Another dark fantasy story: Sins of the Mother

You guys ever have the kind of day where nothing goes as planned? But it’s all still sort of okay?

Well. Of course you do.

Mine kind of went like this:

1. I had planned to go hiking/dictating in a park today. First thing in the morning. Finish up a story, maybe. There’s a trail in the woods that goes for about six miles. I thought maybe I’d duck off the trail for privacy, though.
2. My wife had already left with the Prius…which, I realized, had my truck keys in it. So I stayed home. If I’d fixed the other car, I could have driven it. Or I could have ridden my bike. Didn’t wanna.
3. I went into the back yard. Thought perhaps I’d do some writing. An old lady on a porch, who may or may not have been knitting, sat watching me. I moved to the left side of the yard. Yep. Watching. Moved to the right. Yep. I mean, it was funny, and if I’d been actually writing at the time I’d have been tempted to put her in the story. Maybe do something horrible to her? I mean, it could happen. Instead I went inside & irritated the children till my wife came home.
4. Went to Panera Bread. Figured I’d just type up the ending of the story, because it was all so clear in my head and might not take very long. Then I looked at the first part I wrote weeks ago–2000 words–they weren’t at all what I remembered having written. I mean, the characters were kind of the same, but somehow it all grew in my head. So my ending wouldn’t work. I then spent a couple of hours rewriting the first part to match the (unwritten) second part. By then I was feeling uncomfortable at taking up their booth, and was thoroughly over-caffeinated in the bargain, so I texted my wife and received wonderful news: the back-yard tent was free for my use!
5. I came home. A kid sat in the tent, listening to music I’d rather not hear. Good of him, really. So okay, I got stuff set up to pace and dictate outside using an E-ink Kindle for the display. Went outside.
6. I got hot. The kid did too, and he went inside. I carried a fan out to the tent/office, sat there for a bit, and decided I needed extra help: got my shirt wet with the hose. That was better.
7. Somehow I added nearly 4000 words to the story.
8. I used a completely different ending after all. One I didn’t see coming.

You know what I mean? It’s all fine. I’m not sure what I think of the story itself, but then I never am. I could see it being a prologue to something else, or an origin story for a character I use later. Something like that. And, after all, it was fun to write.

The title image ought to link to its page on my site, if you guys would like to check it out. Email subscribers can also find a link to it on the members-only download page…I sent the links out in my last email, if you missed it. But if you re-subscribe (no need to unsubscribe first), you’ll get re-sent the link anyway.

I’d love to hear what you guys think of the story. It’s going to live its life on its own terms, as they all do, and I can’t do much with them once they’re done. Mostly because I’d rather learn what I can and apply the lessons to the next thing. But it’s nice to think they might find friends in the world. You might like it. Hate it. Buy it dinner?

Meanwhile. Have fun out there!