'The Magic Lake' from 26 years ago

Although I have to pinch myself to fully believe so much time has elapsed, it is 26 years since this small excerpt from a planned novel I was working on found its way into a small science fiction and fantasy fanzine in West Australia.

At the time I was breaking loose and exploring the world - or more accurately the vast island continent of Australia - as a backpacking 21-year-old. It was early 1988 and the previous year I had put together the short-run paperback Inspired, featuring a selection of five writers and poets of which I was one.

As I travelled through West Australia I'd planned to complete a fantasy novel and in the first few months did some work towards that goal. When I came across a small fanzine called WAFTAM, with a unicorn on the cover, I recognised a moment of serendipity as my work-in-progress novel was centered around unicorns. I sent a short contribution to the publication.

The fanzine editor duly published my work in the next edition of the fanzine, which was also renamed WOFTAM. Although this writing project never fully matured, here for posterity is a snapshot of my writing from 26 years ago, as published in issue one of the WOFTAM fanzine, in Perth, West Australia in March 1988:

THE MAGIC LAKE

Jarrad looked up to see the rain clouds had parted and a full moon was shining brightly in the night sky. However, what was even stranger were the horses. He noticed they were all outside the cave, standing perfectly still and silent. Their gaze seemed to be fixed distantly on the lake, as was Melinda's. The strange harp-like music, although still distant, was much more noticeable.

"What is it?" he asked, bewildered.

"Look at the lake," Melinda pointed. "Do you see the moon's reflection?"

"Yes, what about it ... Hey! It's moving, and it's changing shape," Jarrad checked himself and looked back up at the moon. Indeed, the moon had not changed. It was still the same uniform circle of brightness, unobscured by any night clouds.

That being so, thought Jarrad, then the reflection on the lake should also be a clear, circular patch of light. He looked back at the lake. It wasn't.

Jarrad was thinking up his next question when Breeze, the king's fair-haired daughter answered it.

"A unicorn," she spoke in a hushed tone. "It's a unicorn."

Jarrad blinked, looking once more at the blurry ball of light which seemed to be skating across the lake's surface. Indeed, now that he came to think about it, it did resemble a unicorn.

"A real unicorn?" he blurted out. Melinda turned, a dreamy contentment etched on her face.

"The horses believe it to be real. That is why they stand so silently, with such reverence. The night owls are silent now. All the other nocturnal animals are quiet. They can all hear the music, and all see the unicorn on the lake," she said. She smiled at Jarrad, then turned again to the lake. "But it is not a real unicorn, unfortunately. It is merely an illusion created by the magic lake. The magic which tonight's full moon has activated."