Many writers have shared their thoughts with the public:

"There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you." - Beatrix Potter

"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." - Anaïs Nin

"Sharing your writing, being enlarged by others' writing, is what makes you feel famous." - Gretchen Bernabei

"Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth." - Edna Ferber

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." - Ben Franklin

"One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones to form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment." - Hart Crane

"There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are." - W. Somerset Maugham

Medusa's Madness

For years, I languished in solitude. Punished for a crime that was committed against me but was told I should have known better. I had everything taken away from me, my livelihood, my looks, and my reputation. Now, the only company I could keep was that of the snakes who lived as my hair, because I just didn’t have room for another statue in the house.

Knowing I needed to change my focus, perhaps trying to get that green tinge out of my skin may have been a way to make me feel a little less down. My life had changed so much with this new thing called ‘the Internet’. I was able to order items online and get them delivered without any human contact. No human contact, no more statues I need to find a home for. Win-win if you asked me. There were some amazing products, and they seemed to really soften the cracked skin I was cursed with. They used all these fancy words like plumping, smoothing, and hydrating. It didn’t matter what they said, they seemed to help reduce to look of the curse. Maybe I could then get some makeup to help make my skin look a bit like everyone else, and almost as good as I once looked.

The more I seemed to practice, the easier it got. Whereas once it took me thirty minutes to put on some makeup to make me look a little more human, and a little more like my old self, now I could do it in about five minutes. I would love to say that it was all me, but there was this thing called ‘an influencer’? They showed me all these different ways of being able to get results quickly. As I got more confident with my application, I thought perhaps I could try and be an influencer myself. Surely it couldn’t be that difficult. I began to research what I needed, and luckily for me, it was just a web camera and a light. I quickly ordered those to get delivered, and then I realised there was one last thing I didn’t consider. The friendly snakes adorning my head. They weren’t the most attractive thing to see on a video. In perpetuity. Walking around the house, I knew there needed to be some type of solution to this, but I could not find anything that would work. Getting worked up over not being able to think of a solution, perhaps a shower would be the best course of action to relax, and then I could come up with the solution afterwards. That’s when I saw it. The shower cap. The snakes began to get unruly, hissing and squirming everywhere. They didn’t seem to like the idea, however if I did the video quick enough, surely, they would be ok if I got them to calm down before putting the cap on?

I set up the camera and light and hoped that the shower cap would work. At least long enough to get a recording. Just as I was getting ready to hit play, I quickly put the shower cap over my head. They began to hiss, one by one, then a cacophony of hissing took over. I wasn’t sure if the sound was in my head or if it was going to be heard by others. There was only one option, and that was to pretend the noise wasn’t there.

“Hi, and welcome to my beauty channel. My name is Med…”

At that point one of the larger snakes broke free from the confines of the shower cap, causing the cap to fly off my head. The speed in which the escape occurred had caused the snakes to lash out, causing the camera to fall off its porch and land facing up to the ceiling.

I let out a heavy sigh. It was so loud that the snakes froze in place. They knew they did wrong. Walking over to the camera and stand, I picked it up, assessing if it had gotten damaged at all. It looked ok, but I was going to need to come up with another strategy to hide these snakes if I wanted to get a following.

There had to be a way around it, but I knew it wouldn’t be a quick fix. I was really hoping I could influence some people in getting their skin looking nice, but as the snakes weren’t playing nice, it would have to wait. I was hopeful that the internet would help me get back on track. I was really loving everything else that I was able to get which was available for sale. Typing in shower cap mini, I hoped that I could find something to fix this issue but was not sure it would work. Scrolling through, I could feel the snakes getting irritated on my head. Twisting, turning and really starting to give me a headache. It was going to be for their own good, whether they liked it or not. Not believing my luck, it seemed like all my prayers were answered. I loaded the items into the cart and quickly hit submit before the snakes could stop me. With Express Shipping, it would be here in no time.

Hearing the knock at the door, I waited a moment to allow the driver a chance to escape before collecting my parcel. I was so excited, that I couldn’t help but open the bag before I even got to the chair. Seeing all the colours inside I was so excited. They were going to look so pretty! As I arrived at my beauty mirror, I reached into my bag pulling out one cap before I leant forward. Looking to see which of the snakes was acting most placid, I quickly grabbed it and put the cap on its head. Expecting it to thrash around, I was surprised to see it move forward and check its reflection in the mirror. Seemingly impressed, the other snakes started to motion forward, waiting for their turn to have their cap put on their head. After a couple of minutes, all the caps were on, and they seemed calm. With that in mind, perhaps trying another video online couldn’t hurt right? Going back to the set up, I wanted to give it another try.

“Hi and welcome to my beauty channel. My name is Medusa. Over the years, my skin went from beautiful, plump, and smooth to rough and cracked as I got older. I wanted to show you how you too can get your skin looking as good as when you were younger!”

Nervous that the snakes would cause some problems, I had to try and keep my calm, carry on and know when to stop the recording. I kept recording but noticed something strange. As the snakes kept moving around, they continually saw their reflection, slowing their movements, becoming hypnotised by themselves. Nervous about the effect this could have on the viewers, I thought it best to finish the video.

“Thank you so much for spending time with me. Don’t forget to like and follow so you don’t miss out on future tips and tricks.”

And… off. The live video stopped. I waited for it to confirm that it was off, and attempted to remove the mini shower caps off, but the snakes liked them too much, and began to get aggressive. Fine. Keep them on.

Coming back to the computer, I saw that there was a mad rush of views on the story. 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000. It kept rising. I had to figure out the next video quick. Before even having a chance to review a new product or technique, I got a message.

Hi Medusa,
What an amazing video you created. It was so relatable, so it was no surprise people had already fallen in love with you and your style. We would love to collaborate with you. If you agree, we will send products, and you will offer a discount code to your followers.
If you would love to proceed, please reply back so we can get the process started. Regards
Max Gaynes

Wait, what? Needing to read this again, I thought it was some type of scam, but doing a search online, saw that it was all legitimate. Replying quickly, I knew I didn’t want to lose the opportunity to find a way to connect safely with others and not be so lonely. All I had to was wait for the products to review.

Arriving the next day, I was surprised to see that these products were going to take multiple steps to achieve what I would be able to do with one single product that I got from the shops. Needing to bite my tongue on the idea that this would at least pay me, and hopefully improve my profile, I learnt the steps. Over and over, I applied the product, hoping I did it right and prayed for a miracle. Knowing that it was the best I could do, I got the mini shower caps ready, just hoping the snakes would calm down enough to let me put them on. Once one saw the caps, they seemed to let the other snakes know, and soon enough they were all ready and waiting. Well at least ready. They were so excited that they started to get themselves into a knot. Unlike me, when most people who got knots, they would use a comb to brush it out. Not really a possible option with snakes. I had to let them sort it out, which meant production was delayed in doing the commercial video.

After they calmed down, I knew I had a small window to work with to get this filming done. Everything begun so well. Step by step, I took the viewers through how to apply the first product, gently clean it off, then the second, and by the time I got to the final stage of the face cleansing routine, the snakes began to notice they were on camera. They then took turns to see their reflections, sometimes even fighting for space in the shot. Trying to be the ever professional, I tried to ignore their antics, and all I needed to do next, was give the discount code.

“...if you felt that this product would give you an amazing clear complexion, just like mine, use code MEDUSA3STEP and save 10%! The code will also be in the chat, so you can access it after too.”

I leant forward and turned the live stream off. Now I just had to wait for our followers to start buying the product. The problem was, there seemed to be nothing happening. In an attempt to distract myself, I turned on the news and was shocked with the news update that night.

In late breaking news, there has been an outbreak of people turning rigid, almost like statues. Investigations are continuing to see if there was a link between the victims to why this was occurring...

Oh no! The snakes! What have you done? Our only chance of connecting with the outside world, and you threw it all away, just because you wanted to watch yourself whilst I did my make up! How was I meant to make money if you kept turning all our potential customers to stone?

I stared at the door, wondering if my time was up, fearful that my fresh start was going to be the beginning of an even worse nightmare. All of a sudden, I could feel the snakes trying to pull me away from the television. I could feel them twisting and turning, trying to find the one thing that caused the problem from the start, determined to look pretty in the face of impending visitors.