Gray's 100-word story for July 6, 2025

Gray wrote the following micro-story on Hectalex on July 6, 2025. Each story on Hectalex is inspired by a daily visual prompt and must be exactly 100 words.

Liberto sits on the wheel stop in front of his van in the Waffle House parking lot, smoking and staring at the apartment building across the street. Not everyone has the guts for graffiti, even when it isn't socially critical. But even fewer have the guts to use their voices. The promise is 'we can all pretend you're free if you shut up and do what you're told.' The American dream is just that -- fantasy. Behind the 'FREEDOM' puppet show curtain, there are guns, waiting to take down the first kid who gets bored and says no, this is stupid.

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