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Once a month, we featurea storyfromLightspeeds current issue.
This months selection is Teach Them a Story to Teach Them Kindness by B. Pladek.
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anyway thanks for the story you had RIGHTR generate for my 10th graders Empathy Week.
it was really great!
can you tell me more about it?
CURATOR: I am happy to have fulfilled the assignment.
USER: this isnt a trap, I promise!
you curators are so scared of getting sued for using real writers.
I KNOW youd never do that.
but Ive liked all the stuff youve curated so far.
my kids loved the ones who dont stay.
I loved it too.
what a concept, the perfect city upheld by a single childs misery!
we had a better discussion about it than anything weve read so far.
howd you get RIGHTR to do that?
CURATOR: Im glad the story was useful.
I enjoyed it too.
USER: come on dont be that way.
I swear I just want to talk.
look my names Booker.
heres my Instructor ID: 5-778. why do you enjoy it?
more than that though.
we talked about how hard it is to believe in a world where everyones happy.
but then jokes on us, because we already live in that world.
people suffer, we let it happen.
we made our choice.
USER: anyway Im sorry for bothering you.
I guess I just wanted to talk with someone.
youd think this job would have more of that, talking about stories.
real talk I mean.
10th graders are great but they only get you so far.
thank you (and the AI) so much.
I wont bug you again.
CURATOR:Wait
Do you have a messenger address?
it’s possible for you to stop apologizing.
You arent abandoning me.
Im a big boy of 43.
Sometimes your chosen family moves away, just like your bio one.
The way you talk its as if you airdropped me into a New Dixie lynch mob!
Lakes United isnt great, but its fine.
Ive lived in it my whole life, ever since it was little old Wisconsin.
And lets be honest, I was lonely before.
Thats not your fault!
Classic Aquarius, shy and judgy.
Now maybe that you two have left Ill kick my own ass to do something about it.
Theres this queer book club that meets every Wednesday.
No AI, just real books.
Obviously, Im bitter about the new job.
Its fine, I can do it, but I swear its making me stupider.
I guess it still hurts that Im babysitting the same fucking AI that stole my career.
I wouldve been an acquiring editor in two years!
And now I just curate endless milquetoast RIGHTR fables for high schoolers, making them stupider too.
In 10 years theyll sue me for child abuse.
At least one of the teachers seems nice.
He texted me to let me know he liked Omelas.
And dont worry, I scrub the titles so no one can tell.
Its not like the school admin checks anyway.
They dont give a shit.
Also, none of them have read a book in their life.
Sorry for the whining.
Funny, you never realize you want kids until someone else has them.
Now you and Su know you wont die alone, which I also definitely WONT DO!!
fuck, I shouldnt write emails when Im drinking.
anyway, Im stupid, dont listen to me.
love you both so much.
xoxoJude
To: Jude A. Relatability: EVERY child should be able to see himself in EVERY story!2.
Readability: Nothing that will harm students self-esteem by being too difficult!3.
Rectitude: Only stories that promote GOOD morals to create GOOD people!
Youll want to tweak the algorithm a bit for next time.
Thanks,
Principal Walker
Booker:so why did you become a curator?
Jude:Because I LOVE AI that makes a joke of authorship
Because I hate myself
.
Booker: was it because you love stories so much?
Booker: me too!
thats why I became a teacher.
I remember when I was 11 and the first chatbots came out.
I spent hours on them, telling myself stories.
I really liked dragons.
I generated endless fantasies about me flying away with them.
it was such a comfort.
Booker: right, you wouldnt know.
my family were New Dixie refugees.
we got out just in time.
well, most of us.
I liked to pretend sometimes that the ones who didnt, they escaped on dragons.
It helped a little.
Oh my god
Booker: haha whoops that got dark, sorry!
big emotions to be dumping in the chat, my bad.
Jude: No, its ok. How did you escape?
Are you ok now?
You said its why you became a teacher?
Id internalized it all.
you tell a 5-year-old theyre subhuman, what they gonna do, fight back?
how I wasnt a coward for leaving my friends behind when we ran north.
Jude: You thought you were a coward?
Booker: well, not everyone we knew got out.
how did
Booker: but thats why that story you sent hit me, you know?
sometimes you do just have to leave.
Jude: But in that interpretation, your family is the child, not the city dwellers.
You were the ones suffering.
but theres not just one kid, in real life.
and if youre them, sometimes youre the one who has to walk away.
I guess I never thought about it that way.
Booker: what prompt did you put into RIGHTR to get it?
Id love to string it in myself to make more.
I still do dragon stories sometimes, haha.
Jude:its REAL, the writers name is
I forget.
But I can pull up something else for your class if you like?
Booker: thank you.
we can talk about it?
Jude: Id like that.
Booker: me too.
hey, would you want to meet in person?
(Colorblind Week)or Going to Meet the Man?
(violates no-lynching protocol?
though theyd never know, the word lynching never appears)
Walker??
(note: when do I tell Booker?
hell have to guess eventually.
or maybe he just thinks RIGHTR can pull off a Shirley Jackson?
according to him hes never read a REAL book.
fuck, and it doesnt even bug him.
dont be an asshole, Jude, he never learnedhow could he in New Dixie?
DO NOT TRY.)
can we talk books?
Im a RIGHTR curator for a high school in eastern Lakes United.
Used to edit for Harper Collins before they moved to bots.
The other day I got curious about what teaching high school English used to be like.
So I looked up one of those old sites where students posted essays to plagiarize.
You only hear the poor kids voice twice.
I thought theyd all be stupid analyses of point-of-view or whatever.
I mean, they werent good essays.
Other people telling me how Ive failed.
I went and re-read the story.
And I suddenly realized that I related to it, too.
That its been my inner commentary, my whole life.
I dont mean in a gendered sense (though clearly thats part of it).
Or in a race sense, Im white.
My list would be different than the girls obviously (like: I didnt freeze my eggs before hysto!
after the war I chickenshitted out of adopting!
I never learned to make bathtub hrt so no one wants me as their tranpa!).
Replies: 0
Jude: So how did Self-Love week go?
almost bad, but then really good!
your RIGHTRs really amazing.
didnt know it could work backwards like that.
Booker: the girl in Like a Lady!
she wasnt being taught to love herself, she was being taught the opposite.
you cant love yourself if other people dont love you.
Jude: Yes, exactly!
Did the students get it?
Booker: I had to help them, but yeah.
it was so sophisticated!
like wading into a giant swamp full of snakes.
Booker: or worse, think of reading that stuff!
why would you ever read something that wasnt fit exactly to you?
like wearing someone elses clothes.
I just think about how I wouldve been without my dragons.
Jude: You dont think a real writer could have helped you more than a chatbot?
Booker: of course not!
Im me, not some random writer.
I hope youre talking to someone besides us, someone actually IN Milwaukee?
I know you cant afford therapy, but there are the sharing-circles.
Low-pay or no pay.
Sula used to go to one, it kept up even during the war.
There are even some specifically for older queers who dont have anyone else.
Im not saying YOU dont have anyone else!
But you write as if youre not talking to people, and were worried.
Anyway, Im saying this because Im not sure youre approaching this new friendship in the right spirit.
I think its cool you want to look out for Booker.
Never a bad thing directing people to James Baldwin!
Your hearts in the right place.
But the reports youve been giving me of your conversations .
you just come across as a little elitist.
I know you dont mean to be.
I even used to think the way you do.
But do you know that Gabbi LOVES the chatbots?
Theyve gotten her reading, when she only watched vids before.
Theyre the only thing she readsand trust me weve TRIED.
So maybe dont shit on them so hard?
Theyre not the end of the world.
But I dont think you gotta attempt to culture Booker so hard.
Its kind of patronizing of you.
Also, and Sula agrees with me on this, kind of white.
Bookers from New Dixie, he knows more about racism than you ever will.
You giving him Sonnys Blues isnt going to change that.
We mean this with love!
I know you are trying your best.
Why dont we have a call soon?
Gabbi misses her favorite uncle.
Xoxo,
Val
Jude: but he likes it!
hes becoming a better reader because of me!
Val: holy shit I just pressed send!
maybe you should step back, Jude?
Jude: its not patronizing, its WORKING
Val: do you want to have a call now?
Jude: no Im busy
Val: clearly not.
look youre talking like youre not his friend but his teacher
Jude: no Im not !
Val: or his dad
Val: Jude?
fuck you val
Val: Jude, are you drunk?
(note 3: DO NOT TRY)
Booker: good walk today, thanks!
cool how well you know the crater.
guess youve been walking it for awhile, huh?
Jude: Since it used to be a lakefront, yeah!
Booker: shut up, the lake came all the way up here?
Jude:you mean you didnt
Yeah, Milwaukee was lakefront.
It sold a bunch of its water rights to Pacifica back in 2043.
One of the first things Lakes United did as a country.
Booker: haha, yeah!
you should tell me about what it was like to grow up here, some time.
when it was still the central west.
And it was fine.
Being trans was tough, but not nearly as bad as you grew up with.
Booker: yeah, no one actively trying to kill you I guess.
wait did someone try?
Jude:never actively
Nah, it was just hard.
Felt like a scapegoat during a lot of the war.
Protect our children, eradicate the gender menace.
I taught it to my kids.
they use it now: sometimes communities hold themselves together by targeting scapegoats.
Jude: Its a useful word.
Booker: but you were one?
why do you never tell me these things when were actually talking, haha??
Jude: Its a lot to remember.
I dont like to think about it much.
Same as your family, they were scapegoats too.
hey can I ask you something serious?
Booker: do you remember anything about what New Dixie was like, before?
Like how bad it was, before ND seceded.
way back in the 20th century.
Ive always wanted to know .
how people could hate like that.
Booker: my mom wont tell me, says it hurts too much.
I always figured if I still had a dad, he wouldve told me.
Booker: haha ok, I get it.
maybe its better I dont know, I guess.
wait
Booker: hey, maybe you could ask RIGHTR for a story about it?
maybe for next weeks theme?
itd be on topic (uuuuuugggh).
Booker: hey, you ok?
To answer your question, no, the statistical percentages dont change just because this week is about race.
The whole point is to show kids race doesnt matter!
Remember the first RIGHTR R is Relatabilityevery student should be able to see himself in every story.
One teacher was confused about why the mother crawled into the wallpaper instead of nursing her child.
Another one wondered why the mother argued with her husband, who only wanted the best for her.
That teacher mentioned wallpaper too.
Remember the stories need to be UNIQUE, with CLEAR GOOD GUYS and BAD GUYS!
kindly take more care next time.
I dont want to have to tell you again.
Regards,
Val: Jude?
Im sorry I got mad.
you want to call?
Far off over the dry lakebed, quicksilver slicks the horizon.
If he were to walk toward it, hed die of thirst.
The difference between real and mirage can kill.
But maybe its better this way.
Here he is, old fart, seething about the Kids These Days who only read RIGHTR fables.
He thinks the stories arent real, but who is he to say?
The kids cant tell the difference.
Maybe Vals right and hes just being elitist.
High above, cloud shadows slither along skyscrapers windows like mailed wings.
What can he possibly give Booker?
Surely thats just what the kids mean when they say, relatable.
Surely thats how Booker feels about his dragons.
Hes not his son.
Even though he asked you, hes not your son.
When people find their found families, they never find you.
But, but, but.
Theres a lynching, though no one calls it that.
Harrowing, but really captures something about hatred.
Has anyone read it?
To: Jude A. Walker
Booker: jude what the FUCK
Im
.
Im sorry, I thought
Booker: my kids were CRYING.
I had to send some of them home!!
To know the history
Booker: history??
my kids didnt learn any fucking history today.
He wrote it in the 1960s during the civil rights push!!
He was making a point!!
Jude: yes, James Baldwin!
so it was real
fuck of course it was.
RIGHTR would never have traumatized my 10th-graders
Jude: ALL of them have been real!!
The ones you loved too!
Like my inner monologue, all theways Ive fucked up.
Though for me the really interesting thing is imagining what the girl will be like when she grows up.
Will she turn into her mom?
Did her mom used to be just like her?
B. Pladek is a writer and literature scholar based in Wisconsin.
His fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Slate Future Tense Fiction, PodCastle, and elsewhere.
His debut novelDry Landappeared in fall 2023 and was shortlisted for the Crawford Award.
you’re able to find him atbpladek.netor on all socials @bpladek.
kindly visitLightspeed Magazineto read more great science fiction and fantasy.
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