A Kludge of One Shots by tenchi no mai
This Is The Life?
This was written in response to Priestess Skye's weekly challenge.
Prompt: Life (Entry #2)
Due: May 31st, 2009
Required Word Count: Over 700
Actual Word Count: Exactly 1000
Universe: Alternate Universe - Modern Day
Rating: M for a few naughty words
Warnings: None, unless you don't like the word coffee.
Disclaimer: The characters of InuYasha are not mine, they are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz Media. Only the plot to this story and my original character, Shun, are my intellectual property. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
This Is The Life?
I poured myself into the drivers seat of the jeep that Sesshoumaru and Shun had rented for me while we are on vacation in Hawai'i. After dropping the small package of coffee on the passenger seat, I sit here, exhausted, wondering how the hell I got myself involved in this whole mess.
As I push the cowboy hat back and wipe my brow for what seems like the tenth time this hour, I'm glad I had worn long pants and brought a long sleeved shirt with me. Otherwise, I would have been sunburned beyond recognition. I'm so glad I picked up the SPF 70 sunblock yesterday.
Once more pondering the who, what, where, when, why and how, I'm trying to put it in some sort of order so I can attempt to make some sense out of it.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like a great cup of coffee, because I do, especially since I drink it black. I certainly can appreciate the fine aroma and exquisite taste. But to purchase a coffee plantation because none of the coffee commercially available in the stores meets your high expectations? I am truly beginning to think that Shun has lost his mind. Really, can youkai go insane?
Anyhow, back to my story. A couple weeks ago, his excellence, also known as Shun, and the killing perfection, also known as Sesshoumaru, announced that we were going to Hawai'i for a vacation. Sounded all well and good. Of course I got all excited. What they conveniently forgot to tell me was this would be a working vacation, in more ways than one.
It wasn't until right before we left that I found out about the coffee. Yes, he actually did it. Shun bought a coffee plantation on the Kona coast of Hawai'i. So here I am sitting on the slope of a volcano, it's either Hualalai or Mauna Loa, I can't remember at the moment, my brain shut down a couple hours ago.
Sesshoumaru rented a beautiful villa up in the mountains. It has the most wonderful lanai overlooking the slopes of the volcano and the coffee plantations. Now there is a misnomer if there ever was one. Use the word plantation, and you expect something out of Gone With The Wind. It is a farm. Excuse me, it is an estate. Eleven and a half acres of the most intensive hand labor you have ever seen.
Did you know that it takes nine pounds of coffee cherries to make one pound of roasted coffee? And the little devils are picky about where they will grow. For the best coffee, they must be pampered. They require the perfect climate. In other words read bright sunny mornings and humid rainy afternoons, with mild frost free temperatures. The trees prefer volcanic rocky land, hence the reason I am currently sitting on a volcano.
The coffee is hand planted, hand cultivated, hand pollinated, hand picked, pulped, fermented, hand washed, sun dried on large decks called hoshidanas, and raked, by hand of course, so the cherries dry evenly. They are then machine milled, yeah, there is some technology involved. The green beans are then hand sorted and graded into one of three grades, which are then further sorted into Extra Fancy, Fancy, Number 1 and Prime, by hand, of course.
The beans can then be sold to roasters or custom-roasted by the farmer to produce a unique coffee, hopefully to meet the standards of a particularly picky youkai.
Do I sound agitated? Well maybe it's because I just spent the last 12 hours learning first hand how the coffee farm works its magic. Oh, did I forget to tell you that I also learned how to roast the coffee beans? Hot, hot, hot work.
The coffee is fair trade, the workers are well treated, and passionate about, take a guess, coffee. There is a gift shop on the farm that sells the various roasts of coffee, as well as chocolate covered peaberry coffee beans, and macadamia nuts, which are grown on another nearby farm. The coffee is also sold via the farms website over the internet.
Now, you may want to ask, where are my two hard to please coffee guzzling youkai mates? They were picked up in an air conditioned limo and taken to the Kona Coffee Council to learn about the Estate Program and attend a luncheon and meeting. Probably in an airconditioned restaurant. Probably drinking Kona coffee.
Well, I had better get myself in gear and get back to the villa before one or the other of them comes looking for me.
It is a beautiful drive from the farm to the villa. The scenery is magnificent, the breeze is divine, and the sun will be setting any minute now. As I drive up and park the jeep I see my mates sitting on the lanai with cold drinks in hand. Shun calls over to me. "Isn't this the life?"
I pick up the pack of coffee off the passenger seat and take a good look at the label. Private Reserve Organic Estate Coffee. This little pack of coffee isn't going to last long.
It's only a few more days until we fly home, thank any Kami who is listening.
I drop the coffee in his lap as I pass. I want a shower and a nice cold raspberry iced tea.