Audrey L Elder

January Through December: Twelve Short Stories - One Coffee Shop Audrey L Elder

Twelve individual short stories told over the course of a year take you into the lives and the community of the customers of one coffee shop. Their individual stories paint a picture of their town, its struggles and its triumphs. As each narrative unfolds, connections and synchronicity are revealed with only a few degrees of separation between the characters that so often appear anonymous to each other.

On a cold January day, Michael, the part-time barista invites you into the coffee shop, the living room of his community;

"A line formed. Rushes happen sporadically. The known and the unknown filter out to couches, small tables, high tops and the edge of the pick-up counter. Their emotions; rushed, relaxed, anxious, excited, sad, impassioned. Soon the air was filled with a blend of all the above. Michael acted as the oboe tuning the orchestra. Despite the absence of a baton, a modern concerto of sounds, thoughts and feelings had created that atmosphere that drew them all to that place. In that moment he forgot about getting the car fixed and his class at three. In that moment he wasn't thinking about the past or the future. He caught a glimpse of this rare sense of feeling fully present. Fully immersed in life unfolding around him as a drop of water joins the rain, soon becoming a river."