"The Coffee Shop" by Christine Graves via Leonardo AI
It's amazing what a little soft music and ambiance can do for the soul. I was sitting here trying to come up with something to write about and decided to jump onto YouTube for some soft music. I love videos that are just images with soft, instrumental music. I find it very relaxing.
I found one that showed an image of a cute little coffee shop (not the one pictured above) and some soft jazz. I love soft jazz. I thought, "Yep, this is the one". Little did I know I'd get swept up in the image itself and my mind would wander off into another dimension.
As I stared at the picture, with what appeared to be a sweeping rain outside the windows, I got lost in a never-before-written story. In my mind, I ran that coffee shop and it was a cold and rainy night. A homeless gentleman entered the shop, simply to get out of the rain. There was something about him that told me he wasn't looking for a handout or was there to hurt me. He just wanted to get warm.
I offered him a cup of coffee and a muffin. Though at first, he declined, I convinced him to accept my offer. I told him to remove his wet coat and I'd throw it in the dryer (I'd, of course, live above the shop). I had some old clothes in the back room and found him a dry pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt.
I handed him the clothes, an old towel, and a bottle of hand soap. I showed him where the men's room was and let him go in and wash up. He explained that he couldn't pay me for the kindness, but I didn't care. I wasn't looking for any money, I just knew he needed someone to give him a chance.
When he came out of the restroom, he sat down and enjoyed his coffee and muffin. I poured him another cup and joined him. He told me his story. A veteran down on his luck, trying to find his way in society. I could hear the sadness in his voice.
I asked him what he did in the military and was surprised by his answer. He'd been a culinary specialist in the Navy. Then he told me what it was like cooking for hundreds of his fellow crewmen. I saw the gleam in his eye and the pride in his soul.
He finished his coffee and thanked me for the muffin. I asked him where he'd be staying for the night and he said he was hoping I'd let him sleep in his car in my parking lot. I told him no. Instantly, his eyes dimmed and his shoulders dropped.
He said he understood and thanked me for the coffee and muffin once again. As he stood to leave, I asked him to follow me out the back door. Out behind the coffee shop was a small building that had been converted into an apartment many years before. I'd often used it when family came to stay or if a friend just needed a place to sleep.
I let the gentleman know that there were pillows and blankets in the closet and the stuff to make coffee in the morning. He couldn't hide the shocked look on his face. He said he couldn't accept it as it was too much. I just smiled and reminded him that it was too wet and cold to sleep in a car.
He finally accepted my offer and made his way to the apartment. I told him good night and locked up the shop.
As I opened the next morning, the gentleman greeted me as he walked back from his car. He entered the shop and I poured him a cup of coffee. He smiled and thanked me, then asked me a curious question. He wanted to know what the pie of the day was. I'd never had a pie-of-the-day, but the idea sparked my attention. When I shared this piece of news with him, he offered to bake a couple of pies as payment for the room. I agreed.
The gentleman grabbed his coffee cup and headed for the kitchen area. As he rounded the corner...my cat jumped up on the desk and broke me out of my little trance. It was gone. The gentleman, the coffee shop, the pies...all gone.
Oh well. It was all nothing more than a dream. Not a dream from sleep. Not a dream of success. Just a few moments in an image of a coffee shop filled with soft music and ambiance.
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Christine Graves has been writing online for nearly 30 years. She has written everything from fiction and poetry to reviews and ad campaigns. She runs three other blogs. Graves Publications, Library of the Mystic Realms, and Collected Keepsakes. She also writes for a platform called Medium.com where she runs several publications.
Christine is an avid collector of vintage anything and an arts-and-crafts kinda gal. She is a sucker for a garage/yard sale, secondhand stores, and auctions. Because of this, she's opened her first real online shop called Prairied Treasures and another that showcases her AI artwork called Pathways through the Past.
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