Hello everyone! This is my very first post to the list, and I would really like to know what everyone thinks! Just be gentle, pleeeease?

A bit of background. One day I sat down to try to write a story, and come to find my muse had just up and gone. No note, no nothin'. So, I have to go on the hunt for a new muse, or as I like to call it, my Musemate...

"aaaaaahhhhaaaaaahhhhAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A girl fell screaming from the sky, slamming into the pavement. Getting up slowly, she brushed herself off muttering "Stupid, flonqing bastard. I TOLD him to make it gentle!" Raising her fist she shook it at the sky and shouted "Just wait! I am going to write you...someplace very bad!"

Growling what sounded like obscenities she looked around. Her expression changed when she saw the Cafe in front of her. "Oh wow! I can't believe that worked!" She walked up to the doors of the Cafe. The Bouncer stopped her. "You can't go in there."

She stared at him like he had lost his mind. "Why not?"

"Because Writers are only allowed in on Writers' Night."

"Oh, silly. I am not a Writer!"

"Yes, you are. You are the Writer known as Lady Shalott."

"Oh, that, yes, well." She waved her hands around. "TECHNICALLY, I am not a Writer. I haven't Written anything."

"What about that story A Funny Thing Happened?"

"Oh that! Yes, I can see why you are puzzled. That is really the brainchild of my Cousin Andrienna, who just insisted I post it under my name. You don't think I could write anything THAT depraved, do you?"

The Bouncer glared at her. "Well, what about..."

He was cut off by her. "Nope, never actually put that one to paper. It was just an idea."

"Okay, then what about..."

Again the Bouncer was cut off as Shalott spoke. "We-ell, you can't really count that. I mean, yes I wrote it, but no one ever read it. I finally threw it away. Now really, I can't say I am a Writer if no one has ever READ anything I have Written, now can I? It is like that old saying; 'If a mime screams in the forest, does anyone care'?"

Confronted by logic that bordered on the insane, the Bouncer grabbed the last reason he could to keep her from the Cafe. It screamed when he flung it at Shalott. "Well, you still can't go in there. It is Muse Night."

"What?" She looked at him.

"You heard me. It is the fourth Friday of every third month. Tonight is Muse Night."

She stared at him. "You mean you can't tell?"

"Tell what?" The Bouncer was getting frustrated.

"I am a muse." She stated it like it was the most obvious thing in the entire world.

He snorted. She was just a college age Writer-who-wasn't; average in every way."You most definitely are NOT a muse."

Shalott glared. "I beg to differ! My Cousin Andrienna once told me, and I quote, 'Shalott, you are my muse.' I dare you to prove me wrong."

The Bouncer was ready to kill this Cousin Andrienna. He was positive that Things said jokingly could not be used as fact, but there would be a lot of paperwork involved in proving it. He finally sighed and stepped aside.

"Thank you," Shalott said primly, entering the Cafe.

Inside, Shalott looked around, but didn't see who she was looking for. Moving away from the door to get a better view, Shalott heard someone call out to her.

"Yo Shalott! Hey Lotty, over here!"

She turned and saw someone waving at her from a table near the center of the room. Making her way over, she flopped into an empty chair. "Hey Bodine. What are you doing here?"

The muse shrugged, his long blonde hair falling over his shoulder "This guy here," he said, jerking a thumb at a muse next to him who was engaged in conversation with someone behind him, "invited me."

"Oh." Shalott looked at Andrienna's muse.

"So what brings you here? Especially on Muse Night," Bodine asked.

"I am looking for you-know-who."

Bodine frowned. "Who?"

"You know. Her."

Now Shalott KNEW Bodine's puzzlement was fake. "Her who?"

"Body! HER. Where is she."

"Umm... I don't know who you mean."

"Bodine, if you don't tell me where she is right now, I will tell Andrienna that you got that last story idea from a play you saw in Hong Kong last year."

"Oh! You mean her!" Bodine said. "Why didn't you make it more clear? Yea, she is right over there." He pointed at a corner booth.

"Thanks, Body." Shalott gave him a peck on the cheek, then headed in the direction he pointed.

"Hi Karmi." Shalott spoke directly to one muse. The other three discreetly slipped away.

The muse looked at her. "Oh, hi Shalott. How'd you find me?"

"It wasn't easy," Shalott huffed. "So where have you been?"

"Oh, ummm, around." Karmi was starting to fidget.

"Uh huh. When are you coming back?"

Karmi looked at her. "I am not."

"What?" Shalott was speechless.

"I-I've found someone else. Someone who really appreciates my talents, and who will put them to good use. She is a great writer, and we make a good team."

"So, you're leaving me?" Shalott asked.

"Well, actually I have already left you. I've been with my new Writer for a while now." Karmi looked happy.

Shalott leaned forward. "So you've been going around with another Writer behind my back? Does this have anything to do with New Moon?"

"No." Karmi looked away. "It started a long time ago."

"Oh. Well." Shalott didn't say anything for a while. "I guess that's that."

"Yep." Karmi was starting to eye a muse across the room.

"Well, now what am I supposed to do?" Shalott had to ask..err..whine."

"Find a new muse." Karmi got up and left.

"Yea, right." Shalott muttered. Getting up she went to the bar. "Give me something stiff," she told the Bartender, then buried her head in her arms.

My Cousin Andrienna belongs to Andriea Nichols-North, who really is my cousin, and who is a writer in a different Genre. Her muse belongs to her, too, but I gave him a face and name.

Will Shalott ever find a new muse? I don't know, but I do know the search will cover the real world, fantasy, subreality, and everything in between! He he...

XOXO
Shalott