PHOTO PROMPT © Jennifer Pendergast

“Maybe the hardest thing in writing is simply to tell the truth about things as we see them.” —John Steinbeck—

“Who wants musty old courage and heroism in the flashy information age, eh, Jeffy?” the old man complained.

“I’m eleven, Grandpa. Don’t call me Jeffy,” answered the boy.

They sat on the rocks watching shallow waves roll to shore.

“That damn thing programs you to believe what the government and the corporations want you to believe,” Grandpa continued.

“It tells me who the bad guys are,” insisted Jeff.

“Smoke and mirrors,” said the old man. “It touts bias as fact and squashes critical thinking.”

“You’re saying information is bad?” asked Jeff.

“I’m saying being programmed isn’t the same as learning.”

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 at the top as a prompt for crafting a poem or short story no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.

The last time I wrote about a knight, I (digitally speaking) got yelled at for bucking a particular point of view. And yet, it’s difficult for someone of my years to look at the world around me, match it to my lived experience, and not conclude that the marketing effort over our opinions and beliefs has done nothing but gotten worse over the decades (it’s always been there in one form or another).

However, I generalized my complaint this time rather than honing in on a specific topic. Maybe that will be more easily digested.

© James Pyles

I know the title suggests imaginary enemies, but then that’s what the programmers would like you to believe (wink).

Oh, fun fact. My 11-year-old granddaughter is writing a fantasy story and wanted my feedback. We spent some time at her house last night going over her story while she leaned on me like I was a pillow. One of the best memories I’ll ever have of being a Grandpa.

To read other tales based on the prompt, go to 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.

Cover art for the anthology Relics, volume one.

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.

A few days ago the anthology Relics, Volume one was published. The collection was curated by Heidi A. Hill, L. Jagi Lamplighter, and Michael Finney in coordination with Based Book Sale. It includes my science fiction short story “Legacy of the High Sojourner.” On a distant planet, a 5,000 year old corpse is revealed to be an ancient astronaut. Clues lead to an interstellar spacecraft at the edge of the solar system but does it hold the secrets of an alien race or lead to a hideous new reality?

Read an excerpt from my tale Here.

Happy Wednesday.