Week 673 of #ThursThreads was a success, and y’all never disappoint. Thank you to everyone who writes each week. You are why we’re still doing this, and why we’ve made it almost 13 YEARS!
If you’ve just found us, welcome to the crew! May you come back again and write more great flash. A thousand thanks to Katheryn J. Avila for judging this week. Follow Siobhan Muir on Bluesky or check out the #ThursThreads #flashfiction group on Facebook or the #ThursThreads Group on MeWe to keep up with news, etc.
Entries:
- Bill Engleson
- Richard Gibney
- A.J. Walker
- Silver James
- Kelly Heinen
- Mark Ethridge
- Siobhan Muir
- Alex Minns
- David A. Ludwig
Honorable Mentions
Kelly Heinen | Website
Katheryn says: This one reminded me of The Good Place! It’s a fun piece and my preferred version of what Hell might be like. It gave me a good chuckle, and I wish it could have been a longer scene..
Bill Engleson | Website
Katheryn says: I always like when a scene catches me off guard and I definitely wasn’t expecting it to actually *be* zombies. A fun setup, and I hope we get to see the adventures of Franklin and George as they navigate the apocalypse.
winner announcement
Week 673 Winner
Katheryn says: There’s a very palpable tension in this scene. You can really feel how the narrator cares about Elena, and the weight of significant history between them. And even though Elena isn’t the POV character, her frustration at her situation comes across really clearly as well. Really well done!
“Have you been avoiding us all?” Only the lamp was switched on as Thos closed the office door behind him.
“No,” she barely looked up from her paperwork, but he could see she was tracing across the same lines to look busy.
“Elena?” He sat on the chair opposite her, the desk splitting them up.
“No,” she repeated, no more convincingly the second time. He waited patiently until she finally looked up at him. She wilted slightly under his calm gaze. “Conversation, is hard.”
“I know but you’re getting better.” When she had first woken up, she hadn’t spoken for weeks. The words slowly came back but not without issue. It took a lot of concentration to work through the stutter and he knew it caused immense frustration.
“They don’t like it.”
“They just don’t like seeing you suffer,” he began but her glare cut him off. He knew the others were uncomfortable, but what she didn’t see was it was partly their own guilt. “Rowan said you haven’t answered any of her text messages.”
“She sent contact.” The more stressed she was, the more she skipped words. Instead of finishing, she just jabbed her head.
“Ah, she sent you therapist details. She wants to help. You need to talk…”
“I don’t want to talk about that.” She bit out every word with immense effort. “No more people, in my head.”
“Ok, then you and me can sit in silence together.”
“Why?”
“Because you refused to abandon me once, remember?”
~~~~~~~
Congratulations Four Time Winner Alex, and Honorable Mentions Kelly, and Bill! Don’t forget to claim your badges and display them with pride. You certainly earned it!
Pass on the great news on Facebook, MeWe, Bluesky, Mastodon, shiny mirrors, Morse Code, and signal flags. Check out all the original tales HERE. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! 🙂
