February 25, 2026 Recap

It had been a cold, punishing walk, the kind where the wind feels personal, as though it knows your doubts and leans into them. Snow spiralled through the streetlights, the world reduced to shadow and breath. When the door finally appeared, glowing faintly against the dark, it felt less like a storefront and more like refuge. Inside, the warmth was almost eerie. The few lights that got turned on provided a haunted glow. Books stood in quiet rows like witnesses. The old floorboards creaked under careful steps while the storm pressed itself against the windows, restless and waiting.

Then the bell rang - sharp, sudden - and the door flew open, dragging the night in with it. Wind howled through the room, snow scattering across the threshold, and in the doorway stood a large shadowed figure, backlit and looming. For a suspended second, the space felt haunted. And then the figure stepped forward, stamping heavy boots, a low chuckle piercing the wind as though it commanded the very elements. 

It was Steve. Turns out we'd be the only two to make it out for the impromptu "makeup" Writers' Guild evening, the week before having been cancelled by yet another storm dragging winter on longer than most of us had hoped. 

Still, the two of us had a great chat (though we did little, if any, writing). We did talk about a few great (well, I think we thought they were great) ideas for future Guild gatherings...

• each person pick your preferred genre; we all write from the same prompt
• take a prompt - write a children's story (maybe Cheryl could help guide us)
• poetry night - one prompt per person; write a haiku, a limerick, a rhyming couplet, etc.
• everyone gets a prompt and writes for 10 minutes. Pass the prompt and what you wrote for the next person to continue the story

Just a few things that may get us thinking in different ways. 

Of course, we're still planning on publishing a collection of short stories. More on that next time we meet (March 4, 2026). 

Until then, hope you keep pushing your creative boundaries! And as always, feel free to join us if you haven't already! You don't need to be an accomplished writer of any kind - just open to the free spirited whimsy of our unplanned and haphazard nights of writing and mayhem.