The Bottomless Cup

Hi all,

I am sharing one of my new short stories. I hope you enjoy the read!

There was a woman dressed in curls, which hung heavily against her back. She wore a coat of peacock feathers and paraded around town with her chin up. She was so tall she looked down on other people, and her nose crinkled when she spoke. She was strikingly beautiful as a tall, bronze woman in a sea of short, common people. One day, she heard a call which pierced her ears.

“Hey pretty thing. You lack nothing,” whistled a man with a thick, gray beard. His sunglasses shaded himself from the world.

“Why are you bothering me beggar,” she barked back. She glanced down at his lonely, old cup sinking into pavement.

“You’re blind girl. Fish through my cup. There are many riches.” The woman with curls laughed at his words. She had gone her way viewing the beggar from the corner of her eye.

A few winters had passed, but the beggar was stubborn. He held out his cup of untold riches. Then she returned except she had lost her curls along life’s journey. Her peacock coat had been plucked and lost its color. Her face had dimmed from its saintly glow and beauty had abandoned her.

“Hey pretty thing,” the beggar called. This time, she returned his question with doe eyes and empty silence.

Finally she whispered, “You remembered me?”

“Time and hardship may have claimed you but I have not forgotten. Come sweet beautiful. I’ve been waiting.” She obeyed, sat beside him, and took the cup from him. She dipped her hand inside and found only the cold, icy bottom.

“Your treasure has been lost for a time, but you will find it again,” the beggar spoke. She looked into the cup sorrowfully and a few tears fell from her cheeks. She closed her eyes to pray before thanking the man. Then, she departed into a life of humility.

The curls from her hair began to grow wildly from its roots like the bloom in spring. She fashioned a new coat from her years of toiling and sacrifice. And when she looked into the mirror, she uncovered her beauty.