An avid reading friend of mine called insisting that I read Tim Macy’s online web short story “The Brass Teapot.” It certainly is not one to read to your child. Yes, the teapot is magical and it does produce money. But it is the physical and mental expense required to generate the income in the teapot which makes this tale one of darkness.
They argued for an hour, Alice the entire time clutching the closed teapot. She called him a loser three times during the fight and he once, out of frustration, told her that she had been a bad mother. It was the dirtiest they had ever treated one another. When they finished, when both were hunched over in exhaustion … Alice lifted the lid to find the teapot filled with twenty dollar bills. There was just over four hundred dollars.
Even though Mr. Macy’s work is appreciated as literary art, I think I’ll just continue adding only water and tea leaves to my teapots.