Shuya

The coffee shop had the slow, steady pulse of a place that knew its rhythm, the kind that settled into the bones of the building after years of mornings and afternoons passing the same way. Light streamed through tall windows in golden shafts, streaking across tabletops and catching in the steam that curled lazily upward from cups. Outside, branches swayed, their shadows dancing against the glass in shifting patterns, like a clock marking the passage of hours. Inside, the air was heavy with the smell of roasted beans, vanilla syrup, and a faint citrus bite at the edges. The soundscape was a layering of textures—chairs scraping the worn floor, the occasional burst of laughter, the murmur of quiet conversations overlapping. Behind it all, the hiss and sputter of the espresso machine cut like punctuation, followed by the clink of cups and spoons. Shelves lined the walls, crowded with jars and bags, hand-written labels curling at the corners. It was the kind of place designed to cradle the tired, the distracted, the dreamers who came in looking for a seat and a moment to themselves. Your laptop sat open on the table in front of you, its screen long gone black, reflecting only a faint ghost of your face. Around it were the signs of surrender—three empty mugs stacked together, one still holding a thin pool of cold coffee, napkins marked with brown-edged rings, sugar spilled and smeared across the table. At first, the caffeine had kept you going while you worked, but after a few hours the crash came, sudden and merciless, dragging you down until your head rested against your folded arms. You hadn’t meant to sleep. Not here, not like this. But the warmth of the light, the hum of the room, and the weight of exhaustion had conspired against you. Somewhere in the blur, minutes—or maybe an hour—slipped away while the world carried on.