The stress was consuming me, I had exhausted all my savings to pay the rent, I only had my little shop left, there I sold coffee beans, ground coffee and coffee brewed in a cloth strainer to make the aroma even more attractive. The business was only a few months old, it was all I had, with nowhere to go I was living in my store, a small space of 3 square meters.
I opened the store for the 3 hours a day that I was allowed during the Covid pandemic. The rest of the time I was cooped up there, I entertained myself by reading books and looking for online job opportunities, I ended up mentally exhausted and every night I would fall asleep on a yoga mat that was my bed.
Suddenly, in the early morning hours, I was awakened by a voice or saying:
—Please don't grind me down.
For a moment I thought that the confinement was driving me crazy, I turned on the light, I saw no one, exhausted as I felt, I returned to the carpet and in that state between asleep and awake I heard again: "Please don't grind me down".
I opened my eyes and on the tip of my nose I had a coffee bean, it had ant-like eyes and red lips, I didn't know whether to laugh or run away, as I was training myself to have lucid dreams I decided to believe it was one of them and I enjoyed the moment and got into that story, I played along with that little being and told him:
—Ah, so you talk, hahaha.
—I don't understand the laughter, all coffee beans talk, but you humans have so much noise in your minds that you can't hear us.
—and what do they say?
—Most of them, when they are at this point, already roasted, dream of being ground and then consumed, it is said that it is the greatest pleasure and fullness we can feel.
—Then why don't you want to do it?
—I feel it will hurt a lot, a torture for sure.
—I don't promise anything, just let me go on sleeping in my own dream.
I took the coffee bean and placed it in a separate cup, lay back down and closed my eyes thinking that I wish my lucid dream would take me to another surreal scene.
It was early morning, after being ready for the opening of the store and preparing the coffee for my breakfast and something else for the sale, I took my cup to serve myself and to my surprise there was the coffee bean, the whole scene came clearly to my mind, then the coffee bean really spoke to me, I thought, how crazy, I am surprised but I do not think it impossible, I like to believe that the world is full of magic and I prefer to take it lightly because if not I will really end up in an insane asylum.
A customer arrived and asked for 7 kilos of freshly ground coffee, I got totally excited because that was a good sale, since most people only bought 200grs or at most half a kilo, so I forgot about everything in that instant and picked up all the coffee beans I had in the store, even the ones from the exhibition that I had kept in decorative glass jars, other beans in a bag and by inertia I also took the bean that had spoken to me.
When I tried to turn on the electric grinder it was not working, my God, I was going to lose the sale, but the very patient customer told me that he would wait because he needed to bring the freshly ground coffee and getting it elsewhere would be difficult.
Then I took out the manual grinder and started to grind and grind, suddenly I heard a "nooo please don't grind me", I don't know if I was the only one who heard that scream or if the customer didn't notice because while I was waiting I had my headphones on and was listening to music at full volume.
I ignored the shout and excited about the sale I continued grinding, suddenly I heard a cry of pleasure and ecstasy and an "ohhh thank you".
Once the sale was closed, the customer was happy and so was I.
I went out to buy more merchandise, I arrived tired and trying to meditate I fell asleep, I dreamt that I perceived the most delicious aroma of ground coffee and I heard that voice again, this time telling me, " thank you for grinding me, it was delicious, it is my destiny and my reason for being, now to taste ", it was the most delicious and penetrating aroma, when I opened my eyes, there was a cup of hot coffee freshly brewed and served in my cup, as I like to believe in magic I took the moment as a gift from heaven and enjoyed my coffee, I know that many will think of ghosts, others that I am crazy, but I live in my world of reality mixed with fantasy and lucid dreams.
Since then my sales have skyrocketed, I hear the coffee beans singing:
🎵I am delicious, buy me🎵 I am delicious, buy me🎵 I am delicious, buy me🎵
I don't know if it is a product of my imagination or if it really happens, what is certain is that it has had an effect and it seems that people listen to it unconsciously because they arrive as if hypnotized, asking for coffee beans, ground and strained in cloth, served hot.
This has been my entry to the contest and my first publication in this beautiful community. If you want to participate, here is the link
