In the heart of Fairydwale, you will find John the grocer’s spice store. Are you looking for special herbs, medicinal herbs, herbs for your soup, hair or bath? Then make sure to visit John. He will have just the herb for you.
One early morning, a long time ago, John stood in front of his store. The city was dark and the people of Fairydwale were fast asleep. John excitedly kept his eyes pinned on the main road. He was waiting for a carriage full of some very special herbs from a faraway land that would be delivered soon. The carriage was full of rare spices, extraordinary beans and medicinal herbs. Well… medicinal… they had never been proven to work but the people of Dwaele didn’t care. They wanted to believe John and he of course made a good living selling them.
When John finally saw the carriage’s flickering torch and heard the horses’ hooves rushing towards him, he jumped in the air. Hooray! My herbs have arrived, he thought. John said hello to the driver who was quick to respond. “Here, hold my torch so I can get down. It’s still so dark, I can’t see a thing.” John reached for the torch, but the carriage driver slipped and fell. The burning torch was launched into the air and landed in the carriage, right between the goods. In no time, the wooden barrels caught fire. “Quick!” the driver shouted. “Put the fire out!” As fast as John could, he started filling up buckets of water from the rain barrel outside his store. Together with the carriage driver, he emptied bucket after bucket onto the flames, and it wasn’t long before the fire was put out.
John and the driver looked at the carriage with grief. The soaking wet wooden barrels were smoldering from the fire that had just ruined all the goods. The carriage driver opened a few of the barrels and saw the damage. “We can throw all of this away,” he said. John looked inside the carriage and saw the herbs and burnt beans floating on top of the water. The steam coming off the boiling water hit him in the face. “You’re right” he said, “this is all useless. What a waste.” But then John inhaled deeply above the barrel with burnt beans and exclaimed, “This smells wonderful!” and he took another deep breath. He quickly tried the barrel full of leaves, “This too!” He ran into his shop to get a wooden pint which he used to scoop up some of the boiling water. The driver stood by watching as John took a sip of the burnt bean water. John closed his eyes and whispered, “This is delightful.” He quickly tried a sip from the burnt leaf barrel. “This tastes amazing too!” He jumped for joy and everyone in Fairydwale could hear his excited cheers. The confused carriage driver watched John do a little dance in the middle of the street. Above them, a sleepy man opened his bedroom window and said, “Smells good John!” But John didn’t hear him. He demanded the driver unload all the barrels and bring him another load as soon as possible. “And don’t forget to burn them!” he exclaimed excitedly as he gave the driver a large sack of gold.
From that day on, John only sold his latest invention. His store now had a new sign that read: John’s bean spray and leaf water. Every morning, there was a long line outside his shop and all the people of Fairydwale loved his new brews. Business was going so well that it wasn’t long before John could open a few more stores. Soon, every street was home to one of John’s stores. The people of Fairydwale would sit and enjoy their cups of bean spray and leaf water for hours on end. Some of them even took their drinks to go. Foamy oat milk or a large dollop of caramel, it was all the rage to be spotted with one of John’s creations. To this day, things haven’t changed. Even far beyond the city of Fairydwale, everywhere around the world. Bean spray and leaf water, also known as coffee and tea. Who could do without? But don’t forget, it was John who invented them. John the grocer from Fairydwale.
