The Muse by Dmitrii Pisarenko is a short story about a writer suffering from the dreaded writer’s block. Certain that the key to moving forward with his novel rests with scene #65, the man wishes for a muse. Perhaps he has an image in his mind of what his muse might look like or how they may act, but what he gets is not what he expects. Instead, he is rewarded with several hours stuck in an elevator with a woman he loathes. A new HR department employee sneaks into his elevator just before the doors to his privacy shut. But creativity can arise when it is least expected, so the man considers her viewpoints on life and social issues as he persists with his project. After another attempt at writing, a late night surprise proves to be unsettling, but motivating. Ideas begin to flow for the man, some good, many more bad. But in the end, every story finds a way to get told and sometimes inspiration takes on unexpected forms.
Blending the flavor and pace of an intense graphic novel with the tone and severity of Eastern European politics and history, The Muse is a story unlike anything you’ve read before! Our protagonist starts out as a very relatable guy, stuck in a rut. He seems distracted at his day job and stalled at his night job, writing. A comically ridiculous encounter abruptly shifts the tone of this thought-provoking piece as the man is assaulted and tortured by imperious men. The whole incident reminds the impressionable man of the atrocities perpetrated upon his family and millions of Jews, Ukrainians and Soviets in recent history. Although not a polished story, this political fiction short is sure to reverberate with readers who care about the past and the potential for the future. Lively and quick, The Muse is as interesting as it is entertaining.
