Welcome back to the home of Paranormal & Dauntless Romance. Today is Thursday and that means it’s time to start flashing. We’re nearing the end of our ninth year of weekly prompts. It’s amazing we’ve gone this long! This is Week 508 of #ThursThreads, the challenge that ties tales together. Want to keep up each week? Check out the #ThursThreads #flashfiction group on Facebook and the Group on MeWe.
Need the rules? Read on.
Here’s how it works:
- The prompt is a line from the previous week’s winning tale.
- The prompt can appear ANYWHERE in your story and is included in your word count.
- The prompt must be used as is. It can be split, but no intervening words can be inserted or tenses changed.
Rules to the Game:
- This is a Flash Fiction challenge, which means your story must be a minimum of 100 words, maximum of 250.
- The story must be new writing, not a snippet from something published elsewhere with the prompt added.
- Incorporate the prompt anywhere into your story (included in your word count).
- Post your story in the comments section of this post
- Include your word count in the post (or be excluded from judging)
- Include your Twitter handle or email in the post (so we don’t have to look for you)
- The challenge is open 7 AM to 8 PM Mountain Time
- The winner will be announced on Friday, depending on how early the judge gets up.
How it benefits you:
- You get a nifty cool badge to display on your blog or site (because we’re all about promotion – you know you are!)
- You get instant recognition of your writing prowess on this blog!
- Your writing colleagues shall announce and proclaim your greatness on Facebook, Twitter, MeWe, and Google Plus, etc.
Our Judge for Week 508:
Horror writer, lazy impresario, cereal enjoyer, Daniel Swensen.
And now your #ThursThreads Challenge, tying tales together.
The Prompt:
“How’d that work out for you?”
All stories written herein are the property (both intellectual and physical) of the authors. Comments do not represent the views of the host and the host reserves the right to remove any content. Now, away with you, Flash Fiction Fanatics, and show us your #ThursThreads. Good luck!
A Savvy Offer
Terry Kane had pitched a viable negotiating offer to Solly Vapers. She would bail her ex-husband Frank out of his fiscal dilemma in exchange for our four lives.
Mine being one of them seemed like the deal of the century.
Nobody ever said that a private dick didn’t have a right to be selfish.
Not even Sam Spade.
I was pretty sure about that, but I’d have to catch the Maltese Falcon on the tube someday soon.
Maybe even read the novel.
I could see Solly thinking about the proposition. He’d get his money and be saved the trouble of disposing of numerous bodies.
Finally, he broke the excruciating silence. “I see one problem, Ms. Kane. You save the butt of this sorry excuse for a man you were once married to, and it cost him nothing.”
Terry smiled, said, “Pretty much like our divorce settlement.”
“And how’d that work out for you? Let me tell you. It’s Divorce Vu all over again.”
I let some air out of my frightened lungs. Solly was punning. We were gonna make it.
”My choice, Solly,” Terry replied. “Even if it’s a bad one.”
“Fine. Peeper, you, and Mister X…Henry Samuels, whatever your name is, can go. Take Ms. Kane to her bank…get the deal done. Frank can stay here and clean my toilet until I have the cash transferred. Deal?”
To me, Frankie cleaning a toilet seemed like just desserts.
“Deal,” Terry said.
And that was that.
We skedaddled.
250 WIP
@billmelaterplea
“I wanna know who hired the hitman and if he’s still lookin’ for Viper.” Trigger crossed his arms over his chest. “They might be hopin’ the cops can find her, but if they come up dry, they might send someone else after her. We gotta be prepared for that.”
“We’ll keep her safe, Trigger.” Michael nodded.
“Hey, real human, standing right here. Stop talking around me.” I met their gazes. “Here’s the thing. The only connection they have is for Aeryn Carter, the witness to the murders. The driver’s license in their records has my face on it and if they’re half as good as Neo is at facial recognition, someone is going to put my face with my old name and realize I’m not as dead as they thought. What we have to do is make a plan for when they come looking for my old alias.”
Loki tipped his head. “Why do you think they’ll come looking, Viper?”
“Because Laurie Stratton never let anything go willingly and he now runs a bounty hunting shop.” I scowled. “He’ll be coming for me, with or without Backlog’s help.”
“You disappeared before and he didn’t look for you,” Trigger pointed out.
“Yeah, and how’d that work out? For you to just blithely say he won’t find me now, after he knows I exist, is foolish. Hell, you found me without even trying. Plus, I was “dead.” Now I’m not. More than likely he’ll show up here sooner or later.”
249 ineligible #ConcreteAngelsMC words
@SiobhanMuir
I made my one phone call and Jemima arrived and bailed me out. If I hoped hurriedly maybe I could still finish my jobs.
“Why were you arrested?”
“I don’t know. I was just doing a normal job.”
“A normal job breaking into houses?”
“It’s a calling.”
“How’d that work out for you?”
“Can we drop this I still have work to do.”
“You’re still going to continue your job?”
“Of course. While don’t get caught again Peter, I won’t bail you out next time.”
“Tell Kep I said thank- you, too.”
Jemima waddled away and I went back to work quickly finishing my jobs.
When I finished, I hopped home as fast as I could and fell asleep. I was awaken by loud barks and some quacks.
“What are you doing here? “I asked Kep.
“Sorry I woke you. I just wanted to thank you for what you left at my house.”Kep explained.”
“I just wanted to see if you finished your jobs,” Jemima clarified.
“I did thanks to you both. You deserved a present, Kep.”
“Where’s mine?” Jemima asked.
“Right here Jem, thank-you for being such a good friend,” I replied handing her a basket,
“Happy Easter, friends thanks to you two there will be another Happy Easter for all the good kids out there,”
“The pound was a terrible place I’m glad we rescued you and released the others. Happy Easter, Peter Cottontail.”
“Happy Easter to all and to all a good day.”
249 Words
@SweetSheil
“Have you told her?”
Kin opened one eye to stare at Dalton. Who looked like an eager pup hoping for a treat. He closed his eye. “Leave me alone, mate.”
“You need to tell her.” Feckin’ insistent bastard.
“What do you know about it?”
“Loch says you need to tell her, and I spent enough time around the Wolves of the 69th and their mates to know Meg will freak out if she finds out by accident.”
Surrendering, Kin curled to a sitting position. He focused an intense glare on Dalton. “You ever told a woman you have gills?” The other man’s hand automatically covered a spot under his ear and he saw the truth on Dalton’s face. “How’d that work out for you?”
Defensive now, Dalton curled his lip. “I didn’t actually tell her. We went snorkeling. A kid was drowning. I went to the bottom to save him. She saw me.”
“And?”
“And nothing. I convinced her she hadn’t seen me breathing underwater.”
“You ever go out again?” Kin nodded, satisfied when Dalton didn’t answer. “I rest my case.”
“But Meg’s—”
“I know what she is, Dalton.” Kin scrubbed the heels of his hands over his eyes, annoyed by the gritty feeling. “I’m a Wolf not some trained lion in the circus so I’ll not be jumpin’ through hoops for anyone. When the time is right—”
“Uh…hi , Meg.”
“Right time for what?” the topic of conversation asked.
“That’s my cue. Bye, Meg.” Dalton took off.
“Bloody hell.”
****
250 Crossfire/Hard Target WIP words (that will lead to many more!)
@SilverJames_
Crow sat on the scarecrow’s shoulder and studied the man’s carcass. It would take time to be seasoned enough to be at its best. In a few days, it would be tender, its flesh sinking in on itself so its clothes would peel away easily, its eyeballs fogged and a pure milky white. On the other hand, there were other predators at large; working up from bugs and blow-flies there would soon be hundreds of species wanting to take bites from it, but it would be its larger competitors with the sharper beaks and claws that would steal its prize.
“What do you think?” Crow mused, addressing the body’s former resident. “Were you a carnivore while you were alive?”
The shade shuddered, sitting below the bird’s perch. “I never touched that poison. At least, not since I was a child. Everyone knows a vegetarian diet is healthier.”
Crow stropped his beak on the iron nail securing the scarecrow’s hat. It made a zinging noise like loose change in a pocket. The dead man might have noticed him wink if he had been watching. “How’d that work out for you?” he asked. “Did it help?”
The dead man sighed, his body relaxing. It could have been a release of stomach gases or a flow of thickened blood to its extremities. Crow dropped down from the manikin and settled heavily on its brow.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that,” he said. “I find it hard to pay proper attention when I’m hungry.”
250 words – twothirdsrasta.blogspot.com
“Are you alright?”
Jacqueline wrapped a blanket protectively around her girlfriend’s shoulders and pulled her close. Jill nodded but remained unsteady on her feet. The deep breathing body of the sixty-foot tall gorilla elicited a long low whistle from Doctor Murray.
“Whatever you did sure worked! How’d you grow like that? And how’d you knock him out?”
Jacqueline could hear the PRUDENT helicopters on approach. If she looked away from Jill, she could probably see them. Jill pressed her face into Jacqueline’s shoulder and mumbled.
“Wants samples back.”
“Hm?” Doctor Murray cocked her head and then glanced at the gargantuan gorilla. “Oh! The guardian didn’t like us taking samples from the island! Interesting… I’ll have the boys pack the containers back out.”
Jacqueline frowned over Jill’s shoulder.
“Just like that? I thought you invested a lot in obtaining those samples.”
Doctor Murray laughed and swept an arm at the awesome ape Jill had somehow subdued.
“And how’d that work out?”
“For you?” Jacqueline narrowed her eyes. “I think you loved every minute of this.”
“Oh, I have!” Doctor Murray beamed. “But the damage was rather severe and could have been much worse if you two hadn’t been on the scene. I got a lot of data already, and I really only want to be thought of as a mad scientist among my friends.”
Jacqueline smiled tightly. Jill rolled her head to look at their new doctor friend.
Doctor Murray laughed, “Besides, now I have dear Jillian here to study!”
249 PRUDENT words
@DavidALudwig
Peder ripped open the bag from the witch’s shop, spewing crystals and charms across the table. He’d never used any sort of magic before. Nothing in his natural arsenal allowed him to help Serena. He was willing to try anything in order to find her, and save her.
Eyes closed, he splayed his fingers out, feeling the gems, searching for those that spoke to him. Some described it as a change in temperature, or a warmth, and others talked about a vibration.
Nothing. He sensed nothing. He banged his fist against the table, sending the worthless pebbles scattering.
“How’d that work out for you?” Marj stood in the kitchen doorway, warily watching him.
He grunted and rubbed his hand where it had struck the wood. “Helped displace some anger. Maybe there’s a stone here for that.”
“Is this all to find her?” She gathered the displaced pieces of hope into small piles, pushing a blue one aside. “Lapis lazuli, good for increasing psychic ability.”
“Now this one,” she rubbed a greenish-gray stone into her palm, “Labradorite helps sensing of other objects. Let me get some herbs and one of her personal objects, and we’ll see what we can do.”
He looked at her in a different light. She wasn’t only the sister of his mate, but so much more. “Do you know all of this stuff?”
She offered the smallest smile. “You don’t come from a long line of shifters and mages, and not pick up on a few things.”
250 words
@LouisaBacio
My eyebrows raise as the newest member of the body transportation crew recounts their first trip to the state lab in Ankeny. Body transportation is big business in Iowa, considering there aren’t enough ambulance crews or funeral directors to take everyone everywhere. That’s where we come in. My crew and I drive all over the state, pick up bodies, and transport to funeral homes and labs and universities.
In Iowa, driving is fairly straight forward: there are the main roads and the back roads. When someone doesn’t know where they’re going, stick to the main roads. But this newbie was just sure they knew where they were going! Who needs main roads?
This newbie. This newbie needs main roads.
“What happened?”
He sighs. “I swear I’ve taken this route before. But the county road I needed wasn’t there! I ended up in a corn field.”
We all laugh, because we’ve had GPS issues before. Although none quite this good.
“How’d that work out for you?” I ask, grinning.
“Poorly,” he says, laughing with me. “Fuck, I nearly got the van stuck, then had to bounce down a maintain B road before I got back to the blacktop. Damn GPS finally got me to the interstate. It’s a good thing the bodies can’t talk. This was an elderly gentleman and I’m sure I’d have gotten an ear full.”
That makes the entire breakroom burst out laughing. The new guy blushes, raising his hands in a shrug. He’ll learn. They always do.
@Aightball
250 words