Welcome to the monthly round up of all my #ThursThreads tales and it’s the NEW YEAR!! Happy 2022! Are you ready for the new opportunities coming your way? I know I am and I refuse to believe it’s going to be more miserable than the last two years. I’m feeling better after the drag that was the holidays. Don’t get me wrong, the holidays were nice, but I was dragging through them.
As usual, 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 490 through Week 494 and I’ve collected them in one place.
December had five Thursdays in and we wrote for every one of them. Here are the five tales along with their dates and prompts. Happy reading!
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Week 490, December 2, 2021
Prompt: “I’d have thought you’d be happy.”
“I have two sisters who are both geniuses. Clara is a choreographer in LA with an internationally acclaimed dance company, and Vivien is an astrophysicist working at JPL on the Mars Rover program.”
“Oh, so you were the slow kids at school, I see.”
Chester barked a laugh. “Yup. The Nerd Herd.”
Hermione joined in. “Wow, you had your own group name?”
“We earned it. I mean, one kid in drama and the other two were geeky scientists? We should’ve had t-shirts made.” He nodded with a smile. “I might still do that for the winter holidays. It would be good to get the Nerd Herd back together.”
“Do you see your family very often?” She couldn’t help the wistful tone in her voice. She didn’t have much family left.
If you don’t count the other Sirens.
He shook his head. “Only at major holidays. Clara is so busy with her dance company she’s not home often, and Vivien loves to work. It’s hard to convince her to break away. Or harder than I’d have thought.”
“You’d be happy with everyone back home, I take it.”
He nodded. “Yeah. I mean, we’re all so busy, but I love seeing them. They’re amazing women.” He shot her a smile. “What about you? Do you have family?”
She shook her head. “Not in the way you mean. The Sirens are really my family now.”
“Were you ever married?”
She shrugged. “Yeah. It didn’t work out.”
“Why not?”
245 #Sirens Words
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Week 491, December 9, 2021
Prompt: “They’d become like stone.”
The memories of previous “holidays” weighed her down. They’d become like stone encasing her heart. She’d chipped away at some of it, seeking escape, but they rose at odd times, like mental tripping hazards.
I’m not going to fall into their trap again.
“You could always stay here for the holidays.”
Kendra blinked. Had she heard him right?
“Stay here? In the Fae realm?”
Phinn nodded. “You’d be more than welcome. And no one would question your accomplishments or abilities.”
She almost dismissed his suggestion, but stopped herself before she blurted something hurtful. Could she stay here? What was waiting for her back in her own world?
I have a job, a life, friends, a coven who values me.
But would they need her for the holidays? Not this year. The coven had decided to maximize their reach by performing the holiday rituals individually all at the same time to spread the love and blessings. But she would have to be home in her world to do her part.
“I can’t. I’ve made commitments to my coven for the holiday rituals. I need to be back in Cloudburst to do them.”
“Ah, I see.” He turned his head to look at the fountain.
“Maybe you could come to Cloudburst for the holidays.” The words were out before she thought them through.
220 #CloudburstColorado words
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Week 492, December 16, 2021
Prompt: “Any volunteers to put him out of his misery?”
“You went too far, Laurie.” I tightened my hands into fists. “You shouldn’t have come here and started shit. You should’ve just let me stay dead. I wasn’t hurting you or the family. Why didn’t you just let it go?”
“Because no one steals from Laurance Stratton, you dumb bitch!” He snarled as he jerked against Flint and Torch. They didn’t even move.
Fury surged but I simply tilted my head and raised an eyebrow. “What the fuck do you think I stole from you?”
“You stole my wife! You were mine, and you should’ve come back. No one takes anything from Laurance Stratton. No one!” He struggled to get out of the bigger men’s grips, but he couldn’t dislodge them.
Loki rested a hand on my shoulder and smirked. “No one takes from you, eh?” He nodded slowly. “This is where you’re wrong. We have decided you are done harassing our Viper. So you have a choice, because Viper requested this, ja? You have her to thank for it.”
“Oh yeah, what’s that?” Laurie sneered.
“You either officially declare your wife dead and move on with your pathetic life. Or you die.”
“Any volunteers to put him out of his misery?” Trigger smirked.
“I will.” Anubis’s deep voice filled the space and Laurie grew pale.
He stared up at Loki with dawning horror. “Wh-what? You can’t! Do you know who I am? You can’t kill me.”
Loki leaned forward into his space. “I can, I know, and he will.”
250 #ConcreteAngelsMC words
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Week 493, December 23, 2021
Prompt: “Wait and see what it does.”
“The tea makes you want to snuggle in warm blankets.”
A snort sounded above her. “Seriously?”
Merida nodded with a tiny smirk. “Try it if you don’t believe me.”
The stranger humphed and brought the tea to her lips as Merida worked. A disbelieving murmur followed and Merida swallowed her grin. Once she’d gotten the wound cleaned, she patted it dry and inspected it for bits of dirt or grease from the chain. It had looked worse when she unwrapped it and she thought it would heal fairly cleanly.
“Okay, I’m going to put a little Frankincense oil on this.”
“What?” Again the sharp tone mixed with a sharp look. “What the hell for?”
“Frankincense is a natural antibiotic to kill infections. Works just like a regular antibiotic gel.” She paused and met the woman’s gaze. “Are you okay with that?”
Merida waited as the woman’s stare grew intense. She had the weird feeling the woman hadn’t had a lot of kindnesses freely given and responded as if the world lay full of threat. It occurred to her that asking for consent might be the only way to get the woman to trust.
What the hell do I need her to trust me for?
But she’d trusted her gut in all the most important decisions in her life, and that trust always paid off. Wait and see what it does. For her, and for you.
The voice of wisdom was old and infrequent, but like her gut, was always right.
250 #WIP500 words
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Week 494, December 30, 2021
Prompt: “What in the world is that?”
The footprints shimmering in the wind-swept scrub kept marching onward, and he had no better choice than to follow them.
This is a wild goose chase, his father’s voice echoed in his head.
If you really loved us you would’ve stayed, Matrica’s voice added to the chorus.
You’re a liar. There’s nothing there, Majir’s voice taunted him.
You’re all right. I’ve found nothing but shimmering footprints…
The words should’ve instilled him with defeat and fear, but he was just too tired, hungry, sore, and thirsty. He remembered he was doing something, going somewhere, but his mind couldn’t find the motivation or purpose, and he stumbled to a stop.
Where am I going?
No answer came back to him, and even the wind seemed to howl, I don’t know, I don’t know…
He swayed, searching for the footprints ahead of him, but everything grew blurry. He tried to take another step forward, but his feet had grown too heavy to lift and wouldn’t move. Blackness crowded the edges of his vision and he dropped to his knees.
I gotta keep going so I can see her again… What? See whom? A vision of a woman in ornate armor, reaching for him. The same woman he’d seen in his dreams when he was a child. Now she held out her hand to him.
He tried to reach for her, but the blackness rushed in on him and he had one last thought.
What in the world is that?
246 #LOTN words