when we rise up in the morning...

“Good morning Muses, — What have you got for me today?” she asked.

“Not fully awake yet,” Urania replies.

“Lace up those tennis shoes and let’s get walking,” adds Thalia.

“Whatever we come up with will mean something to somebody, right?” asked the Muse of Many Questions. “Does Muse of Many Questions look better capitalized or lower case — muse of many questions?”

“Whatever suits you Cal,” Urania replied.

“We learned the importance of grammatical habits while working with our editor Noosha,” Thalia continued, “like ‘… (space) then the next word — and (space)—(space) for our beloved em-dash.”

“Consistency of thought and practice yields great rewards?” asked Calliope. “And saves on corrections and edits — conserving energy for — the work we love?”

Cold winds bit through her gloves… and she felt grateful for the sensation. Robins and cardinals created a dawn ruckus. Henny sniffed, and stopped, and pulled, and scanned the terrain for furred hoppers.

At one corner, there was a blurry outline of a twoleg walking a fourleg — unfamiliar — until she heard the voice call, “If you’ll stop for a minute and let us get ahead of you, all shall be well.”

It was the woman who lives across National Avenue with a chocolate Lab who doesn’t have much love for his fellow fourlegs — snapped at Hen a time or two. We should have suggested walking together on opposite sides of the road — like Ceasar Milan taught us — when walking together, dogs sort out the natural pack order. Walking solves a lot!

“Well, well, well… ,” she said. “For having nothing to say — we managed to say a lot — and we didn’t even travel beyond our walk — interesting. Thanks Muses.”

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