whatcha’ thinking?

“Got a penny?” Calliope asked Thalia.

Thalia rummaged through her pockets… a Snicker’s wrapper, paper clip, poop bag, dog treats, parts of a broken pen, and a dime accumulated in a pile on the newly painted table.

“Will a dime work?” Thalia asked.

“Nope,” said Calliope.

“What do you want a penny for?” asked Thalia.

“I want to offer Urania a penny for her thoughts… she looks… well — I don’t know how to interpret her look… so I want to ask her what she’s thinking.”

“Ridiculous!” said Thalia while rummaging through her satchel. “Since when do we pay each other for our thoughts? We are all one.”

Thalia slammed three dirty pennies on the freshly painted and polyurethaned table.

“First — catch up with the century, will you? We call them purses now. Second — take care, will you? We just spent days on this new to us table. Third — it’s a gentle way to ask somebody what’s weighing on their mind when they look — pensive,” Calliope scooped up three honest Abe’s.

“Hey Urania,” Calliope called across the room.

Urania looked away from the reassembled wall unit.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Calliope asked.

“She missed missed some spots,” said Urania. “Sloppy, sloppy… faux cherry is peeking out in places where it should be black.”

Handing her another penny Calliope asked, “What else?”

“I really enjoyed last night’s Zoom with Karen and Julie — talking openly about people pleasing tendencies is the first step to new ways of being — awareness,” said Urania.

“I have one more penny… ,” said Calliope. “One more thought?”

“People are amazing and fascinating when you make time to understand what they think and why they think it,” said Urania.