“Good morning,” Calliope whispered.
“Louder!” Thalia smiled and gesticulated. “Our readers want to hear you!”
Calliope cleared her throat, set her shoulders upon her back, and embraced a new beginning. “Good morning. I’m Cal… and for some unknown reason I’ve been nominated to introduce myself first.” Her eyes darted between Thalia and Urania who were sitting across the table, nodding their support. “A good thing really… I have a tendency to be a little timid and shy… If I go first, I’ll be able to settle and enjoy Tal and Nia’s turns.”
“Oh! I love your word choice!” Tal grinned. “When you said tendency instead of ‘I am timid and shy’ — you gave yourself an opportunity to be different if you want to. Nicely done! We are determined and focused.”
Nia put her hand on top of Cal’s folded fingers. “You can tell them about the cats?”
“Oh the photo! Well you see, I also have a tendency toward curiosity and I’m interes—”
“Curiosity killed the cat,” Thalia interrupted, “satisfaction brought it back!”
Nia pinched Thalia’s thigh under the table and shushed her.
Cal’s eyes glinted at her friend’s follies. They knew how to help her relax. “Interested in learning how to draw,” she continued. “The first exercise was to draw cats. Our Typist had a cat named Samantha. She was sweet… when she wasn’t biting us.”
“And the self portrait?” Tal wanted to move this along… There was slice of pumpkin pie in the kitchen with her name on it.
“Hmmm… Looks like ‘little girl me’? I think it will evolve as we work on our skills.” Calliope took note of Thalia’s tapping fingers. “Enough for this morning?”
“Sure,” said Nia. “Thalia… Tomorrow it’s your turn.”
“Wheeee!!!” she called on her way to the kitchen. “My turn!”
“Friends… Yesterday we came across a little wisdom from our old pal Ralph Waldo. We liked it so much that we had Typist write it down in her notebook. You might like it, too?”
Finish every day and be done with it. For manners and for wise living it is a vice to remember. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it well and serenely, and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day for all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the rotten yesterdays.
Just as I had imagined! You are providing readers new and old a chance to gain a clear understanding of each Muse’s character. Over time I’ve come to see that Thalia and I share a couple of characteristics. I butt into others’ remarks before they have a chance to finish. I think I’m funny. Entertaining. Don’t give me a Hoola Hoop! Where’s the pumpkin pie?