When the Sparks Fly

The Halls of Pandemonium - Day 13

The Halls of Pandemonium - Day 13

Prompt: I am sending your muse to you today. Write the moment of that encounter.

I’m taking part in the Halls of Pandemonium challenge, run by Bradley Ramsey and Lord Devereaux. I may not take part every day, like I did in Flash Fiction February, but I will have fun and see how I go!

The same as last time, every like, comment and restack earns points towards the challenge, so if you enjoy what you read, please let me and others know!

And don’t forget to check out some of the other stories in the challenge!

I woke up at 6am, despite my best wishes, and looked at today’s prompt.

My muse yawned and said, “You and I both know it doesn’t work like that,” and she curled up in my spot in the bed while I got up.

Most of the time she is nearby, crocheting or painting, while I go about my day, just absorbing what is happening. She might have a notebook open where she jots down things related to the prompt.

Other times she brings me creativity in the form of a problem I’ve been wrestling with: how to organise the spare room, how to organise my new publication, a TikTok reel, a different way to look at a patient’s medications. Often there have been scraps of paper in her notebook for weeks, waiting for the right spark.

She doesn’t always show up in the way I want. I might be looking for a story, but instead we’ll come up with a toddler game, or a million other projects I could do, even if I don’t really want to do them (I don’t need an Etsy shop, or to design my own crochet patterns, or create a course about writing a book, or a funnel about creating educational games for pharmacists…).

Other times she is laughing, singing and dancing in the rain, without a care in the world, shaking her wild hair, a mix of dreadlocks and bright colours, while paint-stained fingers leave marks on her colourful clothes and tattoos flash as she twirls.

But when we are in sync, nothing can stop us. Time flies, words flow, and whatever creative problem I was struggling with turns out to be the easiest thing in the world. Creativity feels like tangible sparks in the air around us.

Sometimes we aren’t quite in sync. She is sparkling and ideas are flowing, but I can’t stop and work on them. I might be driving, or at work, or at playgroup. At those times, she is like a hungry cat, pestering me until I can do something with her amazing inspirations.

She is the version of me if I had no obligations, but we are more alike than we are different. We both have endless to-do lists and want to try everything. To be the life of the party, but also curl up with a good book. To do it all, but also absolutely nothing at all.

Because sometimes it takes doing nothing, and letting go, for us to truly listen to each other, and for the sparks to fly.

Thank you for reading.

Disclaimer: I sometimes use AI as a sounding board during edits, but all writing is my own.

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