Every great adventure begins with a crisis. Most people imagine danger arriving with screeching tires, mysterious strangers, or ominous phone calls in the middle of the night. For Syd and Genny, it arrived at exactly 6:12 on a Monday morning.
Genny had given up on sleep sometime after five. She’d tossed. She’d turned. She’d negotiated with her pillow as though it might suddenly develop better customer service. Finally, she accepted defeat, slipped quietly out of bed, and padded into the hotel kitchen.
A cup of coffee on the deck while the sun climbed over the horizon. That was the plan. Simple. Peaceful. Civilized.
She reached for the coffee maker without a second thought. Then she stopped. The coffee pot was empty.
Not almost empty. Not there’s enough for half a cup if you’re desperate empty. Not we’ll just make another pot empty. It was the kind of empty that changed the trajectory of an entire day.
The bag of coffee beans sat open on the counter like an accomplice with nothing left to confess. She picked it up anyway, hoping gravity might locate one last forgotten scoop hiding in the corner. Nothing. No beans. No grounds. No emergency stash. No single-serve pods tucked into a cabinet. No complimentary packets from the hotel lobby. Just…nothing.
A complete and undeniable absence of coffee.
Genny slowly lowered the empty bag back onto the counter.
The room seemed unusually quiet.
She stared into the vacant coffee pot and the coffee pot stared back.
Somewhere down the hall, Syd was still sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware that civilization had just suffered a complete and irreversible collapse.
Genny looked toward Syd’s bedroom door and then she looked at the clock.
6:14 a.m.
Under normal circumstances, waking Syd before seven required paperwork, witness statements, and what felt like a court order.
These were not normal circumstances.
She filled her lungs.
“SYD!”
No response.
“SYD! WAKE UP!”
A muffled groan drifted through the closed door.
Then Genny delivered the words no friend should ever have to hear before sunrise.
“THIS IS BAD!”
The bedroom door swung open and Syd shuffled into the hallway wearing pajamas, one sock, and an expression that suggested she wasn’t entirely convinced she was awake.
“Wha.. what is going on?” Syd looked at Genny holding her coffee cup upside down, “How bad?” she mumbled.
Genny swallowed. “We’re out.”
Syd straightened so quickly it was almost impressive. “No.”
“Yes.”
“Noooo…” Syd repeated, slower and longer this time, as though saying it differently might change the facts.
Genny nodded once.
Syd narrowed her eyes.
“Completely?”
“Completely.”
For several long seconds neither of them spoke.
The silence settled over the kitchen with the weight of a thousand tiny disappointments. It was the kind of silence reserved for canceled vacations, burned chocolate chip cookies, and discovering your favorite sweater had accidentally gone through the dryer.
Finally Syd shook her head, “Let me get dressed. We ride.”
Genny blinked. “We what?” Syd said more firmly “We ride.”
Twenty minutes later they were on a mission, a very important mission. Possibly the most important mission of their lives. Finding Brevona Coffee Shop.
Normally this would not be difficult. Today, however, they happened to be staying in an Airbnb in a historic European district full of winding streets, tiny alleys, and enough confusing intersections to challenge professional explorers.
They pulled out their phones and searched for the nearest Starbucks. Their phones insisted the nearest Brevona Coffee Shop was only ten minutes away. They looked at each other and smiled, both saying “let’s do it.” They started walking, following the direction of the phone.
The phone lied.
Forty-five minutes later they had gotten lost twice, accidentally joined a walking tour that turned them completely around, taken photos with a street performer dressed as a pirate, bought some yummy pastries they absolutely did not need, and somehow ended up 30 min farther away than when they started.
Licking the last flakes of pastry from her fingers, Genny smiled thoughtfully. “This is starting to feel personal. It’s like the city knows we’re looking.”
Syd laughed and shook her head. “Oh, it knows. And it’s mocking us.”
The two of them scanned the bustling street until they spotted a cheerful shopkeeper arranging colorful fruits and vegetables outside his tiny corner store. They hurried across the cobblestones, waving enthusiastically as though enough excitement could bridge any language barrier.
Between warm smiles, exaggerated gestures, and a handful of creatively mispronounced Italian words, they attempted to explain exactly what they were searching for. Syd acted it out with dramatic flair while Genny filled in the missing pieces with expressions that somehow made perfect sense, even if the words didn’t.
The shopkeeper watched the performance with growing amusement before breaking into a broad grin. He nodded knowingly, then launched into a lively stream of broken English sprinkled with rapid-fire Italian, pointing repeatedly toward a narrow side street that disappeared between two centuries-old buildings.
The girls understood perhaps every fourth word.
It didn’t matter.
There was something reassuring about the sparkle in the old man’s eyes and the certainty with which he pointed. He believed he was sending them exactly where they needed to go.
As they thanked him, he reached into a wooden crate, selected two perfect red apples, polished them on his apron, and placed one carefully into each of their hands. With a proud smile and a graceful little bow, he tapped his chest.
“Mi chiamo Franco.”
Genny beamed. “Grazie, Franco!”
“Thank you!” Syd added, giving him an enthusiastic wave.
Franco laughed, waved them onward with both hands, and called after them in cheerful Italian. Neither girl understood a single word.
“I’m pretty sure he just wished us good luck,” Genny said.
“Or warned us to run,” Syd replied.
Laughing together, they exchanged an excited glance and headed down the narrow street, following Franco’s directions with complete confidence. Whether he had sent them toward the answer they sought or simply toward another unforgettable adventure, neither of them could tell.
With Syd and Genny, those two things often turned out to be exactly the same.
Franco’s directions led them to a fountain. There was no Brevona.
Genny whispered “I am sure he said Brevona, maybe he said fountain.”
Syd scoffed, “they don’t even sound alike.”
Then they noticed the pigeons.
There were a few at first. Then a few more. And then enough pigeons to suggest someone, somewhere, had called a meeting.
They stood around the fountain in small clusters, watching Syd and Genny with unsettling concentration.
Not curious. Not frightened. Judgmental.
One particularly plump pigeon tilted its head as if silently asking, “You two really walked all this way for a fountain?“
Another puffed out its chest with unmistakable disappointment.
Genny shifted uneasily. “I don’t think they approve of us.”
Syd nodded. “I don’t think they ever approve of anyone.”
The pigeons continued staring.
It felt less like they had found a fountain … and more like they had wandered into a tiny, feathery jury that had already reached its verdict.
At this point Genny’s caffeine level had dropped into dangerous territory and Syd wasn’t doing much better.
Syd grabbed the phone, “We need a plan.” Genny muttered “We had a plan.” Syd looked around, “I mean a better plan.”
Then … Like a beacon shining through the darkness …
Syd stopped. Pointed. And gasped dramatically.
Genny looked up. There it was! The glorious and beautiful Brevona!
They heard the angels practically singing. Well maybe that was just the espresso machines. Either way… the effect was the same.
The two girls hurried inside. The smell of fresh coffee hit them immediately. They felt a renewed energy and hope returned to their souls.
Civilization had been restored, and minutes later they emerged victorious. Syd with her iced coffee. And Genny with her caramel latte. And of course, several more pastries. They both had expressions of people who had narrowly survived a major historical event.
They found a nearby bench overlooking a city square. and for a few minutes they simply enjoyed the moment. The sunshine. The coffee, and the fact that they no longer felt like zombies.
Then Genny’s phone buzzed. It was Ollie.
The message read: Good morning. What are you two doing today?
Syd and Genny looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Syd typed first. * We survived a dangerous expedition.* Genny grabbed the phone and added. *Against overwhelming odds.*
A pause.
Then his reply appeared.What happened? Syd took a selfie and sent it. Two girls. Two coffees. Two pastries. The Brevona sign in the background.
Several moments passed. Syd looked at Genny “you don’t think he is upset do you? ” Then: * You got lost looking for coffee, didn’t you?*
Silence.
Another message arrived. I knew it … was all he said.
Syd laughed so hard she nearly spilled her drink. Genny shook her head. “How does he always know?” Syd replied “Experience.”
Genny laughed ” That is fair. He knows us too well”
They clinked their coffee cups together like victorious adventurers celebrating a completed quest.
Some people climbed mountains. Some crossed oceans. Some discovered ancient treasures.
Syd and Genny had located caffeine.
And honestly, this early in the morning, that felt every bit as heroic.
Leave a Reply