THE PEOPLE vs. WES’S BRAIN

 

DECLASSIFIED CASE FILE: THE PEOPLE vs. WES’S BRAIN

Filed under: Court of Ash & Ink, 2025

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Judge Ash Robacheaux:

Court is now in session. The case before us: The People vs. Wes’s Brain. Prosecution, proceed.

Prosecution (Ash):

Ladies and gentlemen, the evidence is staggering. Exhibit A: In the year of our unholy Guthrie Haunts debut, the defendant, Wes, had precisely two titles to his name. Two. And he thought that was plenty.

But then… oh, then the madness began. Entire forests were felled to print out his half-finished chapters. I present Exhibit B: the pile of five-chapter orphans, abandoned mid-plot, tossed into digital folders like unwanted stepchildren.

And finally, Exhibit C: the infamous “City Series” brainstorm. Your Honor, this man decided to build a children’s series based on cities. Cities! Have you met the planet? There are thousands of those. Overachiever doesn’t even cover it—this is literary urban sprawl.

The prosecution rests.

Defense (Wes’s Brain):

Your Honor, allow me a rebuttal.

Between Year One at Guthrie Haunts and the following year, I wrote three short-story collections called Kivela. That’s thirty stories, five of which were actually good (and I fully intend to turn those into full-length books). The rest? Let’s call them “training accidents.”

Secondly, yes, I had the bright idea for a kids’ series based on cities. Was it ambitious? Absolutely. Was it insane? Maybe. But what else was I supposed to do? I’m single, lonely, and have you met my brain? It doesn’t idle. It builds worlds whether I want it to or not.

Judge Ash:

Noted. The defendant’s brain is hereby sentenced to life in creative servitude… with no chance of parole. Case closed.