It was a cold January morning at home; I sat in an arm chair wrapped in what seemed like a couple of jackets and a blanket. I rubbed my feet against the carpet in a desperate attempt to attain the inner warmth leaking through a worn out pair of socks. My fingers trembled as I slowly stretched them towards a black coffee filled yellow cup that stood across the table. I held my prized asset close to my face as the aroma filled vapour captivated my soul and sent life bearing shivers down my frozen limbs. I don’t really know how that happened, maybe I was still asleep but he just jumped out of the cup.
I could barely recognize any facial features with all the blood running from his forehead as the dark toned teenager ran for his life. He was instantaneously followed by his master riding a horse. In a matter of seconds the boy fell to the whip that tore flesh of his back. It was a classic end to a conquest for a life beyond chains by a mid nineteenth century Brazilian slave working in the coffee fields. Judging by the number of scars on his back, I could tell it wasn't his first attempt and it wouldn't be his last as his soul longed for freedom. A freedom aspired by many of the coffee slaves in modern day Ivory Coast where dreams are crushed by companies claiming to pay a fair wage. As Ricardo - or at least that’s what I called him - was carried back by other slaves, I saw a bunch of merchants loading their gigantic ships with huge bags of coffee beans. They prepared for a long trip across the seven seas accompanied by war vessels protecting the trade routes. Little did they know about the vortex that was going to drain them to the bottom of my cup as I added milk to a bitter cup of hot java.
“Damn, that was a full cream milk” I thought as I put the cup aside. That's when her high pitched scream pierced my ears "Are you going to let it go to waste? do you know how hard is it to go milk a cow at five o'clock in the morning so that you can throw it away for no good reason?". Before I could respond she disappeared in the cup as a low toned voice called her "Rabha, where are you?". I returned back to my cup unable to believe I was bullied by a milk girl. People continued to pop out of the cup uninvited in what I could only recognize as my own version of Alice in Wonderland. I met the potter who crafted the cup, the Italian who invented the espresso machine, and even had a chat with the farmer who planted the sugar cane needed to create the sugar I didn't use as I was on a diet. It wasn't long before the room turned into a microcosm crowded with every single human being who ever lived. Apparently fixing a cup of coffee was a task too complicated for a single human accomplish on his own.
Every sip became a portal into the collective consciousness of mankind. I was present wherever a cup of that magic beverage was consumed. I was there with every team struggling to meet a deadline. I took a seat in every business meeting, with every deal ever struck, and every downsizing decision. I was there with a guy waiting for his date, he didn't have a single clue where a simple "let's have breakfast sometime" might lead him; and I observed the twinkle in her eyes as she finally arrived. I was there with every mother awake beside her daughter as she prepared for an exam. I was there with every tear drop spilled out of joy or despair in the existential human struggle. As my coffee consumed me, I started to remember times long gone. Memories surfaced but even the most painful ones didn't trouble me any more. There was no agony, despair or even embarrassment. I was in a state of eternal bliss. It all started to make sense, it took an entire universe to put a tiny cup in my hand, so why would anybody suffer through life alone. Even in the bleakest hours humanity, or even the entire creation, is there for me; lingering eagerly in the shadows of a coffee bean to provide support if I decide to look beyond my ego. The only indication of time was a freezing half drunk cup of coffee with the taste of heaven.
"But why am I remembering all this right now" I thought as I sat in the coffee shop as the whole thing flashed in front of me. Maybe it's the...
“Would you like to place your order now” the waiter interrupted my train of thoughts
“We’ll have a cappuccino and a double espresso please” I answered
“Would you like anything else” he continued with a smile
“Do you have any carrot cake?”
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