How We Write – Tea With Mary Jane
It’s said that you should never piss off a writer, or they will kill you off in their next book. But writing can be a good way to express other feelings too. In this story, I thinly disguise real people in my life and put them in a humorous situation.
The prompts we had to work with were: tea bag, blue moon, leap year, and pot. The connection between the tea bag and the pot was too obvious, so of course, Kyros had to put a spin on the word pot and interpret it as marijuana.
Orion based the characters, very thinly disguised, mind you, on her friends, who spend most afternoons huddled around the puzzle table. Without the pot, of course! After we had the characters and the marijuana, the story just fell into place. Let us know what you think in the comments. Enjoy!
Tea With Mary Jane
“You okay, June?” Karla asked as the white-haired woman came into the commons and approached their table. “You look a little green around the gills.”
Three sets of eyes swung up from the thousand piece puzzle in front of them. Even Karla’s cocker spaniel, Lady, raised her head, hoping no doubt for either food or a man’s attention. Food disappeared as if by magic, while any man would set her golden coat aquiver until she had been thoroughly petted.
June giggled. “Oh, yes. Perfectly fine.”
Olive gave her a concerned look before placing a seemingly random piece into the puzzle. Selma, sitting in a comfy chair observing the action, clapped her hands quietly, a smile on her face.
Tilting her head suspiciously, Olive asked, “Have you eaten something that didn’t agree with you?”
June shook her head, her eyes bright. “Oh, no, quite the contrary. All I’ve had today was afternoon tea before I went out to run my errands.”
Turning her eyes on Selma, the only Brit in the group, she chuckled. “It’s all your fault.”
“Who? Me? What did I do?” the woman protested.
“You talked me into using loose leaf tea instead of my usual tea bags.”
Karla frowned. “I’m confused. What does tea have to do anything?”
June took a deep breath, sitting down on her walker.
“You all met my grandson Colter, who’s staying with me this week?”
The women all nodded.
“Well, I made my morning tea like usual,” she said, “and I used the loose tea, like you,” She pointed at Selma. “said was ‘proper.’ Then I went out to run my errands.” Her cheeks colored. “Turns out, it wasn’t my Earl Grey tea. I grabbed my grandson’s pot instead.”
“You didn’t….”
“But you were driving….”
June waved her arms, silencing the group.
“Oh, wowww, did I feel great driving stoned! Haven’t done that in a blue moon.” She raised a hand to cover her mouth. “What if I’d been pulled over? They’d have dropped me in jail with all the hard cases.”
Selma piped up. “I think you’d have been safe, dear. Even criminals have mothers and grandmothers.”
“Why didn’t you come home when you realized what you’d done?” Karla asked.
“Oh, I couldn’t. Colter and I are leaving tomorrow to visit his father in California. I had to get everything done before then.”
Karla objected. “I thought you said you were leaving March first? That’s the day after tomorrow. It’s leap year, you know.”
June’s eyes went wide.
“You mean I have another whole day before I have to leave?” She stood abruptly and began pushing her walker toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Olive asked, though all the other women were obviously thinking the same thing.
June paused in the doorway, giggling. “If I have a free day, I think I’ll have some more of that ‘special’ tea!”
A chorus of “Me too!” followed as the other women grabbed their walkers and trailed June out of the commons.
Olive was last in line.
When another resident called after her, wanting to know where the group was going so suddenly, she replied over her shoulder, “We’re all going to have some tea with Mary Jane.”
“Who’s that? A new resident?”
The only reply was the sound of laughter as the four women boarded the elevator.