Reflection of the present past

A man sits at a table. The lamp overhead is as dark as the room around him. He feels his way across the table slowly preparing the tea whose components are spread out before him. As he stirs the tea he reaches for the sugar he tips the mug and burns his arm. He opens his eyes and stares at the sore spot on his arm, red and tingling. He thinks to himself, “I was burned by tea before and I closed my eyes because of the fear of getting burned again. I lacked the courage to do things the right way, to take the advise of so many. Now I am burnt again. If I only would have opened my eyes sooner.”