From Dusk till Dawn 16 ml

Anker owned a tea farm measuring a thousand meters on each side, with four people working there. They arrived at six every morning, as they always had, to make the most of the hours before the heat set in. Anker woke earlier still. He was the first to walk the farm, while the air was fresh and damp. He touched the bushes, checking for any that needed more water.

Once the pickers were at work, he stayed indoors so as not to disturb them, busying himself with bookkeeping and video calls. But at eleven, he always brought them lemonade: he mixed limes, mandarins, and bergamot, poured in cold water, and added enough ice to fill a third of each glass. One of the workers would pick a few tea leaves and add them to the lemonade as a finishing touch. Then they would sit together in the shade, sipping slowly, feeling the heat drain from their bodies, from head to toe. And with it, the weariness, the heaviness.