An Acceptance

I received some good news this week. I queried the editor at Golden Visions Magazine and learned that my story "Esme's Amulet"--formerly titled "Scapegoat"--has been accepted. It's tentatively scheduled for the October issue, either the print or online version.

Summary:
Mrs. Jarden, Esme's mother, catches Gertrude the goat eating her vegetables one too many times and sends Esme to market to sell the goat. An old woman offers Esme an amulet and a pastry for the goat. Esme accepts the offer then changes her mind, only to find the old woman and Gertrude have vanished. Esme endures her mother's wrath for bringing home a worthless trinket but later discovers that the amulet causes vegetables to grow extraordinarily large. Mrs. Jarden pushes Esme to use the amulet until Esme collapses. Mrs. Jarden tries it herself but suffers a horrible accident. Their cottage burns to the ground. Esme finds nothing to salvage in the ashes except the amulet and goes looking for the old woman, whom Esme now realizes is a witch. The Witch tries to entice Esme to join her, but Esme insists on returning the amulet for Gertrude. The witch relents but warns Esme that they will meet again.

"Mushrooms and Truffles," the story I'm working on now, is a sequel.