The Book Cafe -The setup - ZorbaBooks

The Book Cafe -The setup

Chapter-1 Flooded house

Sylvia was living in a corner of a famous street ,particular famous for the church beside.Sylvia loves reading book s sitting alongside her window pane in her comfortable sofa cum bed .Her love for books knew no bounds and often she would find herself in a fairy land or solving crimes with her pet dog mittens , when she starts to day dream.One day , her house flooded with books became a house that was flooded with rain water due to the heavy storm that happened the before night.Her books were submerged in the rain water and did I not mention Sylvia’s masterpiece “Natura”, which she was writing for years?.Poor Sylvia it was also submerged and with that her life in East Church Street came to an end.Sylvia searched for Mittens everywhere in her street ,atlast she found him giving company to a homeless man called “Jackard”,who lived in the streets.Sylvia was thankful that the man had kept Mittens safely inside his tent the night before .She thanked the man and took Mittens with her in her journey of searching for new house.

Chapter-2 When Mittnens met Buttons

As Sylvia and Mitten were walking along the street , Sylvia witnessed the aftermath of the storm.Sylvia hadn’t vacated her old house yet , she planned to vacate it only after her search for the new house was successful. Sylvia walked past the East Church Street and reached Gregory street , located next to the vegetable market. People from all walks of class comes to buy vegetable from the lovely market. Kendrick is the owner of a small butler shop located next to the vegetable market. “Fresh meat available “,cried Kendrick calling out the customers he could gather by his loud and clear voice. Kendrick was surprised to see a dog pouncing at him ,after his vendor cry .The dog was none other than Mittens.Mittens grabbed a huge piece of chicken bone from the butler shop and hid near Sylvia. “Bad Doggy!”,Sylvia corrected Mittens by taking out the half swallowed piece of meat from Mittens Mouth.Kendrick approached Sylvia ,expecting Mittens to have undergone punishment for his naughtiness. “Sorry Mister,My dog hadn’t eaten in a while after yesterday’s storm.My house was flooded and damaged. Now me and Mittens came around your neighborhood in search of a new home.Please forgive my dog’s act of stealing your meat!”.Kendrick was a kindhearted fellow who loved animals as much as he loved humans. Kendrick offered to help Sylvia find a new home in Gregory street. “There’s a old woman named ,Doris next to the laundry shop , to whom I deliver Fresh meat to feed her dog Buttons.The flat above her house is for rent and I am pretty sure,she would make a very good neighbor for you “,Kendrick said as he was leading Sylvia to her new home.Sylvia opened the two door gate which was big enough to let a truck in ,hoping she could get the sight of the lady.Out came a big white Labrador, pouncing on Mittens. “Look Mittens, he looks exactly like you!”,cried Sylvia out of joy.”Buttons sit!”,Kendrick commanded the Labrador who obeyed and went to call his owner.The door of the house opened, an old lady with curly hair and a very good countenance approached Kendrick and Sylvia. 

Chapter-3 Life of Mrs.Doris

Doris was a woman in her late 70s , who loved to spend a lot of time alone with herself and her pet dog, Buttons.She also loved to plant trees in the beautiful garden of hers and love to watch them grow.Doris lost her husband to tuberculosis which was left untreated. After her husband died , she never left her house much and it was Kendrick who did her grocery shopping. Doris looked at Kendrick as her own child and she would be very grateful to share the street with a good and kind hearted young man.Doris’ daughter and son lived abroad and in the hustle and bustle of their everyday life , they would rarely visit the old woman who constantly longs for their visits.It was Buttons who kept her company, admist the sun and the rainy weather. Her granddaughter used to visit her during summers when the mangos ripe and the butterfly make way to welcome the sun.Doris loved to spend time with her granddaughter and once she taught her how to make flower impressions in notebooks.Doris opened the front gate with much enthusiasm thinking that her granddaughter had returned in rainy season but to her surprise an young woman in her twenties stood with a big suitcase and her dog.

Chapter-4 The pasta dinner

Young mam,what brings you here?”,exclaimed Doris when she first met Sylvia.Sylvia gave a shy smile and replied, “Mam,I came with Mr.Kendrick to look for a new home”.Sylvia slowly explained her situation to Mrs.Doris ,while Kendrick was untangling the harnass rope in which Buttons tangled him out of love.”Good day Mrs.Doris!I hope you can help Miss.Sylvia out here with some shelter and food if you may!”.Mrs.Doris was kind enough to let Sylvia live in the flat above her house provided she fulfills the conditions of not making any noise and paying the rent on time.Sylvia implied to Doris’ conditions and went to visit her new house upstairs. While Sylvia and Kendrick was visiting the room ,the old lady made hot tea and brought tea cookies to welcome Sylvia with warm greetings. After all ,Sylvia is her new house mate and she would do anything to have a company in her old days.Sylvia was happy to find that her new flat was as big as a wedding hall with big glass windows through which the whole city of Wisdomnal can be witnessed. There were few pigeons siting on the ceiling of the room , where a small light bulb hung.The ventilation was so good and there was a spacious round table on the corner of the room with a small wooden tea pot and a cup on its top.There was a very big bookshelf on the right corner of the room with nothing in it.There was no trace of damage due to the storm that happened the day before and the whole place was quiet.At the end of the room,was a huge balcony through which she could see the old lady’s garden.Strawberries, Carrots and radishes she witnessed while stooping out the balcony. The three happily munched the tea cookies talking about the weather and how good it is for the vegetable vendors to sell such juicy vegetables and get benefited out of it.Doris liked Mittnens the moment she met him and offered him an old shed of Buttons to stay at.Sylvia after thanking Doris for her warm greetings, returned to her old house to pack all her things .As a gratitude gift to Kendrick she decided to serve him dinner, the same night .As planned Sylvia returned in the evening to Doris house with all her books ,her treasures and her belongings. Doris welcomed the young woman and led her to the stairwell.Doris after looking at her collection of ,”The soothsayer voice”,couldn’t believe her eyes that she owned the whole collection in this century. Doris helped Sylvia arrange the books in the bookshelf in the right corner of the room.Doris gave her warm blankets and helped her switch on the stove which was alongside the balcony. Sylvia invited Doris to the dinner with her and Kendrick.Doris accepted the invite on the condition of helping her cook ,which she did with much enthusiasm. Kendrick arrived half past seven with fresh minced meat and pasta sauce.Together they made red sauce pasta and enjoyed the dinner to hearts content.Kendrick took his leave after their dinner, stating that his wife and children will be looking for him and he promised to bring them to visit Sylvia and Doris the next Sunday. 

Chapter-5 Truth about Mrs.Doris Wilkinson

Sylvia after bidding goodbye to Kendrick,took out a big wallpaper of Diane Wilkinson and pasted in the wall.Doris after witnessing this couldn’t control her curiosity and asked about the why she has collections of old writers like Diane’s. Sylvia couldn’t help but express her love for Diane’s collections and invited Doris to read one among the collections. Doris took out her pendant and handed Sylvia the photo of her younger self.It looked alike Diane Wilkinson. Sylvia stood in awe and cried out,”you,you are not dead!How can this be possible?”.Doris gave a smile and replied its true dear that I am alive and a whole new adventure awaits for you with me Diane Wilkinson. Doris changed her name to Diane while escaping from the enemy country during world War 2 and she lived a quiet life and she was not aware that her words couldn’t be erased though her strength went frail.Doris promised Sylvia to let her know the whole story the next day and went downstairs to have a peaceful slumber. 

Chapter-6 Birth of Moon Shine

The next day,the sun shined as brightly as it could across the city , inviting the birds to settle in their branches and listen to the silence of the brook across the town .Rays of sunlight gleamed on the window pane of young Sylvia ,waking her up with its warmth.Sylvia woke up with enthusiasm and being curious by birth ,she somehow wanted to get the truth behind Diane’s works.She put her coat , brushed her teeth and went straight down to the garden to collect the morning newspaper and wish good morning to Doris ,Mittens and Buttons.”Ah!There you are!Care for French toast breakfast? , I even made hot cinnamon tea!”,cried out Doris.”I definitely do!”,replied Sylvia who was petting Mittens after collecting the newspaper. The two settled in the garden dinning to have their breakfast.”Perfect breakfast ,wow ,you are both a gifted cook and a gifted writer!.,speaking of which I am dying to know the whole story!”,exclaimed Sylvia. Doris nodded and stared ,”I lost my husband due to tuberculosis following the escape from the neighboring country.That is when I started writing books to support my children financially.I wrote books of my heart content to express the loss that had incurred upon me and my family due to war.I spoke of strength, of Valor and of enthusiasm, when I had none in me.I wanted to bring out the truth in books, I wanted to bring out the truth about war ,how war brings misfortune among nations and kills the one living after witnessing it silently like slow poison.I wanted to be a role model for young woman like you, so that you would look at me and learn to inspire others.I felt I was inspiring others in a positive wat,but little did I know I was fooling myself. I stopped writing books once both my children got into job and I stopped writing once I learnt that I am just a stone that is causing a ripple in the big ocean and my words could never reach the people who are in need of help ,the hopelss and the desperate. I learnt not many people know to read and write in this city and I felt helpless that I couldn’t do anything about it.I didn’t stop writing because I want to but because I didn’t have any choice .The people who are my target audience are there lying in streets and fighting against cold while people who read my books are enjoying their meal in a cozy home.I failed to reach the target though I tried to reach out through different ways,all I got to know eventually is that the companies I trusted with publishing free copies to the poor had been charging them for the same”.”Mrs.Doris ,that’s a real sad story. I am an amateur writer but you know, your books give me hope daily and there isn’t a single day that has gone without me reading any one of your short stories. For people like me you truly are an inspiration and I still believe that there are millions of young people like me to whom you are the world. I would suggest you to start a book cafe that could offer your books free of cost since I struggled with getting both drinks and books at the same time,I always wanted to start one but didn’t have enough money, you being economically content could proceed on with this idea and I would never come in your way .You have been a very big inspiration and you have influenced me ,Mrs.Doris although out my life and I couldn’t help but be grateful for the same!”,explained Sylvia with a warm smile. “Why haven’t I thought about Book cafe?.Good idea Sylvia, thank you for putting ideas in the silly brain of mine.I would love to start one with you, Why don’t you join me ?”.,enquired Doris.With Sylvia’s acceptance, the two decided to start a book Cafe in the very own place where they lived.They planned to call the boom Cafe, “Moonshine”,so that it would remind them of the peace that comes with the moon just like the books they read and the enthusiasm that comes with its rays ,after experiencing their delicious Cafe buns and biscuits. 

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Christina Sherin Lawrence
Tamil Nadu