Tag: #ThursThreads

Week 479 of #ThursThreads had many fantastic tales. What an amazing feat we’ve pulled off. Nine years! If you’ve been doing it a while, thank you for coming back each week. If you’ve just found us, welcome! You’re in good company. May you come back again and write more great flash. A thousand thanks to David Ludwig 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: Miya Kressin | @miya_kressin Silver James | @SilverJames_ Siobhan Muir | @SiobhanMuir Mark A. Morris David A. Ludwig | @DavidALudwig Sheilagh Lee | @SweetSheil Bill Engleson | @billmelaterplea Honorable Mentions Silver James | @SilverJames_ David says: I’m a sucker for a good action scene and this was some great action with a pleasing amount of character built into and around it. Bonus points for cleverly breaking up the prompt. winner announcement Week 479 Winner Miya Kressin | @miya_kressin David says: I picked this one for the win because I love how contemporary it feels from the start with doctors and x-rays and a plague. The relaxed pace you layered in the more fantastical elements was smooth and very satisfying. Your mix of fantasy elements by the end hit a lot of good buttons for me and left me intrigued by your characters and their circumstances. I especially liked needing an IV to flush a poison before the patient could heal herself. The doctor looked at the x-ray report, to his patient, and back to the x-ray. “I don’t understand; it shows nothing, yet there was something there in the last three. The crystal webbing we saw in your bones is gone.” The young woman simply smiled. “I told you there was nothing there. Can I go home now?” He sighed while trying to find some reason to keep her. The new plague was still spreading through the country, and any patient he could keep safely within the walls of the hospital until a cure was found was one more human he could save. “You could stay. It’s safer here.” He really didn’t want her to go. She flipped her hair back and whispered something under her voice until a shimmer spread along her neck. “I’m not safe anywhere, and you and your patients are safer without me here.” A witch-mark appeared— the bindrune of her family line, her strength, and her specialty— and then faded away. “I needed the IV to flush what I was poisoned with so that I could heal myself. I stayed long enough to build my reserve for going back out. I’m immune to the virus by my birthright.” He had known she smelled different than the others, and he let his eyes shine briefly before he locked his wolf away. “Stay a few more days, please?” He didn’t want her out with hunters searching for her. His wolf wanted her. ~~~~~~~ Congratulations Five Time Winner Miya, and Honorable Mention Silver! 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! 🙂

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Week 478 of #ThursThreads had many fantastic tales. What an amazing feat we’ve pulled off. Nine years! If you’ve been doing it a while, thank you for coming back each week. If you’ve just found us, welcome! You’re in good company. May you come back again and write more great flash. A thousand thanks to George Varhalmi 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: Katheryn J. Avila | @katheryn_avila Miya Kressin | @miya_kressin Richard Gibney | @ragtaggiggagon Silver James | @SilverJames_ Joe Hesch | @JAHesch Siobhan Muir | @SiobhanMuir Kelly Heinen | @Aightball Bill Engleson | @billmelaterplea David A. Ludwig | @DavidALudwig Mark A. Morris Sheilagh Lee | @SweetSheil M.T. Decker | @mishmhem Honorable Mentions Mark A. Morris George says: Good tale with intrigue. Sometimes you need to have a little crazy to survive. Well written with good mix of tension and brevity. In other weeks that I have judged could’ve won hands down but this time because of the volume of excellent stories it fell just short. Kelly Heinen | @aightball George says: Great tale, I loved the humor especially having to go talk to Horace. I think someone’s going to the doghouse, even if its a god. Just like Mark, this tale would’ve won but it didn’t stand out as much with the number of excellent other tales. M.T. Decker | @mishmhem George says: Great tale, I guess being dead has its advantages and someone’s not going to like finding out. Well written and fun but like Mark & Kelly it didn’t stand out as much with the number of excellent other tales. winner announcement Week 478 Winners Miya Kressin | @miya_kressin   Silver James | @SilverJames_ George says: These two stories were phenomenal, actually all the stories were so good this week to pick out clear winners and HMs. After re-reading, these two were equally good. I was drawn to the sadness and maturity of Miya’s young protagonist who has had to do so much in such a short amount of time. Whereas, I was drawn to the tension of Silver’s tale with the intensity of finding the escape and what lies next. In short, both stories were well written, captivating and drew me in wanting more and because of those reasons these two tales really stood out. Miya’s Tale She wiped smears of dirt and blood from her face as she looked in the mirror. Her hair was a mess; she’d cut out the knots days ago. No one was around to tell her she was too little to cut her own hair. She knew her birthday had been sometime around now, when tulips came up. She remembered her fourth birthday— it was before Grampa came back and had to be buried again. Was she six now? Seven? Her bandages were already falling off the blisters on her hands. She’d come in for fresh ones. If she was lucky (and when had that happened recently?) she had enough food and water to stay up in the treehouse until her hands were better or Dad came back. She just had to climb out the window and cross the tree branch to the little room. The dead couldn’t climb trees that high, and the living wouldn’t get through the door before she could escape across the rope bridge to the other tree. It had been a good safehouse; there was just too much blood downstairs, and that would draw the dead. “You need to be careful,” she told her reflection. It was what Dad said before he went to find a new safehouse. He wasn’t back yet. She wasn’t going to think of what that meant. It was going to be hard enough finding the words to tell him she’d had to bury Mama yesterday. ~~~~~~~ Silver’s Tale Maura stared at the answering machine. She poked the button again. The whispery voice ghosted from the speaker. “You need to be careful.” Click Goosebumps pebbled her bare skin as a shiver spiraled around her backbone. She didn’t recognize the voice. And she had been careful. She’d avoided Ronan O’Connor like the plague. He still managed to appear in close proximity but she ignored him. She had too. Heir apparent, she reminded herself. Irish mob. A dangerous man with dangerous pursuits and dangerous friends. Trouble should be his middle name. Yet there was something…there. Between them. He’d brush against her in a crowd and she’d suddenly feel safe. And desired. Like he’d always protect her even if he was busy kissing her. No! That way lay dragons. Her cell phone rang and she jumped. Heart pounding, she stared at the screen. ALEX CALLING. Her boss. And the man she was investigating. She ignored it. Her house phone rang. After the voice mail instructions, there was only a click. Someone hammered on the front door and rattled the doorknob. A man appeared through her back door and she choked back a scream as he held his index finger up to his lips. She recognized him as one of Ronan’s. He beckoned and she scuttled to him, grabbing only the clutch holding her keys, ID, and credit cards. No cell. Phones could be traced. “Yeah, goons’re at the door but I’ve got her,” he said into his cell. “She’s safe now.” ~~~~~~~ Congratulations Four Time Winner Miya and FIFTY-TWO TIME WINNER Silver, and Honorable Mentions Mark, Kelly, and Mary! 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! 🙂

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Week 477 of #ThursThreads had many fantastic tales. What an amazing feat we’ve pulled off. Nine years! If you’ve been doing it a while, thank you for coming back each week. If you’ve just found us, welcome! You’re in good company. May you come back again and write more great flash. A thousand thanks to Bokerah Brumley 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: Miya Kressin | @miya_kressin Mark A. Morris Katheryn J. Avila | @katheryn_avila Sheilagh Lee | @SweetSheil Silver James | @SilverJames_ Siobhan Muir | @SiobhanMuir Joseph P. Garland | @JPGarlandAuthor Bill Engleson | @billmelaterplea David A. Ludwig | @DavidALudwig M.T. Decker | @mishmhem Honorable Mentions M.T. Decker | @mishmhem Bokerah says: The line “I’d followed his orders but I didn’t follow his intent” struck such a chord with me. And the addition of whistling Hogan’s Heroes while in formation really cracked me up. Silver James | @SilverJames_ Bokerah says: I’m always impressed by the concise/tight writing this writer routinely delivers, and I find the wolf shifter/mafia premise intriguing. winner announcement Week 477 Winner Mark A. Morris Bokerah says: Court intrigue caught me. The union of two powerful peoples and having to choose which house/family to unite with definitely whet my appetite for the rest of the story. Who will Cassandra choose? Beitzen towered above her. The dragon was impatient, wanting to be away. Cassandra had to decide quickly or risk losing face. “You have to make a choice,” the ostler said. “But you need to be careful; it’ll bind you both for life.” Cassandra looked up. The scales on Beitzen’s chest were as large as the plates that she ate from when she dined with the King in the Founders’ Hall, graduating from a ruddy scarlet near the dragon’s wingtips to a dull gold on his breast. It was like being stood in the shadow of a sun; its body-heat sufficient to char the flesh on her hands if she strayed too close. Beitzen could be a great protector to her, but only if she made a commitment to him now. “Think of it as a partnership, if that helps,” the dragon prompted. “Your family and mine, sharing our objectives. The short-lived and the millennials, mutually in accord. Bound by the laws of both our communities, of course.” “Or you could align the people of your nation with House Elsass.” The ostler insinuated himself between them, his wrinkled face crackling into a smile. “They’re both equally powerful, in their own way; Beitzen and the Bismarck family and Hessen and the lineage of the Elsass. Those are your options, as I see it. But you’ll have to make your choice quickly. The Dragon elite may seem as though they’re immortal, but they’re notorious for lacking patience. ~~~~~~~ Congratulations TWENTY-FOUR TIME WINNER Mark, and Honorable Mentions Mary and Silver! 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! 🙂

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Week 476 of #ThursThreads had many fantastic tales. What an amazing feat we’ve pulled off. Nine years! If you’ve been doing it a while, thank you for coming back each week. If you’ve just found us, welcome! You’re in good company. May you come back again and write more great flash. Check out the #ThursThreads #flashfiction group on Facebook or the #ThursThreads Group on MeWe to keep up with news, etc. Entries: Miya Kressin | @miya_kressin Silver James | @SilverJames_ Bill Engleson | @billmelaterplea David A. Ludwig | @DavidALudwig Siobhan Muir | @SiobhanMuir Mark A. Morris Katheryn J. Avila | @katheryn_avila M.T. Decker | @mishmhem Honorable Mentions Miya Kressin | @miya_kressin Siobhan says: The softness and yet steely determination of the narrator, having bided his time until he was free, was beautifully crafted and filled me with hope. It was a vignette in a larger story, one with a past and possibly a future, all given just a hint of voice in the present moment. Lovely.  Katheryn J. Avila | @katheryn_avila Siobhan says: I wasn’t going to post more than one HM, but I loved the flavor of this tale, the conflict and tension, again with a possibility of connection. The only thing that kept it from winning was the fade at the end, which works great in a longer story, but deflates the energy in a short one. Good job. winner announcement Week 476 Winner M.T. Decker | @mishmhem Siobhan says: OMG you made me laugh out loud. This was so great I called Mr. SM in from the other room and READ it to him. He laughed too. That makes this story my winner. The mixture of classical imagery and modern issues facing most people during the Pandemic. Awesomesauce. With age comes Wisdom Snow; sand-drift; hail, it all blended together after a while and still he walked. The Sphinx with its serene countenance, right before it tried to eat his liver, that was fun. Illusions of a thousand delights it offered him, and the genie, not to be outdone offering one thousand and one. He let his breath out in a huff as he reminded himself that he had a job to do, and they were here to stop him— or prove him worthy. Twenty-seven steps up the ladder, down two as penance for helping Sisyphus up the hill, then glide to a sudden stop as if on command. He waited in line, as other petitioners made their needs known. The oracle sat on her jeweled throne dispensing wisdom. Finally, after what felt like eons, it was his turn. He brought her the agreed on price for her answer: peacock feathers in every hue, the seeing eye, and the light of the searcher. “You have a quest…” “Ion – that was 5 dollars on its own and 10 if you bundle it with Hallmark and Turner Classic, right?” “Unless you wish to move up a tier,” the oracle said gesturing towards the next line over. “Gods no, they aren’t paying me enough.” With a wave of the oracle’s hand, he was back in his seat, and he took the caller off hold. “I’m sorry ma’am. Those are you options.” “What about Hulu?” He sighed. “Let me consult the ora…er… boss.” ~~~~~~~ Congratulations TWENTY TIME WINNER M.T., and Honorable Mentions Miya and Katheryn! 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! 🙂

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Week 475 of #ThursThreads had many fantastic tales. What an amazing feat we’ve pulled off. Nine years! If you’ve been doing it a while, thank you for coming back each week. If you’ve just found us, welcome! You’re in good company. May you come back again and write more great flash. A thousand thanks to Mary Decker 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: Miya Kressin | @miya_kressin Louisa Bacio | @Lousiabacio Silver James | @SilverJames_ Mark A. Morris Joe Hesch | @JAHesch Siobhan Muir | @SiobhanMuir Bill Engleson | @billmelaterplea Sheilagh Lee | @SweetSheil David A. Ludwig | @DavidALudwig Kelly Heinen | @Aightball Mary says: Thank you all for a memorable evening of stories well told, and the honor of judging them! Special thanks to Siobhan for giving us a place to hang out on Thursday nights and share our stories with each other! Honorable Mentions Mark A. Morris Mary says: I love your take on the point of transition between stages and how they seem suspended in time – the story is bitter-sweet and very well done. Joe Hesch | @JAHesch Mary says: This story was short and sweet and – yes there is no telling where our minds may go— and what stays with us. When one sense fails, another takes it’s place- and that sense draws the reader in. winner announcement Week 475 Winner Miya Kressin | @miya_kressin Mary says: You captured my attention with the first line. There is a sense of completion with the promise of so much more within your story and so much depth that draws the reader in, and gives them an answer to the unasked question. Well done! The voice of the Norns sat before him, the tools of her trade set between them on the oak plank. “You have a question?” He closed his eyes, the only way he could swallow down his fear. The moment he could breathe, he whispered the words he had practiced for weeks—ever since he’d received the news they were going to war. “Will I survive the upcoming battles?” She smiled at him, old eyes crinkling at the corners as she tugged on the white and grey braid flopped over her shoulder. “Is that what you’re really asking, warrior? What is the question in your heart?” Feeling the blood drain from his face, he glanced over his shoulder at the doorway where an apprentice kept others organized in the line with their “gifts” for the priestess. “How do you know?” he asked her, laughing softly as she touched the drop spindle and carved bones before her. “If I survive, will she be waiting?” Faster than he thought a person of the elder’s age could move, she snatched a strand of his strawberry blond hair and worked it into the fiber she drafted on the drop spindle. The whorl spun almost invisibly fast as her fingers slid up and down the wool. She broke off a length of yarn and held it over the fire, burning the thread to ash before touching the piles it left upon the wood. “If you wed before you leave, she will wait until there’s no hope.” ~~~~~~~ Congratulations Three Time Winner Miya, and Honorable Mentions Mark and Joe! 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! 🙂

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