Sometimes the Muse Finds You

My friend Julia brought up Christina Aguilera songs in an ongoing conversation and one of the tunes mentioned stuck in the back of my head. Somehow, this set up the background music to several images I had in my head into a complete picture.

For a couple of days, these images floated in my head and began to mash into a larger landscape that I could not only see, but I heard it, I felt it. I was there!

I had not even realized I was dealing with the puzzle pieces that would form a full story.

I wasn’t even planning to write a short story.

So when that discussion of where your inspiration comes from, this one falls into the very definition of “Anything, everything and whatever.”

Sometimes you are not looking for the Muse, She just finds you and gently taps you in that place that makes the fingers dance across the keyboard and build a little world populated by people you feel you know, at least a bit, and their story unfolds across the screen.

March Madness is a period of great joy for me because I love college basketball, so I wasn’t expecting to get much writing done during the tournament, least of all this little gem.

A moody tale of love and joy and destiny turned on its head. A snapshot of a moment quite independent of the larger issues that surround it, a moment that rarely is the focus of this type of story.

To be sure, March Madness is a period of great emotional upheaval – great joy and excitement, surprise, disappointment, anger and denial. But as I partake for love of the game and not for any other ulterior motive (like bragging rights or winnings), I was not expecting writing that would result in a melancholy piece of writing.

In “How Nadine and Libby Escaped Destiny,” a child is playing outside an old trailer and her mother watches her from within as the essence of the moment unfolds. It is a sad tale with haunting images; a tragedy that aspires to a happy ending.

It came from the well, from the deep, from the heart I suppose. It came from the place dreams are born.

Is there a larger story to be told? Probably, but that’s an issue for another day. Today I immerse myself in basketball and the joy of the dance.

During commercials I will continue to ponder this concept of inspiration and that magical process that allows writers to suspend disbelief and enter that creative bubble that brings forth the words.

This time, it was a song and the fragility of little girls of all ages… Then again, I always assumed that if you mixed sugar and spice, you might end up with something bittersweet.

“How Nadine and Libby Escaped Destiny” is available at Smashwords for free download.