Week 727 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!
And next week is our 14TH ANNIVERSARY! Are you ready for the Mountain Year? Going back to the beginning and the foundation of our challenge. I hope you’ll join us for the celebration!
If you’ve just found us, welcome to the crew! May you come back again and write more great flash. A thousand thanks to Muirlette #1 for judging this week. Follow Siobhan Muir on Bluesky or check out the #ThursThreads #flashfiction server on Discord or the #ThursThreads group on Facebook to keep up with news, etc.
Entries:
- Bill Engleson
- Silver James
- Joe Hesch
- David A. Ludwig
- Siobhan Muir
- Cara Michaels
- Boyd Miles
Honorable Mention
Cara Michaels | Website
Muirlette says: I liked the feeling in this story. It has a level of heartbreak and grief, but also has sort of a crime show feeling. This is the inciting incident and the detective is being hired to look into the murder, like Knives Out, albeit we actually see the hiring process here. I liked reading it. Well done.
winner announcement
Week 727 Winner
Muirlette says: This was a powerful story to read. It started off with kind of a sad beat, which was driven home by the last couple sentences. Don’t wait…Just don’t. And a photograph falling to the floor. Incredibly powerful. Well done.
I let myself in.
“Gramps?” I shouted from the dusty foyer. No answer.
This wasn’t new, but scared the hell out of me. I began moving room to room and found him in his old den, slumped in the cracked leather chair, eyes staring at nothing. Alive, though grudgingly.
“Hi, Jacob. You’re the Jake one, right?” He side-eyed me.
“Right, Gramps. Didn’t you hear me?”
“I was otherwise engaged.”
“I see,” I said, stepping between him and the wall he faced. He shifted to peer around me.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked.
“Huh? Oh, assessing, accounting, figuring,” Gramps said.
“I don’t see any paper or calculator.” I turned to see what was so important behind me.
“You know, Jacob? I hope when you get to my age, which something in me perversely hopes you don’t, you don’t feel the need for this.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ve been watching that calendar since Sunday night like a schoolboy would a classroom clock,” he said, pointing to the 12-month 1976 one that’d hung on the wall for long as I recall.
“Months go by like seconds, minutes like years and the values and debits always come to the same zero sums.”
“Wha’dya mean?”
“I always told myself there’d be a next time. Whole life. Times I should’ve but didn’t. Or didn’t when I figured I could later. So here I sit, waiting for the next one. Don’t, Jake.”
A woman’s black and white photo fell to the floor.
“Just don’t.”
~~~~~~~
Congratulations Fourteen Time Winner Joe, and Honorable Mention Cara! Don’t forget to claim your badges and display them with pride. You certainly earned it!
Pass on the great news on Facebook, Discord, Bluesky, Mastodon, shiny mirrors, Morse Code, and signal flags. Check out all the original tales HERE. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! 🙂
