{"id":763,"date":"2016-10-31T08:53:23","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T16:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=763"},"modified":"2026-09-16T12:36:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T19:36:21","slug":"jack-magic-software","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/jack-magic-software\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack and the Magic Software"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Future Fairy Tale by Robert Plamondon<\/h3>\n
\"Jack<\/a>
Buy on Amazon.<\/a><\/b><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Norton Creek Press, October 2016. 12 pages.<\/em>
\nSuggested retail price, Kindle: $0.99.<\/em><\/p>\n

O<\/span>NCE UPON A TIME<\/span>\u00a0there was a lad named Jack. Jack lived with his mother on Sinclair. They were very poor, for Jack’s father had been killed in a Morversarn raid. His mother had to work very hard to keep them both fed.<\/p>\n

One day his mother said, “Jack, I want you to take your father’s space suit to the market and sell it, or we will have no money to buy food.”<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Mother,\u201d said Jack, \u201cif I sell Father\u2019s space suit, what will I wear when I\u2019m old enough to join the High Militia? How will I become a citizen?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t sell the suit we will starve,\u201d she replied, \u201cand then you\u2019ll never join the High Militia either.\u201d<\/p>\n

So Jack bundled up the space suit and walked to the market, where goods from many worlds were bought and sold. There were fish from Myckhaven, brandy from Barigost, machines from Goa, fierce Great Belt mercenaries ready for hire, even (if you knew where to ask, and were very rich) Terran aphrodisiacs and maps to fabled Grenaduve.<\/p>\n

Jack went from booth to booth, but could find no one who was interested in his father\u2019s space suit.<\/p>\n

\u201cOutdated,\u201d said one.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo much wear,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are bullet holes in it,\u201d said a third.<\/p>\n

Jack tried and tried, but no one would buy his father\u2019s space suit. Finally, late that evening, he turned to leave. \u201cNow my mother will starve,\u201d he said, \u201cand it\u2019s all my fault.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps I can help,\u201d said a voice. Jack looked up and beheld a fat man with fair hair, wearing worn and faded finery of many garish colors. Jack knew at once that the man was a Goan, and put a hand protectively on his wallet (though in truth there was no money in it).<\/p>\n

\u201cI have need of a space suit,\u201d continued the Goan, \u201cand I am willing to pay you well…\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the Exciting Conclusion!<\/h2>\n

Will Jack trade his father’s space suit for magic software? What will become of Jack and his poor mother? There’s only one way to find out!<\/p>\n

Available\u00a0only on Kindle<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Future Fairy Tale by Robert Plamondon Norton Creek Press, October 2016. 12 pages. Suggested retail price, Kindle: $0.99. ONCE UPON A TIME\u00a0there was a lad named Jack. Jack lived with his mother on Sinclair. They were very poor, for Jack’s father had been killed in a Morversarn raid. His mother had to work very … Continue reading “Jack and the Magic Software”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-763","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-books-by-robert","category-fiction-2"],"yoast_head":"\nJack and the Magic Software - Norton Creek Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/jack-magic-software\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jack and the Magic Software - Norton Creek Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Future Fairy Tale by Robert Plamondon Norton Creek Press, October 2016. 12 pages. Suggested retail price, Kindle: $0.99. ONCE UPON A TIME\u00a0there was a lad named Jack. Jack lived with his mother on Sinclair. They were very poor, for Jack’s father had been killed in a Morversarn raid. His mother had to work very … Continue reading "Jack and the Magic Software"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/jack-magic-software\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Norton Creek Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-16T19:36:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/jack_magic_software_fairy_tale_plamondon_250.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/jack-magic-software\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/jack-magic-software\\\/\",\"name\":\"Jack and the Magic Software - Norton Creek Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/jack-magic-software\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/jack-magic-software\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/jack_magic_software_fairy_tale_plamondon_250.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-31T16:53:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-16T19:36:21+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/jack-magic-software\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/jack-magic-software\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/jack-magic-software\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/jack_magic_software_fairy_tale_plamondon_250.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/jack_magic_software_fairy_tale_plamondon_250.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/jack-magic-software\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jack and the Magic Software\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/\",\"name\":\"Norton Creek Press\",\"description\":\"Bringing the best books back to life\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\\\/wordpress\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jack and the Magic Software - Norton Creek Press","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/jack-magic-software\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jack and the Magic Software - Norton Creek Press","og_description":"A Future Fairy Tale by Robert Plamondon Norton Creek Press, October 2016. 12 pages. Suggested retail price, Kindle: $0.99. ONCE UPON A TIME\u00a0there was a lad named Jack. Jack lived with his mother on Sinclair. They were very poor, for Jack’s father had been killed in a Morversarn raid. His mother had to work very … Continue reading \"Jack and the Magic Software\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/jack-magic-software\/","og_site_name":"Norton Creek Press","article_modified_time":"2026-09-16T19:36:21+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/jack_magic_software_fairy_tale_plamondon_250.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/jack-magic-software\/","url":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/jack-magic-software\/","name":"Jack and the Magic Software - Norton Creek Press","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/jack-magic-software\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/jack-magic-software\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/jack_magic_software_fairy_tale_plamondon_250.jpg","datePublished":"2016-10-31T16:53:23+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-16T19:36:21+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/jack-magic-software\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/jack-magic-software\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/jack-magic-software\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/jack_magic_software_fairy_tale_plamondon_250.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/jack_magic_software_fairy_tale_plamondon_250.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/jack-magic-software\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jack and the Magic Software"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/","name":"Norton Creek Press","description":"Bringing the best books back to life","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P71zFO-cj","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=763"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":767,"href":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/763\/revisions\/767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nortoncreekpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}