The winner of our current Short Story Competition is published in the November issue of Irish Country Magazine, out now. This story came in second place and was written by Lily Corcoran
Anna ran her hands across the smooth wooden countertop, noticing the wear from years of resting elbows and sticky little fingers. Wood like this is hard to come by today. Dense, solid, slow grown and rooted to the spot for a hundred years. Memory upon memory built up layer by layer, day by day. Some amount of transactions and conversations had happened here.
The corner shop had been left idle since her grandfather had passed. All his children had emigrated and had never shown any interest in returning permanently to this small village enveloped by green. Aside from holidays, none of them ever did come back to settle.
Rings from old tins marked the shelves and the odd packet remained here and there, its contents dried into powder long ago. Posters had faded on the walls and behind the counter, family photos and postcards were thumbtacked into the frame of the shelf. A layer of thick dust clung to each surface of the room and spiders had been lace-making in every corner. One postcard seemed familiar to Anna and, on closer inspection, she saw it was from a family holiday decades ago – with small shaky writing from her own hand on the back.
Anna stared at the clock on the wall and thought about timing. Being here just felt right and she had promised herself that this third decade of her life was going to be full, to be meaningful. This trip to Ireland was different because for the first time she wasn’t just visiting – she would be staying.
The piece of paper in her hand told her that she was now the sole owner of this building and her feet were firm on the floor. What surprised her though was that, instead of being overwhelmed, all she felt was excitement about her plans. She was ready to dive into this project and breathe life back into this space. This beautiful village with welcoming and friendly folk was up-and-coming and getting more popular by the minute. A friend had even sent on an article where it had been listed as one of the ‘Top 10 hidden gems of Ireland’. It clearly had something special about it. Just being here felt relaxing, and clearly not just for the holidaymakers as the locals were happy too. But there was one thing missing and that was decent coffee. And this was exactly what Anna was going to change…
After three months filled with phone calls, googling, paperwork, meetings, samplings and hard graft, the café was ready to open. Anna had spent a lot of time stripping the walls, with the intention of painting it all in a vibrant colour, a modern contrast to the quaintness of the village. But one morning as she got ready for another day of renovations, Anna’s eyes fell on the beautiful patina of colours that she had revealed. The greens and blue mixed like seawater and reminded her of her holidays here as a child. She decided to leave one wall exposed and to paint the rest white, to incorporate the building’s past into her vision of it’s future. Maybe local artists might want to exhibit their work here alongside the artisan products made nearby that she had stocked. This could once again be a place of community.
The opening day came. The shelves were lined with colourful reusable cups and bags of speciality coffee beans, local honey, and homemade jams. A little bouquet of wildflowers sang from every table. The air smelt of faint honeysuckle mixed with roasted coffee and diffused sunlight flooded through windows, misted by new activity. Anna pulled out one of the seats that she had picked up at a car boot sale in a nearby town – a serendipitous haul from a dealer that was selling off all their stock in preparation for retirement. The collection of mismatched wooden tables and chairs were worn beautifully from years of use. These seats were ready to be sat on again.
The opening day was a huge success. Anna’s mother and brother had flown over to help for the first weekend and the three of them had been run off their feet. The villagers came out in droves and there had been no lull in the day. Anna loved the fact that such a variety of people come through the doors of a coffee shop. There were the early morning walkers, the young families, the dates, the friends meeting up, the book readers, the people that nursed a cooling coffee and happily lingered, the takeaways of coffee for friends or maybe an extra slice of cake to take home. A local baker had stocked the cabinet with cakes and pastries and only a handful of crumbs remained. Every coffee cup had been used many times.
Anna realised that this place felt worlds apart from the city where she had been raised. Everything was a carbon copy of the other and people seemed afraid to stand out. Here, people were authentic and each transaction felt more real and Anna knew that she was going to make some solid friendships here. As the murmur of chatter faded, Anna noticed all the Good Luck cards and flowers dotted about the room. Messages and tokens of encouragement and support that she would thumbtack to the shelves beside her grandfather’s postcards to admire for many years to come.
The first few leaves of autumn had made their way in through the door; Autumn – the season of change. Anna put down the broom and turned off the music. She paused and closed her eyes to take it all in as the coffee machine cooled down and the fridge hummed. This was exactly what she needed. No sirens or screeching tyres, no beeping, no shouting – just silence and contentment and a slower, sweeter pace of life. Looking down at the wooden countertop, Anna noticed that her forearms had unconsciously leant on two patches that were especially smooth. Perhaps this was the very spot that her grandfather had leant at the end of his day’s work, resting from a busy day of chatter and exchanges and friendship. Just as Anna’s day had been.
You can read the winning story in the November issue of Irish Country Magazine, in shops now. Click here for details on how to enter our December competition.
