Welcome to the monthly round up of all my #ThursThreads tales. It’s November and I’m deep into #NaNoWriMo. I will be posting some of my rough WIPs in December. But writing is getting done and I should have a quite a few stories out in 2022.
Most of these bits are of upcoming tales, written to prompts from the #ThursThreads #flashfiction challenge I host each Thursday. We’re starting with Week 483 through Week 486 and I’ve collected them in one place.
September had four Thursdays, so you get four tales along with their dates and prompts. Happy reading!
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Week 483, October 7, 2021
Prompt: “Are you coming or not?”
He’d gained a wife and another daughter all in one event. And he didn’t mind a bit.
They read the girls bedtime stories and kissed them goodnight before retreating to the kitchen. The catering staff Amanda had hired cleaned up and stored the food from the reception while she changed into comfort clothing rather than wedding finery. Mike took the opportunity to put on sweats and a t-shirt before returning to the kitchen and walking the caterers out. Amanda joined him just as he locked the front door and set the alarm.
“All good?” She stood in the entryway in a slouchy sweatshirt that bared one shoulder and a pair of soft fleece pants.
Mike nodded. “Yeah, all good. What do you want to do now?”
She gave a short laugh. “I don’t know. I’ve never had a wedding before. I’m tired, but I don’t want to go to bed yet.” She rubbed her arms with her hands. “Maybe we could do some Netflix & Chill now that we’re not under the gun to get married?”
“That sounds great.” He followed her toward the living room, but took a left into the kitchen.
Amanda paused. “Are you coming or…?”
“Not yet, I thought I’d make us some tea or chai or something. Do you want anything?”
“Oh, yeah, maybe some tea. Peppermint is my favorite.” She smiled and the surprised pleasure on her face made his day even brighter.
Which is silly because this marriage isn’t real beyond the license.
250 #WIP500 words
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Week 484, October 14, 2021
Prompt: “He can’t hear you.”
“I actually love you. Please don’t go.”
“He can’t hear you, you know.”
Amanda nodded as she leaned her head against the window four stories above the street where Mike stood waiting for a taxi. “I know.”
Zoe sighed. “Then what are you doing? If you really love him, why aren’t you going after him?”
Amanda closed her eyes as tears threatened. “I can’t give him what he needs. He needs someone who doesn’t work all the time. Someone who can decorate Easter eggs and sit around filling out the Sudoku puzzle in the morning paper. He deserves someone like that and I can’t be it.”
“Why not? From what I saw, this was the first time since I’ve known you that you took a vacation, and had fun. Actual, not-doing-it-for-money fun.” Zoe leaned against the window and stared Amanda down. “Mike was good for you. He made you see there’s more to life than just work, or business. Hell he made you think about things beyond paperclips and stationary. Don’t be a dumbass. Go after him. He’s worth it.”
“How do you know?” Amanda finally looked away from Mike, still waiting. “How do you know he’s worth it?”
“Uh, because you’re up here in tears, and Amanda Pendleton never cries in the office. Ever.” Zoe rolled her eyes. “Besides, I’ve seen how he treats you and how you interacted with him. You’re in love, for real, girlfriend. Don’t be stupid and let it go.”
245 #WIP500 words
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Week 485, October 21, 2021
Prompt: “That’s not why I’m here.”
“Well…” Phinn shot Kendra a look before taking a deep breath. “First let me introduce Kendra MacGillivray of Cloudburst, Colorado. She was with me when the tracker demon came for me because I’ve left Winter.”
“Sweet Goddess.” Phinn’s mother widened her eyes. “It’s very nice to meet you, Kendra. You can call me Colleen.” She smiled briefly before fixing her son with her wide gaze. “She was with you? As in, with you?”
Phinn sputtered and Kendra laughed. “No, no, he was skulking around Darius and Sabrina’s place when he literally ran into me.”
“Phinnius, I taught you better than that.” Colleen shook her head as she sipped her tea. “So how did you get to Winter?”
“The tracker demon—”
“Whose name is Marbles.”
“—caught us both in its return spell.”
“But my healing spell healed her, and she kept us from being discovered by a Winter patrol while Phinn was injured—”
“By the tracker demon to begin with.” Phinn rolled his eyes.
“My goodness, you’ve definitely had an adventure. It’s a good thing you’re here. Now we can have a little visit and relax.” Colleen nodded sharply as if that solved everything.
“Yeah…that’s not why I’m here, Mom. I wanted to talk to you about Grampa’s sword.”
Colleen’s expression grew wary. “What about it?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s the reason Winter sent the tracker demon. I’m pretty sure it’s why Dad courted and married you. And I’m pretty sure you know why they’d be after it.”
250 #CloudburstColorado words
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Week 486, October 28, 2021
Prompt: “Might not be the targets.”
“Viper and Harley might not be the targets.”
But Neo shook his head. “Maybe not at first, but now Backlog thinks they have something valuable.” He pointed at me. “Did you find anything on Harley? Maybe in her gear or clothes or something?”
I frowned. “No. I wasn’t really looking for anything. I mean, hell, there could be a tracking bug on her gear somewhere and I wouldn’t know it.”
Neo stiffened and rose from his chair before digging through a cabinet that looked like it contained files, but really held locked drawers. He pulled out a little wand that detected electronics and straightened.
“Where’s Harley’s stuff now?”
“I left it with Karma in the main room.”
I was the first one out the door of Neo’s Lair, but Trigger and Neo followed close behind as I zeroed in on my daughter. Karma held her as she talked to Dollhouse and Numbers, both cooing over the little girl waving her baby fists as she giggled.
“Where’s her carseat?” I barked the question, but Karma simply pointed.
“What’s going on?” She bounced Harley as we made a bee-line to the carrier.
“There might be a bug on it.” Neo waved the wand over the little seat and we all collectively held our breaths. “Nothing’s coming up.”
“Let me look.” Trigger picked up the carseat and slid his hands all over it. He even felt around under the cushions. He froze. “I think I got something.”
He held up a flashdrive.
249 #ConcreteAngelsMC words