In a world, without coffee, I find that last coffee plant. |
The world ran out of coffee fast. It was all over the news daily: how this plant disease ate up all crops and even infected coffee stacks in warehouses and homes. People panicked, and societies fell apart. Households split because people couldn’t face the day and each other without that tasty, brown, wonderful warm liquid. It was horrid! The first thing I did was look online at how to grow your coffee. I found this video that helped harvest beans from the Coffee Arabica, an African plant where buds became ripened fruits that could be roasted. I learned about coffee plants a lot. In the deep corners of the dark web, a seller had one plant for me that was not yet infected. I paid a fortune for it, but it was worth it. I could grow my own coffee. To be freed of the bug that could still spoil everything, I turned my house into a lab, with all the precautions necessary. I assured myself to be fully dressed in a medical outfit complete with a facial mask before entering the house. I installed an ingenious filter system to purify the air. No bug could enter this place, I saw to that. Sunshine, shade, air, water, and my devoted attention came to full bloom when the first beans saw the light of day. I harvested, roasted, and cared for my little darlings. At last, it was time to grind the beans. I put the coffee in the coffeemaker with shaky hands, poured water in, and turned on the machine—drip, drip. The brown liquid poured into the mug. I was ecstatic. After four months of abstinence, I drank my first cup of coffee. Again. It was heaven; it was as if a little angel crawled up my tongue into my throat. Pure bliss! I decided to make growing my own coffee plants my mission in life. See where it took me. I didn’t want to make money, but I wanted to drink my coffee every day. That was all. Hiding from the world, I became a hermit. But a happy one. Till the end of my days. With coffee! In a world that learned to live without. I closed the drapes. |