Until the River Runs Blue

Competitions are a great incentive....even if you don't win them.

This story evolved from one where you were given the opening line and asked to keep going.
The competition was for children's fiction but this yarn took its own direction.
It gathered a few familiar fairy tale figures along the way.
The King, Queen, Witch,Wise Woman, Woodcutter et al

And it was set, of course, deep in the forest.

But essentially it is about:

• Learning to stay true to who you are (once you find out !)
• Not being seduced by the romancers
• or deterred by the tricksters.

I put it up on Amazon but here's an extract.

THE QUEEN AND THE HAG

In service to the hag the queen performed many tasks. She washed all the clothes, she cleaned, she choked in the dust raised by the hag’s broomstick, and she waited. She waited for the hag to fall asleep, but the hag never seemed to sleep. The hag hunted by night and in the daytime she locked herself up in her gingerbread house that stood on four monstrous chicken legs. The legs moved if the queen came too close and then the hag would awaken and give her more chores.

And so it continued for many days and weeks and months until one day the queen had an idea. She would befriend the chicken legs. She would feed them corn, she would stroke their oily sinews, she would become wily; for she was running out of time.

The queen knew what the hag was doing to her; she was wearing her down. Already the queen was tired performing all the chores and she hardly slept at night lest the hag should return and cut her throat. So she grovelled. She fed the chicken legs with fat, she stroked and patted them. At night she played hopscotch with them and always lost. She flattered and deceived until one day she saw that the legs were asleep, soothed by her own balm. Taking up a knife the queen stole into the hag’s den.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Until-River-Runs-Cathy-Leonard