Tea Time a short story by Darnell “Saki” Dickerson
Ms. May and Ms. Joyce are elderly residents at Crossroads Nursing Home, and we visit them during an afternoon tea served by their caretaker Rob.
The women chat, listen to the radio, and tsk-tsk about the sad state of affairs in the world:
- Silly woman’s lib protesters wanting more than their proper place? Scandalous.
- Sports clothing in woman’s sizes? Outrageous.
- A local high school teacher having sex with her students? Harlot.
Something about their tea makes them so forgetful. Why, it puts them right to sleep. What happens to May and Joyce when Rob comes back to collect their tea-things during their drugged afternoon nap? Unspeakable.
Lita’s Cup of Tea
Warning: This is a horror short story with an adult topic.
My favorite type of horror story should make me squirm without showing the splatter and blow-by-blow of the monster’s savagery. This story is it. Tea Time delivers a charming façade over the disturbing evil of elderly abuse. I read it, cringed, and was enraged at the monster lurking beneath.
This story is an excellent effort from new indie author Darnell “Saki” Dickerson. I enjoy stories that take me to another place, if only for a short while. I imagined the women smelled of lavender soap. A wall clock ticked away their lives. I could also smell the ladies’ Oolong Tea. Rob’s drug made the tea taste too sweet.
The things to improve were nits–a couple of trivial punctuation and formatting clean-ups is all the story needs. Oh, and it needs a way for me to punch out that “caretaker” Rob.
Warning: Tea Time has an adult topic. Don’t complain that I didn’t tell you twice.
Lita Burke 
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