Week 525 of #ThursThreads, and y’all never disappoint. We’re in Year 10 and that’s an accomplishment in itself! Thank you to all y’all for coming back to write for all these years. I couldn’t have done it without you. If you’ve just found us, welcome to the crew! You’re in good company. May you come back again and write more great flash. A thousand thanks to Eric Martell for judging this week. Check out the #ThursThreads #flashfiction group on Facebook or the #ThursThreads Group on MeWe to keep up with news, etc.
Entries:
- Silver James | @SilverJames_
- Siobhan Muir | @SiobhanMuir
- Bill Engleson | @billmelaterplea
- T.M. Eccles | @TeresaMEccles
- Mark A. Morris
- Sheilagh Lee | @SweetSheil
- David A. Ludwig | @DavidALudwig
- Joseph P. Garland | @JPGarlandAuthor
- M.T. Decker | @mishmhem
Honorable Mention
Joseph P. Garland | @JPGarlandAuthor
Eric says: A secret tryst (a French secret tryst, no less) in a room with a Christmas dinosaur? That could go so many ways, most of them fun. I can see the room, the door, smell the wood and the boxes, and see her smile. Good stuff.
winner announcement
Week 525 Winner
Eric says: This one had me from the line “Its eyes were featureless and red, like holes in a lantern.” Just painting such a vivid picture with few words – always a key in a good flash fiction story. And it made me want to know more about the machine. Who made it? What kind of civilization is this? I love when a simple line opens a world.
Payment:
The mechanoid appeared by degrees. It was a vague shadow at first, one I’d overlooked, my eyes finding nothing specific to focus on.
And then it opened his eyes.
Its eyes were featureless and red, like holes in a lantern. There was nothing to be seen in them: they were optical equipment, nothing more. There was a mind behind them, but it was purely analytical.
It had already decided what it was going to do.
“You’re awake,” it growled, already knowing it as a fact. “I prefer it when people are conscious for the whole of the proceedings.”
Its voice had enough grit to be a synthetic analogue, a close approximation of Earl Jones or Fishburne. It was a voice you couldn’t help but pay attention to.
Especially when you woke up in the middle of the night to hear it.
“You’ll know why I’m here,” it said, rising from my chair. “There’s an imbalance to be addressed. An overdue debt.”
At its full height, it was tall enough for it to have needed to stoop when it had come through the doorway into my room. But I’d not heard it coming in. It was as stealthy as it was dominant.
Not that I’d ever think of challenging it.
It clicked its fingers, and the lights came on. That’s always a neat trick if you can manage it. Getting the money from me would be more difficult.
I’d not see this night through and still have no bones broken.
~~~~~~~
Congratulations THIRTY-ONE TIME WINNER Mark, and Honorable Mention Joseph! Don’t forget to claim your badges and display them with pride. You certainly earned it!
Pass on the great news on Twitter, Facebook, MeWe, shiny mirrors, Morse Code, and signal flags. Check out all the original tales HERE. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! 🙂
