May 2022 Muse
May 2022
“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window.” — William Faulkner
Editor's Note:
The Strathcona Writers Muse is a forum for members of the Writers Foundation of Strathcona County to provide an opportunity for members to publish their works. Anything published in our letter is eligible to receive a publishing credit. We accept poems and short stories of 1000 words or less normally but longer pieces can be accommodated if they can be published in parts. We are always in need of new items for each month so don't hesitate if you have something we can put into our publication.
Send submissions to wfscsherwoodpark@gmail.com care of Henry Martell, editor.
Important Dates
Writers Circle Virtual Sharing Meeting online
Next date May 3, 2022
RSVP on the website and the link will be emailed to you prior to the meeting.
https://www.wfscsherwoodpark.com/event-details/writing-circle-meeting-online-13
Next Board Meeting: May 10, 2022
Newsletter Submission Deadline: May 27, 2022
Poets in the Park
Poets in the park meets the third Wednesday of every month online.
Reply to the link on the WFSC website
www.wfscsherwoodpark.com
Next scheduled meeting May 18, 2022
Children's Creative Writing Workshop
Second Thursday of each month
Next Meeting May 12, 2022
Reply to the link on our Website
www.wfscsherwoodpark.com
This Month's Submissions
A Magical Ring by Mandy Eve-Barnett
Prince Ellon looked upward and saw his father’s castle standing atop the steep crag. Its walls were honed from the very cliff face. Dark grey slabs towering above him as he walked the sandy beach below. His father’s insistence that he take a wife, weighed heavily upon him. There were many beautiful young women all too eager to become his betrothed, but he was reluctant. None were willing to dirty their clothes on the beach or abandon them for a swim in the sea. He found their lack of spirit and their trifling concerns boring. Why could he not find a woman with a more adventurous spirit?
As he kicked the damp sand a glistening object flew forth and landed a few feet away. Puzzled the Prince picked it up to find a bronze ring made in the shape of a mermaid. It was a most unusual ring, so he placed it upon his finger to admire it all the more. Once the ring encircled his knuckle, a waterspout began to rise from the waves and foam. The Prince watched in astonishment as the water twisted and curled, gradually forming into a woman’s upper body and a fish’s tail. What witchcraft is this? He tried removing the ring, but it stuck fast. The water ceased its swirling and the Prince looked upon the most beautiful face he had ever seen.
“You have been granted your wish, young Prince. Behold your wife.”
“I have not made any such wish.”
“Did you not want a wife who would swim in the sea with you, a wife who will also wander along the beach with you?”
“Those were my private thoughts. I did not speak them aloud.”
“The ring hears your thoughts and grants you the wishing of them.”
“If that is so then how could you walk with only that tail?”</