After dropping the ball last month, I’m back with a story I’m happy with for Monthly Story #4. This is Liberate, my latest shot at a dystopia. Lately, I’ve been feeling quite helpless, especially in the face of everything going wrong in the world. I’ve also found myself quite frustrated with people. People in general I mean. It seems that most of the population are blind to attempts to squeeze us dry while giving us scapegoats to be angry at, but really am I doing anything more than them?

This story has been my way of working through some feelings of being powerless and watching the world go to shit, but combined with insights from this video about how observant people are harder to control. I guess I have some hope that if enough people just pay attention to what’s going on around us and can resist all the ways we’re being manipulated, then that could lead to change.

No idea what that change could be though, but baby steps. And for me, I just want to work out these feelings and write them down, and hopefully someone else feeling the way I am can relate to this story.

2026 Monthly Story Challenge #4

Interface

By Jayde Holmes

Charlie pulled up to a grey box-like house well after dark, after fighting to keep heavy eyelids held up and tired eyes from rolling backwards. His wrists ached, his clothes were soiled and it felt like some feral creature was clawing its way out of his stomach.

Despite the overwhelming desires to get clean and get fed, he spent almost ten minutes scrolling on his phone. Quick videos of men taller, thinner and better dressed than him leaning against cars he could never afford with their hands in their pockets making witty observations about the world. Or families with kids lacking behavioural problems going on the types of outings he’d never have time for.

There was a knock on the car window.

He looked up from the phone. No great loss, as his mental health helper was starting to steer him towards government sponsored shorts anyway. His seven-year-old son Dean was outside, grinning at him.

Click here to read the whole story.

My prompt for next month’s story is —-, and I’ll be getting to work on that very soon. Time permitting, I also want to have another crack at Vault. I have an idea that I think will make it a lot better.

~ Jayde