impulse or... instinct?

“Now this… is… warm, smooth, and dreamy.” Thalia closed her eyes and took another sip of the morning perk. She did not swallow or gulp, but instead paused and savored the sensation and flavor.

Calliope felt the brew’s heat transfer through the porcelain mug to her palms and digits. “One of our better impulse buys,” she said.

“Hold your horses there Sally,” said Urania.

“Sally who?” asked Calliope. “Who is Sally?”

“You know Nia is forever making up random names for her near and dears Cal… like… Henrietta Hasenpfeffer, or… she calls the cooing mourning doves Mabel and Lucille. Terms of endearment — Sally.” A smile danced from the twinkle in Thalia’s eyes, to the curve of her lips, and throughout her posture. Thalia smiled with her entire body.

“Interesting habit,” Calliope raised her eyebrows.

All business now… Urania said, “Even though the beans were on an end cap… this was not an impulse buy. Remember?… we considered buying a bag last week… picked it up and set it back on the shelf. That… would have been an impulse buy. After seven or more days, we picked it up… squeezed and sniffed the package… put the Creme Brûlée coffee in our cart… ,”

“It was meant to be!” Thalia interrupted. “Fate, instinct, intuition… we were meant to try something new.”

“Yesterday in our prompt call about conscious breathing… ,” Calliope took a deep, rich inhale, felt the air move from throat to hips, “… there was a recurring comment — it was Edward who summed it up beautifully.”

“Yes!” said Urania. “He said, ‘We have got to remain open — but it is up to us to work out our own solutions.’ We alone must take responsibility for our choices — be it — how we breathe or what we consume.”

“Can we refill our cup? It’s empty,” said Thalia.

“Half a mug,” Cal and Nia agreed. “That’ll be just right.”

Henrietta Hasenpfeffer Here