A Cup of Love

After a long day of work, she came out of the kitchen. Wiped the sweat on her forehead with the saree pallu which was already stinking. She sat on the chair and let out a deep breath. Pressed her legs to give herself a gentle massage. She muttered, “I can’t do these chores anymore. I’m done for this life”. The empty living room echoed those words back to her ears.

She kept quiet and looked at the clock, hoping that her son will be home soon. Closed her eyes and listened to the ticking sound of the clock as if it was talking to her. It must be comforting, that’s why she quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Orange rays from the sunset touched her cheeks through a window. Her son opened the door and looked at her briefly. He walked in and closed the door without interrupting the ticking sound from the clock. Kept his bag on the couch while losing the tie with his right hand.

He walked into the kitchen and looked back at her for a second. He lit the gas burner and kept a vessel on the stove. Poured some water in the vessel to let it heat. Then he grabbed ginger to crush it under a wooden hammer. Picked up the crushed ginger with his hands and dropped it into the boiling water. In a few minutes, he smelled the aroma of ginger in the air.

Next, he put two spoons of tea into the vessel. With a smile on his lips, he noticed how ginger and tea are making love in the hot boiling water. Quickly the yellow ginger water turned into a golden brown colour. Closed his eyes and smelled the tipsy aroma from the tea. Two cups of milk and some sugar were followed after two minutes.

He picked two cups and turned off the burner once the colour of the tea is perfect. Poured down the hot tea into two cups evenly and said, “Mom, wake up”. As the mother woke up from sleep, the son walked into the living room to serve a warm cup of love.