the teapot lid scandal

Blearily, I boiled a kettle and set about making tea. 

The lid of the teapot sat, wrong side-up on the counter, broken along the lines of a six-pointed star. Right in the middle was the round button handle of the lid, right-side up. It looked like a strange pottery flower that someone had deliberately created and left as a message to me.

It also looked like it had fallen gently and broken during normal use and been left there so I would know it was broken and not waste time looking for it.

I decided to make myself a cup instead while I pondered the mystery of the broken teapot lid.

My husband denied everything and prophesied that no one else would admit to knowing how the lid broke, either. Other potential informants were still sleeping. I was tempted to awaken them, but did not.

I threw the broken lid away. 

We've broken tea crockery before. I knew that you can't buy a replacement lid for this teapot. I had made a mental note to save the lids of any broken teapots. I couldn't recall whether I had ever actually done so, and, if I had, where I had put them.

The teapot was somewhat worse for wear and tear. It had lost the edge of its inner rim, but the damage was stable, and it still worked perfectly fine. I could buy a whole new teapot, but I didn't want to.

I rummaged through likely corners, finding a white lid from a slightly smaller teapot. The fit was precarious, particularly with the broken rim of the teapot. Digging deeply through the top shelf of another cabinet, I found a teapot lid the exact size and color of the one that had broken.

My husband watched my victorious hunt while he spread peanut butter and raspberry jam on his morning toast. We chatted all the while, and he returned to his man-cave, toast in hand.

My sleeping son stirred, and I moved to the side of his bed to see if he would awaken. As soon as he opened one of his eyes, I spoke.

“Do you have a story about how the teapot lid came to be sitting broken on the counter like a perfect flower?”

“Yes.” 

That one word told me the rest of the story.

“It almost looked like it was sitting there and just decided to break. All the pieces were right there, so it must not have been much of a shock or there would be pottery shards all over the kitchen.

“How about I make some tea?”