Coffee: An Artist's Companion

The smell of coffee perfumes the air with an energizing aroma. Coffee is a perfect compliment of Winter. The chilled air protruding through the cracks around the doors makes me tighten my grasp of the coffee cup as I stare thoughtfully out the window. People walk by absorbed in their own lives, not noticing as my eyes invade their privacy. A mother scolds her child as it pleads with her to cross the street. There are colorful and shiney things housed in a window there.
     I return my gaze to my coffee before taking another sip. The foam has faded away to the edges revealing the rich brown color that it once hid beneath it. It is the perfect blend of sweet and bitter, just like the season.
     Until I discovered coffee, I despised Winter. The cold invaded every part of my being and even a warm fire or hot shower couldn't chase it away from me. Winter was a mindset back then. It hid itself in my subconscious anonymously ubiquitous until Spring.
     Coffee helped me love Winter. It brought back the light in my eyes which the gray of Winter had taken away. The cup warmed my hands as the smooth liquid warmed the inside of me. The smell of it set my mind in motion. It was like a magic potion that bid my mind, "Think, create." I could now walk outside, cup in hand, and once again marvel at the sight of my breath in the cold evening air. Yes, evening. That is when I take my coffee. The night seems to work with the coffee in aiding my creativity.
     My pen moves across my paper wildly as the clock ticks away... Midnight... one o'clock am... two am... I fall asleep around two thirty- empty cups of coffee littering the floor to be picked up the next day. My mission was accomplished- I thought. I created.
     Sometimes I remain in the coffee shop. Not until two am, of course, but until closing. I sit inside soaking up the warm, cultured atmosphere. Other artists and thinkers gather there creating and debating. I participate in both. It is a wonderful social experience. The music and clatter of dishes and voices are what make up the feeling of the smell of the coffee. Even without the coffee house, that smell brings those sights and sounds to mind. They bid me, "Think, create."

Reviews

[hhoosh]

When I started this, I thought I was going to hate it. But I really don't, and I do not know why I originally thought that.
I like this because of one thing; simplicity. You don't pamper narration with unnecessary detail or wording (Except for "ubiquitous", and maybe "energizing". They both didn't flow too well) but simply tell us what it is you feel with your cup.
I don't really feel a story here, but it did seem like a nice literary piece, and it's also a good way for us to see your craft and style.
Lovely.

[Laura E. Aranda]

This is so beautiful. Good luck in the contest. One misspelling that I saw: There are colorful and shiney things housed in a window there.
Cheers,lea

[Shapeshifter]

Once again, amazing descriptions of a seemingly normal day in Christmas-Land. My favorite scene is the child almost ripping his arm off for 'shiny things'. The beautiful painting of the day is only surpassed by how non-nonchalantly you state your coffee emotions, almost distracting the reader from the main point of the thing! Great stuff. B