Tea for Tattoo February 16, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Fiction, Synchronicity & Mystery, Word Play.Tags: Bodyart, Fiction, Mystery, Synchronicity, Taoism, Tattoo, Tea, Word Play
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The tinkling of the bell alerted me to her arrival.
I glanced up from my still warm tea and drank in her silhouette.
She stood in the doorway, as sure as stone.
She cast her eyes around the tea room and headed my way, slacks whispering her approach.
“Excuse me, is this seat taken?”
She did not wait for my answer before drawing back the chair and claiming the seat as her own.
I expect she saw welcome in my eyes, ”It is now.”
She motioned to the waitress with a quick wave before returning her attention to me, “It is always now.”
“Yes. And we are always here.”
She closed her eyes and breathed in the moment. I kept mine open, all the better to see her with.
Tousled hair framed her face, falling just to the collar of her jean jacket. I smelled a hint of jasmine as I followed her breath. Steady. Calm.
She opened her eyes and shrugged off her well-worn jacket, revealing a small tattoo on her right arm.
I nodded at the Taoist symbol, “It becomes you.”
“And you?”
I rolled up my sleeve until the mirror image of her tattoo peered out at its peer.
Satisfied, she selected a scone from the now depleted tea tray, “I knew.”
“I did too.”
Aah . . . that’s better!
Thanks, this looks intriguing to me so far. What I imagined when I read this was that these two women exist in a dystopian society where the kinds of present-moment awareness practices you’re talking about are banned. Maybe it could be argued that they’re de facto banned in our own culture.
Cool interpretation . . . “1984″ enmeshed with “Brave New World” over woven with a Zen moment.
Beautiful, Nancy.
Thanks, Don. In the midst of cleaning out and sorting through my bookshelves, I stumbled across A Writer’s Book of Days. I flipped through a few prompts and landed on, “Write about a tattoo.” So I dove in.
This is great (and highly intriguing), Nancy!
Thanks, Dianne. We’re “enjoying” a cold snap today . . . pausing for tea seemed the thing to do.
I could get tao like this story … tao two and all …
Tao for tea . . . and tattoo!
At first I was disappointed this wasn’t a post about Hervé Villechaize. But it turned out to be pretty good anyway.
Nice work. I’m always up for some Taoist prose-poetry.
Perhaps Hervé Villechaize is the narrator who ordered Tao tea and shared his scones?
You didn’t hear him say, “De plane, De plane!” at any point, did you?
No, but I think he muttered, “De scone, De scone!” when she pilfered it.
Intriguing…
Mmmm, a mystery
Oh…it is like most commenters have said…Intriguing! And that tattoo symbol looks awesome..maybe instead of a lotus I’ll get that for my next!
The story is just nice..meaning that it makes for a wonderful sense of mystery we can allow our imaginations to wander yet at the same time it doesn’t make me *want* to know what happened before or even after…there isn’t that sense of….uhmm….urgency???
I think that’s awesome
Thanks, Shree. That’s just what I was after . . . allowing readers to use their imaginations to wander and wonder without DEMANDING explanations about the past or future.
Because the NOW is just enough.
Gosh..reading that last line of your comment I just had this over whelming feeling that everyone want to be in the NOW…which is a good thing! Then again, it just maybe that I’ve been reading up on it and wanting to practice it…and my imagination just took that idea and ran with the “everyone wants to be in the NOW” thing..hehe
You might enjoy The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. It’s a concise look at the power of bringing our attention to bear on the moment at hand.
What a neat encounter. It’s like the calm aura attracted one another. Could be the budding of a long friendship, or just a nice break from the “now”.
The Writer’s Book of Days interrupted by book sorting and poked and prodded me to write NOW . . . not LATER.
That was beautiful and interesting. Is it part of a larger work?
Not yet.
Very spiritual to me, reminds me of The Way of The Peaceful Warrior.
Thanks, Marie. I loved that book, especially Socrates, working at the all night gas station.
Nice stand alone piece, yet I can see it as a preface to a longer story.
Who knows? I’ll have to wait and see whether these two will turn tail after tea . . . or tell tales of their tattoos.
Ooooo Nancy how fun! Hope there is more..
Now I want scones and a tattoo.
We’ll see. Today, it’s back to sorting through stacks and piles of books pulled off shelves to see who gets what.
And maybe we’ll have scones for tea!
Cool. I love anything with a teashop as a setting.
Given your avatar, I’m not surprised.
Tea shops exude warmth, peace, and relaxation. It’s like pressing the PAUSE button on life.
Exactly!
A very nice peek into the present, Nancy! A timely coincidence perhaps?
Perhaps a bit of synchronicity and mystery. A timeless and timely meet up of kindred spirits.
Lovely write, Nancy. Calm and peaceful, but leaving unanswered questions… for another time perhaps?
Thanks, Denise. They might be back . . . we’ll see.
But I want more!
You drew me in, Nancy…and I was there. Higher praise cannot be given. You are a gifted writer and storyteller!
Thanks, Vivian. Sorting through my books gave me a chance to flip through A Writer’s Book of Days. As soon as I saw the prompt, I knew . . . “Write about a tattoo.”
Mirror images?
That’s an idea . . . she’s an imaginary friend that the narrator saw in the mirror.
Maybe. Nice one for speculation
Lovely. Whoever she is, she’s very sure in herself.
When we know WHO we are . . . we know HOW to live.