A cozy garden room with misted windows, smelling like chamomile, cinnamon and old spells.
A kindly old witch brews tea from herbs grown in suspended glowing glass orbs.
A cat purrs in a corner.
The witch pours tea without asking your name.
Do you:
- Choose warm greens and a touch of rose
- Paint the steam as if it speaks
- Accept the tea. You’ll pay later.
Every herb has a spell, and every tea a secret. But the Tea Witch never asks for payment – only your company.
Orielle and Basil are their names, I am told, while the tea is warming me up from within… I stay around for a while, fascinated by the magic knitting, the warm garden and flying objects… The cat curls against my leg, purring like a kettle, a hedgehog waddles off with a teacup balanced on its back.
When at last I step outside again the sky feels wider, and far above I glimpse pale shapes gliding in the clouds – carps, not birds… and what are they carrying?
Link to the full story: Enchanted Bristles: A Painter’s Quest