My micro-fiction story (150 words exactly, as requested in the guidelines) has been published in the last issue (*sob*) of Alienskin Magazine. It is a story about a magical shop where you get exactly what you need (as opposed to what you think you want) – a shop run by ancient Egyptian gods, in particular Bast (the cat goddess), and Anubis (the jackal god of the dead).
Inter-Sphinx Bazaar in Alienskin issue June-July 2010
But where did this idea come from – and where the heck is that shop (so that you can avoid it – getting what you need isn’t always easy, now, is it? š )
The idea came one day as I was visiting my grandfather, aunts and uncle in downtown Lefcosia (I live far away in the outskirts, in the wilderness – about 15 mi drive when there is no traffic, actually). So there I am, parking my car outside the fish market, and I see this sign across the street, mounted on the fence of a dilapidated house:
INTER-SPHINX BAZAR
Egyptian things
(many thanks to Carlos, my husband, for taking the picture!)
How intriguing, I thought. What kind of “things” would they sell in a place like that? Inter-Sphinx, like Inter-rail – something connecting us to the Sphinx – a bazaar, of all things, a place to buy. I took out my little emergency notebook and jotted down the name with an asterisk and a note saying, “could be a good story!”
The rest, as they say, is (hi)story. š
Cool!!! But thatās so true, you never know what you may come across and what it can trigger in a writerās mind (writersā minds are notoriously twisted things).
You know, something similar happened to me years ago. The incident gave birth to a novel, actually, not a flash (which, as you know, Iām unable to write).
It happened while I was living in Dublin. I came across this little shop, which then I could not find any longer (maybe it closed doors, I donāt knowā¦ but maybe it was something moreā¦ mysterious ;-)). Anyway, it was a tiny shop wedged between two bigger ones, with a small, squared window and a slim black door with a window on the upper part. The square window was jammed with any sort of crockery, silver little things, little statues, candelabra, masks, and on the background there were heavy dark red curtains and old fashioned chairs and a golden light wrapped everything. There was nobody inside, but on the window of the door there was a little slip of paper with a arrow pointing to a round button, saying: āRINGā and another square of paper in the middle of the window said: āring only if interestedā.
I donāt know why, I was fascinated!
Oh, and Chris! Congrats on your publications!!!!!!! š
Thanks, Celebcuen!! Very interesting story about the mysterious disappearing shop!!! I can see why you would write a novel about it! š Thanks for sharing.
Congrats Chrys! I loved reading your post. It’s neat to see how other people get sotry ideas. š
Thanks, Laura! š I thought it was a fun story. Never happened to me before – but the name of the shop was just too weird not to notice, lol!