T - Tea #AtoZChallenge

My A to Z Challenge: Micro fiction, using 300 words or less, inspired by selected words along with a photo for inspiration. The words were chosen in reverse order from this lesson plan page.
(For example, for the letter A it was the 26th word on the list, for Z it was the 1st word on the list)

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I watched her gnarled hands as she lifted the old tea kettle into the sink and filled it from the hand pump before placing it on the ancient wood stove. Pulling a rusty tin down from a high shelf, she held it towards me. "Choose."

I peered inside and saw several hand-wrapped packets of what I assumed were tea leaves. I pulled out several, sniffed each, and put two back.

She dropped the contents into a teacup, filled it with boiling water, and sat down. I wondered when she would give me the tea. As though she knew what I was thinking, she said, "Three minutes."

I sat and tried to be patient.

"Here." She thrust the tea cup into my hands. "Don't drink all. Leave a little." She sat back and smiled, well, I thought it was a smile. I did as I was told, setting it down on the table between us when there was a little left.

"Hold in left hand. Swirl three times. To the right."

I swirled the contents, mesmerized by the agitated leaves. Some drifted to the bottom, some stuck to the sides. I held the cup towards her but she shook her head. "Upside down on saucer. Slowly."

I followed her instructions, wondering if all the leaves would drop into the saucer but wouldn't that mean it would be a saucer reading?

Again, as though she read my thoughts. "No, leaves stay." This was getting a bit eerie but I was in for the full measure.

Eventually she lifted the cup and peered inside. She looked up at me, eyes wide open. "GO!"

"What?"

"Now!"

I tried to argue but she pushed me outside the door. What had she seen that so terrified-

My thoughts were cut short by the bullet that killed me.

How to read tea leaves