Tag: short story

They’re Closer Than You Think

Photograph ©Jaroslaw Datta http://jaroslawdatta.com/

I thought I would share the small piece about Poseidon’s Standing Stones that I was asked to contribute by fellow writer Gregory L Norris. The story has been recently published in ‘From The Corner of Your Eye – A Cryptids Anthology’ by Great Old Ones Publishing, It’s a damn fine book which stands next to Lovecraft’s Necronomicon and Barker’s Imajica on my writing desk and features some pretty creepy tales about those creatures that exist on the edge of our consciousness. ‘Ere’s ‘wot’ I wrote:

Holidays to the coast as a kid had me searching the flat-line horizon for sea-monsters. I found none, so I imagined them. Years later, I imagined one again. I then gave her a place to live, a modest social life including friends from English legend, and of course, a leisure interest. Every monster needs a hobby. All this, I thought, ought not to stretch one’s imagination too far since individuality is embraced by the society I live in, and neighbourhoods have become extremely transient. Maybe she would live unnoticed in a town, possibly making weekly trips to the Benefits Office. Maybe she would be saddened by the lament of the gull or be comforted by the gentle shush of the sea. Maybe she would find love. Or maybe not.
And here we are. How was I to know things were going to happen as they did? After all, she is a cryptid and they’re supposed to stay hidden, aren’t they? Something about the corner of one’s eye, or is that just myth?

To explore what inspired the other authors to write about their particular beasts, please do visit Gregory L Norris’ blog.

Writing Pigeon

Francisco_de_Goya_y_Lucientes_-_Witches'_Sabbath_(The_Great_He-Goat) 1798
Witches’ Sabbath by Goya (1798)

One month ago, I said, “I want to write a story about a witch.”

1878_falero_departure_of_the_witches-detail
Detail of Departure of the Witches by Falero (1878)

 

From then on, I sat at my computer and squelch-squerched through the internet mire to glean a little about these terrible ladies of legend and folklore. I found an excess of images of either seductress or crone (mainly seductress – no surprise there), along with pages of charms and herbal remedies, broomsticks and familiars; but I found no story.

Salvator Rosa-witches at incarnations
Witches at their Incantations by Salvator Rosa (about 1646)

 

 

Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys Morgan Le Fay
Morgan Le Fay by Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys 1864

I talked to a practising Wiccan with whom I work. I read about black magic and white magic and sort-of-grey magic and fluff bunnies, but still had a cursor flashing the seconds away on a blank .doc.

 

 

 

 

Many times, I bemoaned to my wife: “Witches are a pain in the arse.”

Jason_and_Medea_-_John_William_Waterhouse
Jason and Medea by John William Waterhouse (1907)

 

I even set it aside and wrote another piece. When I returned to it, guess what? Yes, there it was! The cursor still waiting for my input.

Maximilian Pirner Hecate
Hecate by Maximilian Pirner (1901)

 

Then the pigeon came.

It had come to me before – not the same one, because we are talking many years ago. I was in College and the bird was sitting in the tree outside my classroom window during a test. It did the same thing a week ago as it did back then, and with that in my head, I started typing.

The story is now finished. Maddie, a witch, has been conjured in a fiction dark. And a lesson has been relearned: Just write, because the act of writing will tempt the story onto the page and save your partner weeks of listening to your laments.

Happy halloween