A Bit of Tea…
The man sat alone at a table outside the small tea and coffee shop. It was aptly named ‘T 42’. It was located in the walk-way of an arcade, and as such no sun shone above. He sat and drank his tea. He took it with milk and sugar. While he sipped away he looked at the people walking through the arcade.
The walk-way was narrow, and the tables and chairs of the coffee shop took up quite a bit of space. There was still enough room for the pedestrian traffic to pass over on the far side. He watched a man and woman walked past involved in serious conversation, their business-like steps following their speech and their manner.
The people flowed by on their daily morning routines; here a cleaner with a pail and mop, there a business man in a hurry to get to the office. A mother with two small children in tow, on her way to the shop, passes by. The stream of human traffic flows by him in natural rhythm, sometimes quietly, then with a bit more noise.
Further on, outside in the street, car horns honk and the traffic roars and rushes by. A passing bus uses its air-brakes with a loud ‘Whoosh’. The traffic is heavy this morning. The man continues drinking his tea while he looks about him and listens to the sounds of the early morning city.
A cool breeze sweeps through the passage and stirs a piece of scrap paper along the corridor. Across from him a ladies shop advertises expensive evening-wear on manikins in the display window. The dresses are brightly coloured; bright-red and soft-purple. The figures of the female manikins are shapely and elegant, and the lovely dresses display smoothly on them.
His eyes wander back to the people walking past one last time, as he finishes his last cup of tea. Then he gets up and pushes his chair back underneath the small table. He pays the bill at the counter, and then walks down the dimly lit corridor himself…
