Welcome back to the home of #ThursThreads for Week 682. Year Lucky 13! The last year of the cycle, the Moon Year. And tomorrow is HALLOWEEN! To those who keep coming back, I’m delighted to see you again!
Today is Thursday and that means it’s time to start flashing on #ThursThreads, the challenge that ties tales together. Want to keep up each week? Check out the #ThursThreads #flashfiction group on Facebook and the Group on MeWe.
Need the rules? Read on.
Here’s how it works:
- The prompt is a line from the previous week’s winning tale.
- The prompt can appear ANYWHERE in your story and is included in your word count.
- The prompt must be used as is. It can be split, but no intervening words can be inserted or tenses changed.
Rules to the Game:
- This is a Flash Fiction challenge, which means your story must be a minimum of 100 words, maximum of 250.
- The story must be new writing, not a snippet from something published elsewhere with the prompt added.
- Incorporate the prompt anywhere into your story (included in your word count).
- Post your story in the comments section of this post
- Include your word count in the post (or be excluded from judging)
- Include your social media handle or email in the post (so we easily notify you)
- The challenge is open 7 AM to 8 PM Mountain Time US.
- The winner will be announced on Friday, depending on how early the judge gets up.
How it benefits you:
- You get a nifty cool badge to display on your blog or site (because we’re all about promotion – you know you are!)
- You get instant recognition of your writing prowess on this blog!
- Your writing colleagues shall announce and proclaim your greatness on Facebook, Bluesky, MeWe, and Mastodon, etc.
Our Judge for Week 682:
Scottish Word Slinger, Dauntless romance author, and #ThursThreads host, Siobhan Muir.
Discord | Bluesky | Patreon | Eden Books | YouTube |
And now your #ThursThreads Challenge, tying tales together.
The Prompt:
“You’re not lonely?”
All stories written herein are the property (both intellectual and physical) of the authors. Comments do not represent the views of the host and the host reserves the right to remove any content. Now, away with you, Flash Fiction Fanatics, and show us your #ThursThreads in the Moon Year. Good luck!
The Wanderer
It was a new town. One in a long string of cities, villages, human habitats I’d found myself in. I had no particular reason to stop over. A transient urge, maybe. Not a new feeling. Certainly, I was tired of bus travel, tired of being upright, listening to the moans and snores of others.
And my own.
I found a room at a small hotel in the cities core. A simple room. Bed. Bathroom. A window looking out on an alley. And a café across the street.
It was still morning so I wandered over to have some breakfast.
Busy place. Office workers, mostly.
I found a booth at the back, facing the street. Picked up the menu. Gave it a boo.
The waitress, Glory her tag said, was in her mid-forties. Maybe younger. She swooped in with coffee and a vague smile, forced the way people who hadn’t slept well look. Something I was more than familiar with.
“Know what you want? ” Glory asked. I imagined it was a question she had been asking most of her life.
I flipped back with “a friend.”
That almost got a laugh.
“You and the whole world,” she said without skipping a beat.
“Sorry,” I said. “Just feeling…”
“Lonely? You’re not lonely, mister. You’re in the heart of a big city. Three hundred thousand at last count.”
“Good to know,” I said. “Ham and eggs. Spuds too.”
“Back in a jiff.”
It was a good meal.
Filled me up.
250 Words
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@sterlings-son-2.bsky.social