The Tea Leaves That Settled

It was late. The moon peeked in through the window. Quiet, quiet. Little Mio sat in soft pyjamas and looked at a cup of tea on the windowsill. The cup was warm. Really warm. Steam rose up, slowly, slowly, slowly. It curled like a tiny white feather. Mio yawned a little yawn. Aaah. Then another. Aaah. Quiet, quiet, the house whispered. Tick, tock, said the clock in the hall. Soon everything would sleep.

In the cup, tiny tea leaves drifted. Tiny, tiny tea leaves. They were dark and round, like the smallest boats. One leaf rocked up. One leaf rocked down. Up and down. Up and down. Plop, said a leaf. Plop, said another. Plop, plop, plop. Mio held a small breath. Very quiet. Very still. The leaves wanted to tell something. Something important. Something secret.

Slowly the tea grew cooler. Slowly, slowly. The steam grew thinner and thinner. Puff, puff. And the leaves began to drift down. Down, down, down. Like leaves in autumn. Like snowflakes on a quiet winter night. Shh, said one leaf. Shh, said another. Mio leaned a head against the window. The glass was cool on the cheek. Soft and cool. Mio breathed slowly. In, out. In, out.

At the bottom of the cup, something began to happen. Something little. Something fine. The leaves lay down in a little row. A long, winding row. Winding, winding. Mio squinted closer. Closer, closer. 'A path!' whispered Mio. A tiny path, made of tea leaves. A path into the cup. Where did it lead? Mio had to see. Mio had to, had to see.

Beside the path, more leaves gathered. They made a round, round shape. Round as a button. Round as the moon. A little pond! A small, small pond. In the pond floated a curl of lemon peel. It became a water lily. A yellow water lily. Next to the lily sat a tiny drop of tea. It became a frog. A small, calm frog. It did not say ribbit. Not a sound. It just sat. And almost closed its eyes.

Mio drew a soft breath. A tiny, tiny breath. 'A garden,' whispered Mio. 'A little garden in my cup.' Mio's heart went thump, thump. Then calm, calm. Mio breathed slowly. In through the nose. Snnnf. Out through the mouth. Foooo. The way mama had taught. In, out. In, out. And the leaves kept drifting down. Slowly, slowly, slowly. Soft like flour.