Millie

 Back in the early days of these Tales, back around the time I first learned the nature of the horror that abounded in Jonathon Kearns' new town of Bezer, This idea came to me long ago but I had not figured out how to play it because, well, this is not an easy one in any way. One of the problems was, I did not know who this woman was and with the nature of the furnishings available in my earliest glimpses into this story did not help me in placing it in time. Another was the issue of portraying the horror that is without portraying it because that would just be crass. Then there was the simple and all important point of it just not being the time to write this Tale. Seriously, that is often the very thing that pulls an idea long in reserve up immediate to the fore... it is time to write that Tale.

I do not kid when I say I constantly think of these stories. They are a great distraction from the woes of the world, this one which I am creating is one I am having a ball diving into. It's an adventure with each one and each opens multiple possibilities. I catch what I can, leave myself breadcrumbs and clues for later so that when I come upon them again, they might stir a fancy. It works for me.

Long ago when I had lots of free time and did things like read and read and read and write the assorted verse as a creative release between reading more, I learned a little bit about my inspiration process. I don't consider my mind, in the cartoon in my mind, an organized collection of file cabinets but more a mad alchemist's workshop. A little of everything I read goes into a conceptual pot and just hangs out. When I had that time to read, when my world wasn't chasing a high-energy kid singing "Wheel's on the Bus" to an eternal repetition, I would always have multiple books going. There was always the main book that I tended to carry until done but I would keep a book, usually non-fiction or short stories in the car as an in-case book. Then there is the ever thankful bathroom book that is good to have a rotation going on because it can be a life-saver. Short stories or non-fiction again. Keep Tolstoy off the can!

Here's what would happen. Something in the world or something I was reading or a pattern took over in my head and an idea would begin to form. I often noted it would have elements of some sort, usually so very indirect, of that which I was reading or had read recently. Other elements of the concept would pull from other things read which have no bearing on the other elements. It was always kind of fun to look at when done with a bit of verse and be able to see what I had keyed on, the disparate elements involved... kind of like a ladle was dipped in that pot and in the bowl were these ingredients thrown together with arbitrary intent.

I was after a little bit of math one day when considering the date for this story which had been waiting ever so long to be written that things kind of came together. It had been a year since I had written "The Fairies of Esmy" and Esmeralda's older sister was on my mind. If she was this many in that year and if the age in which childbirth begins on average in this community then if I add this and carry that and yes, you know, considering the particular age of the particular ritual that is particularly called for here... Hey, Millie! Is that you? Really? After all this time? Wow! Uh, tell me about yourself...

 As soon this understand came clear, that the woman I was looking for to tell this story had been hiding in the background this whole time. "Fruit of the Womb" was ripe for telling and I had at last the voice. Millie is a talker, a good and easy one to listen to. What makes her so special is that she is so very honest, so clear and pure in her faith. She is a true believer, this one is, and her importance was elevated in this Tale to one of primacy in my mind. She very well might be the most horrific character haunting these tales.

This story touches upon what some might consider blasphemy. It is also one of the more sedate and calm stories I have written. I have no idea where something this ordinary yet this nightmarish might end up. Do recall the base real-life concept inspiration for this place... and then play around in the Old Testament focused on what advice therein is found for those living besieged. Then note that the entirety of this fortress in the wilderness, this town formerly known as Pitt's Junction, exists on the belief that they stand besieged at the Gates of Hell. Find one particular verse, form it into the shape of a ladle and dip it into that stew,

"Fruit of the Womb" was completed on July 25, 2019 at 4,326 words. It did wonders for filling out a lot of the history of this town, even from such a cloistered perspective. For one, it established some family relations and structures that I knew needed to be portrayed. Jonathon Kearns had some weird ideas. It explained the follow up of what happened when Esmy disappeared and what Millie's life was up to this point. It explained her mothers and her relationship with the one who remained, Mama Elena, and how it came to be. It shows Millie's piety in a seriously frightful light. With what this story immediately spawned from one little line relating to her favorite mother, another tale within two weeks, and what I have since learned of Millie but have yet been able to get to pen, I fear I might have created a monster here. She is going to be so fun to play with.