Promptvent - Day 10

25 days of winter prompts to thaw your writers (ice)block - and this year it's all about being Cozy.

Hello and welcome to day 10 of Promptvent!

If you’d like some wintry musical inspiration whilst you write, why not try listening to On Ice by Calmed by Nature in ‘Cozy Christmas Coffee Shop’ on Spotify.

Listen to me read the guided invitation via audio below or if you prefer to read the transcript, that is also available for you underneath the audio.

Welcome back to our Promptvent village advent calendar where you find yourself standing once again before the cozy Christmas window.

Bundled up in your warm woolen mittens and thick scarf, you are eager to to know what wintry word of the day awaits you. What world will you step into and discover today? You lean closer, and can feel the eagerness in your fingers as you pull off your mittens and reach for the iron latch on the window, lifting it with care.

Your eyes widen at the sight of the coziest cafe, with low ambient lighting and a plethora of oversized pleather arm chairs in soft browns and greens. A few customers are inside, one elderly well dressed gentleman reading a newspaper, a mother coloring with her young daughter and two friends bent low, foreheads almost touching, in deep enthusiastic conversation with each other. A barista merrily whistles to the wintry instrumental music whilst gliding around the coffee maker behind a huge dark wooden counter. The barista notices you looking in the window and holds up a cup of something steaming they’ve just made and mouth the words, ‘this one’s for you’.

The red wreathed door to your left slowly opens, inviting you further. You step through the door, stamp off the snow from your boots and hang your winter coat up on a golden brass hook. You walk over to the large wooden counter and smile at the barista. Before you can say anything, they tell you that this one has already been paid for and apparently it’s your favorite.

You look around quizzically and notice a rotund white bearded man slipping out of the door to the tinkle of a small bell, wearing red pants and black boots. He looks oddly familiar. Is that? You look at the barista with wide eyes who laughs and adds a small treat to a plate and pushes it all towards you. Enjoy!

You head over to a cozy spot near the window and feel the warmth of the beverage making your cold fingers come alive again. The clink of the cup on the table reminds you of your favorite cafe and realize this one feels very similar. The energy is bright but not chaotic and you breathe a deep sigh of relief when taking the weight off your feet. You realize you didn’t even ask what the drink was and you lift the mug up to your nose. Hints of cardamom, cloves, ginger and spice. It smells delicious. You take a tentative sip and close your eyes, a creamy froth hits your tongue and then what feels like liquid gold slides down your throat. How did they know? You love Chai. Nothing tastes like Christmas more than a Chai Tea or Latte on a cold blustery winters day. This is your first of the season and you savor every drop, dunking the sweet treat into the drink and listening contentedly to the young mother and daughter chat away in their cute bubble.

You remember a winter walk with a dear friend, both holding Chai Latte’s to steer off the frost, that time at the Christmas market where you shared a Chai with someone you secretly liked and now think of fondly at this season. Before you know it, the cup is drained and you are re-energized. The barista comes over with a napkin and a candle and lays them down gently, asking how the drink was. You tell them it was exactly what you needed. They grin widely and potter off to clear a table as you look down to take the napkin and discover there is one word in large cursive script written at the top of it.

It reads: CHAI

You pick up the napkin which folds out to a larger piece and a pen falls out from underneath. You smile, pop the last of the sweet treat into your mouth. Then you pick up the pen - and write.