Rhi Axtell – Writer

The ‘hunt for coffee’ is a new thing for me. I never thought I would become a coffee addict but there I was, cutting through the busy Noël foot traffic to dive into the nearest coffee shop I could find.

The coffee was hot, bitter, and brown. My mouth said ‘yuck’ but something in my brain purred as soon as I swallowed. (Concerning but that is something for another day).

While satisfying my cravings, I noticed a woman, sat behind a pile of Christmas shopping, staring at her phone so closely I was sure her nose was touching the screen. She looked worn out, burnt by capitalism, as we all are these days. Something on that screen, however, so close to her face, made her smile.

And that made me smile. Or maybe it was the coffee.