware, we spotted Mr. Green smilingly tending to his rose garden and feeding the ducks in his duck pond. I bid an affectionate goodbye to the kind old man who had tenderly taken care of me. If only he knew that I had heard and understood every word he had spoken to me all those years.