Week 689 of #ThursThreads was a success, a remarkable feat for 13 solid years. Thank you to everyone who writes each week. You are why we’re still doing this. I’m truly grateful for all y’all!
If you’ve just found us, welcome to the crew! May you come back again and write more great flash. A thousand thanks to David A. Ludwig for judging this week. Follow Siobhan Muir on Bluesky or check out the #ThursThreads #flashfiction server on Discord or the #ThursThreads Group on MeWe to keep up with news, etc.
Entries:
- Siobhan Muir
- Bill Engleson
- Cara Michaels
- Silver James
- Eric Martell
- Kelly Heinen
- Sheilagh Lee
- David A. Ludwig
- Miranda Boers
- Louisa Bacio
- Miranda Gammella
Honorable Mentions
Eric Martell | Website
David says: This one particularly resonated with me. The pacing and flow are excellent, and even with it set up right in the first sentence I was surprised how sad I was at the end.
Silver James | Website
David says: I love the character interplay and relationships packed into 249 words. Adding Titania herself to the mix at the end put this one over the top for me.
Kelly Heinen | Website
David says: I enjoyed exploring the function and reality of a ghost story in this setting. I particularly appreciated the happy ending.
winner announcement
Week 689 Winner
David says: I love the voice in this one and the back-and-forth between Wentz and March. I also appreciated the prompt being Wentz’s interruption of March, rather than what March actually intended to say. The details throughout really pulled me in, such as the contrast between what they smoked. It was great reading your writing again.
Wentz finds March in the smoking lounge—also known as ‘beside the dumpster.’ There’s a shadow beneath his eyes that says he hasn’t slept recently enough, and he’s pulling on his vape like it’s the only thing keeping him going.
“Find anything good out there?”
“Sort of. Maybe.” March shoves his free hand in his hip pocket, rocking back on his heels. A haze of berry-scented carcinogens floats around his head. “Something curious, at least.”
Wentz lets the silence sit. March has that look about him—something at the scene didn’t go as expected, and he’s unsettled by that.
“The site was clean. Eat-your-dinner-off-the-floor clean,” March finally says. “Damnedest thing.”
“Yeah?” Wentz pulls his own smokes—the honest type that smell like they want to kill you—from his shirt pocket and taps one loose. He slips it between his lips and lights it. The first drag always hits so good. “What was?”
“There was no blood or body—”
“No body?” Wentz sucks his teeth. “Well, fuck. I thought for sure—”
“Let me finish, dipshit,” March huffs. “There was a body. In better shape than mine.”
“Not a stretch.”
“Fuck you and listen. There was no blood or any kind of bodily fluids.”
“Okay, so—so, what? The cause of death was—”
March shakes his head. Slowly, but firmly.
“No fluids,” Wentz says. Then, it hits. “In it?”
“Now you’re getting it.” March pulls on his vape. “Poor bastard was sucked drier than your sense of humor.”
~~~~~~~
Congratulations THIRTY-SEVEN TIME WINNER Cara, and Honorable Mentions Eric, Silver, and Kelly! Don’t forget to claim your badges and display them with pride. You certainly earned it!
Pass on the great news on Facebook, Discord, MeWe, Bluesky, Mastodon, shiny mirrors, Morse Code, and signal flags. Check out all the original tales HERE. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! 🙂
Congrats to 37X winner
@raethye.bsky.social
and HMs
@drmag00.bsky.social
Silver James,
@aightball.bsky.social and Kelly Heinen wonderful stories all
. Great thanks to
@davidaludwig.bsky.social
for judging and as always thank you to our hostess
@siobhanmuir.bsky.social