The Coffee Shop

 Prompt - The Coffee Shop (20 minutes): Go to a local coffee shop, order your favorite drink, and write a story inspired by an incident in the coffee shop before you finish your drink.

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    The coffee shop had that industrial look with a warren of exposed ductwork and lights dangling here and there from suspended tracks. 

    There were the usual tall tables that let my short legs dangle uncomfortably, and my feet fall asleep if I left them too long.  It was May, and the fake Christmas tree was still up, though it was decorated with plain white lights and white silk roses. 

    As I sat there alone, facing the counter with its display of baked goods, I watched the people come and go in groups, urging the women in their parties to go first, getting their treats and coffees, and moving along.  One man accompanied his wife, pushing an oversized baby carriage with a bored toddler who looked at me and grinned. I gave the child a half-smile and waved. She waved back.  The wife carried an infant in a sling.  Two babies in two years. I didn’t envy her.

    “You first, honey,” the man said, placing a hand lovingly on her lower back, gently nudging her toward the counter. 

    She smiled tiredly but nodded. “I’ll have a latte and a caramel roll,” she said, speaking loudly to be heard on the other side of the plastic barrier.  

    “Two percent or skim?” the barista asked.

    “Do you have whole?” 

    “Yes.”

    “Then that’s what I want.”

    Her husband ordered, though I didn’t hear his choices because the toddler had decided to escape the giant baby stroller and was squirming out from straps that held her in place.  The parents didn’t notice as she climbed out and wandered toward the Christmas tree. She gently reached out a finger to touch the twinkly lights.

    “It’s hot,” I told her.  

    She ignored me and reached out a finger and touched a light, then jerked her hand back.

    “Put it in your mouth,” I said and poked a finger in my mouth to demonstrate. The toddler followed suit, but to my surprise, she didn’t cry.

    The barista handed the coffee and treats to the husband, and he paid, then looked down and realized his daughter had flown the coop. There was an instant of fear in his eyes, then he relaxed when he saw the little girl at the Christmas tree.

    “Happy Mother’s Day,” I told him.

--May 14, 2023

Notes:  I was indeed at Duluth's Best Bread bakery and coffee shop in downtown Duluth on Mother's Day that year. The family I observed really did come in, but in real life, the kid stayed in the stroller. I also embellished a lot of the details (like what they ordered, and how tired the mom was).