IYawning, IIand smearing my eyes with my fingers, I walkedwalked bleary eyed into the kitchen and mademade myselfboiled the kettle.filled the kettlefilled the kettle with water andwater,fresh water,water from the tap, makingchecking with my hands to make sure it was cold enough.The best tea comes from the coldest water. I glanced outsideoutside for a minute at the mist.city mist.mist. I could tastealmost taste the grey. I plugged the kettle in and switched it on. IAs the kettle began to hiss, I got some biscuits.looked for biscuits, andbiscuits. AnythingAnything bigger than crumbs. II foundfound some digestives.fusty digestives. They'reFor some reason, biscuits are niceralways nicer when they'rethey've gone a bit dry and stale. I poured milktook the milk outout of the fridge and poured some into a cup.cup that I'd left outleft out from having used earlier. Then I made myselfThe kettle grumbledbegan grumblinggrumbling fiercely so I poured water onto a teabag andtook it from the cord, threw a teabag into my cup and poured waterboiling water onto it. I watched it brew.swirlsbrown swirls rise up through the water.muted white of milky water. A few minutes passed. I put the teabag inI removedremoved and squeezed the teabag, then flicked it into the bin. I picked up my mug and left the kitchen with tea.a cupnicenice, hot cup of tea.strong tea.