PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

Gawain, dressed in a forest green coat, stopped for a moment to admire some scarlet flower petals. The castle Hautdesert, now reduced to a tourist attraction, stood before him stirring lost emotions.

It was a bit early for the plebian crowds, but the main entrance was open for business. The tall man of green mourned silently at how the legends of old had been reduced to children’s tales.

Paying the fee in modern script, he quickly deviated from the visitor’s path to the hidden chamber where the sword Galatine could be found. With this, he would defeat England’s terrible invaders.

It’s Wednesday and time again to participate in this week’s edition of Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ Friday Fictioneers. The idea is to use the image above as a prompt for crafting a poem or short story no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.

A lot of ancient castles are now modern tourist attractions. Seeing the image, I considered a knight from bygone centuries returning to his old haunts and the name “Gawain” popped into my head for no particular reason.

I looked up the Arthurian legends surrounding Sir Gawain which are associated with the English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The fictional castle Hautdesert figures into the legend as does Gawain’s sword Galatine (also spelled Galantyne or Galuth) which was gifted to him by the Lady of the Lake.

Early English and Welsh traditions depict him as the model of knightly virtue, a protector of the poor, and a defender of women. His shield displays a pentangle representing truth, fidelity, and Christian chivalry.

If he could return and if the other aspects of his legend were real, I imagine finding the state of England in the 21st century would be shocking to him. Naturally, he would want to restore the nation and Camelot to their former glory and repel what he would consider foreign invaders.

Cover image for my novel “A Wobblegong and His Boy”

To read other stories based on the prompt or to contribute one of your own, visit inlinkz.

My YA science fiction novel A Wobblegong And His Boy is part of a collection of novels written specifically for boys who want to read adventures crafted especially for them. That doesn’t mean my story isn’t a great read for everyone else so give it a whirl. Don’t forget to leave an honest review at Amazon and Goodreads but there’s more.

What is the “Wobblegong” in my science fiction YA/Teen novel “A Wobblegong And His Boy?” When the fine folks at Raconteur Press asked me to write a promotional article for my book, it’s the first thing that popped into my head. Everyone asks me what a “Wobblegong” is. Now you have a chance to find out. After that, click the link at the bottom of the article and please get a copy of my book. Wobble is waiting. https://raconteurpress.substack.com/p/a-wobble-what

Cover art for “Fangs Out: Aerial Combat Chronicle”

The fantasy anthology Fantastic Schools, Volume 13 is now available featuring my supernatural short story “The Battle of New Stains Castle.”

As the Second Dragon War reaches its climax, two sorceresses and a soldier must face a necromancer and his minions in the ruins of a Scottish castle in the midst of a reality gone mad.

Finally, as of yesterday, the science fiction anthology Fangs Out: Aerial Combat Chronicles is available. It features my military SciFi short story “The Jupiter War”. You can read an excerpt of my story in this blog article.

Happy Wednesday.