The Tea Emporium

 

A building stands before you, surrounded by a beautiful privet-hedged garden, its azure painted door open and inviting, beckoning you, O weary soul, to enter and take your rest.

Above the door is a sign which simply says TEA.

The little wrought iron gate before you also stands open, offering you a clear path. Following the path as it gently winds towards the door, you have time to see what the garden holds.

Over there, you see lavender. There, lemon balm, and jasmine. The drowsy scent of gardenias greets you as you approach the door, and beside the front door you see valerian.

The azure-framed bay windows at ground level are large, offering a grand view of the garden. You see aloe vera and snake plants in small pots on the window sills. Glancing around behind you, you see sage, rosemary, and roses growing behind the hedge which you had not noticed on your way in. Clematis rises on trellises either side of the building. There is a rosehip bush in the far corner of the garden.

Within the building, you catch the odour of baking bread coming from the kitchen. Two doors stand at the far end of this room. The one on the left is behind a curtain of amethyst beads. The one on the right is the kitchen area, where the baking aroma comes from. Other scents are emerging from the other room - scents of tea, and herbs.

A number of small, round tables dot the room. You cross the room, the floorboards creaking underneath your feet, and pick your table. Looking out through the bay window into the serene garden, you are entranced both by the garden itself, and the beautiful, quiet land through which you have come to be here, O weary traveller, to take your rest before you move on.

You look down, and see a teacup and steaming teapot on the table. The linen tablecloth is cool to the touch as you reach for the cup. It is a light black tea, scented with mint, bergamot, rose, gardenia, and honey. Beside the teapot is a honeypot and a small beechwood honey dipper.

Your heavy eyelids want to close, because you want to savour the taste. The tea soothes as you sip it, each herbal flavour caressing your tongue, the light notes flooding your sinuses as the refreshing tea cleanses your palate, washing away the dryness within your mouth. Once cleared, you can taste again, savouring the fullness of the tea as you swish it around against your tongue, caressing the back of your throat, easing your tensions.

Because those tensions are easing, now, aided by the gardenias and the aromas of lemon balm and valerian, a gentle caress from within which unlocks muscles you didn't even realise had been tense, and washing away the last vestiges of anxiety and stress, replacing them with comfort, relaxation, and a desire to deepen these feelings. The Tea Emporium feels like home, its gentle aura greeting you like a long-lost prodigal member of the family, welcoming you as an old friend rather than a stranger.

Bringing you home, to where your focus can be allowed to change, and your thoughts to slow because there is no more need to hurry, which means you are at home here, and any time you come here again your soul will let go of your tensions and worries, let your thoughts drift, like the aromas from the tea, like your exhaled breath, letting your focus and thoughts drift away untethered, letting them stop, fade like steam into the air, until every thought and all the tension are gone, empty now, still and peaceful, empty, and when you are ready, still, empty, you can click on this link and visit The Teamaker's Temple.