navwin » Main Forums » Passions in Prose » Cafe Latte'
Passions in Prose
Post A Reply Post New Topic Cafe Latte' Go to Previous / Newer Topic Back to Topic List Go to Next / Older Topic
Mysteria
Deputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Laureate
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328
British Columbia, Canada

0 posted 2002-05-26 05:57 PM


* Went for coffee again this morning!


~ Cafe' Latte' ~

I was early but I got my usual Sunday seat in the corner.  I left my book on the chair claiming my viewpoint and went to order my favorite, Grande, Decaf, Non-fat Latte'.  

All the couches and comfy chairs were now gone and even the counter seats were filling up fast.  At the end seat sat a woman eating a piece of pie topped with whipped cream.  She was about twenty-five years old, but looked more like thirty, and with snacks like this one between meals, she was likely to tip the scales at 250 pounds before much more time elapsed in her young life.  She ate complacently with her china blue eyes steadily fixed on the plate in front of her, scarcely glancing up except when she took a pleasing sip from the high-calorie coffee drink beside her plate.  She even had a brown paper bag full of something to go!

Three other girls sat chatting over cups of coffee, sharing secrets about their makeup I assumed, as they had quite an array spread out all over the counter in front of them.  They apparently were assuring themselves that their weight would never become burdensome or unloving, and with some reason, as I overhead they were in the model school down the way so their respective jobs depended on their trim figures.  I did notice the redhead look down to the end with some envy at the blonde with that piece of pie, and sort of chuckled to myself.

An elderly couple, obviously in from a shipping trip, sat near them.  The man took sips of his coffee with the plastic spoon; slurping in his cup each time he lifted it.  His wife kept mentioning his lack of manners but all to no avail.  She had evidently left her teeth at home and dipped her sweet roll in her own cup of coffee.  

A grocery store clerk was excitedly telling a stockroom boy about his own age; of some exploit of the evening before and bother were having a good laugh, to which the elderly couple nodded to each other in disapproval.

Importantly surveying the scene about him, a real estate salesman pulled out some papers from his briefcase and after glancing at them suspiciously, thrust them back again.  He looked as if he wished to impress everybody but scarcely merited a glance except from the old man who sat slurping away in his cup.

It was into all this company around me that a man entered, took a stool and ordered coffee.  He stared fixedly at a sign in his line of vision that announced in vivid letters that all coffee makers and cups were 20% off.  He looked unhappy in a vague sort of way.  Another man entered and sloped into the seat directly opposite him, thus blocking the sign.

This new man seemed a jovial kind of guy and leaned forward to pass the time of day with the two old pensioners, who seemed pleased to have someone even notice them.

Then suddenly, the unhappy looking man gulped down his coffee, spluttered and grew red in the face.  A woman seated herself beside him and began to talk, also glaring across at “SALE”.  One could see that the man was getting even more miserable, and his face remained fixed in a frown and somewhat red.  Then the woman by his side started glancing about curiously, as if searching for a clock, but realizing then that she had a wristwatch on she laughed, and said something in an undertone to the unhappy man.

Picking up his check he departed in a real rush.  At the cashier’s desk the woman turned around and spoke to him once more.  “Jack, don’t you think we could meet and talk things over again?  I am willing to try again if you are.”  He snatched the coffee check out of her hand and waved it wildly above her head along with his own arm.  The cashier waited patiently for someone to pay.

”Look,” said the unhappy man.  “Karen, you’ll have to quit that job or take a part-time one, you can work a couple of days a week of you want.  I am so sick of being the one that’s always getting the kids off to school and you’re not even home to put them into bed at night.”  With that she hugged him while the waitress waited, obviously not impressed at all that a married couple had decided to get their family back together.

Me, well I just sat back, with my favorite poetry book, and waited.  Ah, there were four more people I saw that were coming in the fill up the seats, and relieve my Sunday’s boredom and perhaps my muse would find something to write about from their characters.


~* Tell someone in your family that you love them today *~


[This message has been edited by Mysteria (05-26-2002 06:10 PM).]

© Copyright 2002 Mysteria 1997 - All Rights Reserved
Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
1 posted 2002-05-26 06:19 PM



I enjoyed this vignette, sitting with you, watching, enjoying life...no one saw us nudge elbows and giggle silently, now did they?

Mysteria
Deputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Laureate
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328
British Columbia, Canada
2 posted 2002-05-26 06:27 PM


No...but I bet we would have
Kethry
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-07-29
Posts 9082
Victoria Australia
3 posted 2002-05-30 09:36 AM


Nice window to life and coffee.
Kethry

Here in the midst of my lonely abyss, a single joy I find...your presence in my mind.  Unknown



Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612
Hurricane Alley
4 posted 2002-05-30 10:18 AM


A slice of life! I enjoyed this vignette on your world.
Midnitesun
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Empyrean
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647
Gaia
5 posted 2002-06-02 02:17 AM


Aha, a voyeur! In other words, an artist gathering up scenery and tucking it away, to examine again later in a quiet moment.
Mysteria
Deputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Laureate
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328
British Columbia, Canada
6 posted 2002-06-02 02:27 AM


Well gee thank you for reading this little story, and yes it was about someone taking it all in to examine on another day.  

There is nothing means more to me than
my faith, my family and my friends.

MidnightSon
Member
since 2002-05-15
Posts 312
between the gutter & the stars
7 posted 2002-06-03 02:52 AM


enjoyed this... reminds me of that episode of the simpsons that had 22 short stories... this jumps from table to table...
i dig it.

"The soul is oftentimes a battlefield where reason and judgement wage war on passion and appetite."

phoenix95gsx
New Member
since 2002-06-04
Posts 6

8 posted 2002-06-06 12:46 PM


I find this casual, relaxing, intimate, and refreshing.  It's always... different to see things from someone else's point of view.  There are so many possibilities within this one little tale (the elderly couple, the "models", the overweight woman, the married couple).  One cannot help but wonder deeper into each available sub plot.  You've brought them all nicely together with shimmering thread and glimmering needle.

love should be treated as a potter treats clay : fashioned to a likeable design, made permanent, then cherished for its beauty and frailty.

[This message has been edited by phoenix95gsx (06-06-2002 12:47 AM).]

Post A Reply Post New Topic ⇧ top of page ⇧ Go to Previous / Newer Topic Back to Topic List Go to Next / Older Topic
All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format.
navwin » Main Forums » Passions in Prose » Cafe Latte'

Passions in Poetry | pipTalk Home Page | Main Poetry Forums | 100 Best Poems

How to Join | Member's Area / Help | Private Library | Search | Contact Us | Login
Discussion | Tech Talk | Archives | Sanctuary