Week 451 of #ThursThreads had many fantastic tales. I’m honored to see all the writers come to tie a tale as we head toward the end of our ninth year. If you’ve been doing it a while, thank you for sticking with us. If you’ve just found us, welcome! May you come back again and write more great flash. Thousand thanks to Patricia Oak 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_
- Bill Engleson | @billmelaterplea
- Angora Shade | @AngoraShade
- Joe Hesch | @JAHesch
- Joseph P. Garland | @JPGarlandAuthor
- Mark A. Morris
- J. Thomas Ganzer | @J_Thomas_Ganzer
- Siobhan Muir | @SiobhanMuir
- Sheilagh Lee | @SweetSheil
- David A. Ludwig | @DavidALudwig
- Marci Baun | @MarciBaun
- Kelly Heinen | @Aightball
- Patty Dump
Patricia says: I have judged this contest a few times over the years. This week was one of the hardest ones, all of the entries were good and deserved to win. Thank you to all of the entries, I had an enjoyable time reading all of them. Keep writing, I will keep reading.
Honorable Mentions
Joseph P. Garland | @JPGarlandAuthor
Patricia says: I like the picture that he created of running a marathon and using this statement as motivation to keep going.
Sheilagh Lee | @SweetSheil
Patricia says: Another great visual using one statement to better what life throws at you.
Bill Engleson | @billmelaterplea
Patricia says: There is something about these story that keeps me going back to it. I wish there was more.
winner announcement
Week 451 Winner
Patricia says: He took a statement that is supposed to be optimistic and he showed the other side of it. Sometimes hearing those words do not inspire hope but dread.
I heard the voice say, “I think you’ll make it.”
And so what if I hear that I’m going to live some more when so many others aren’t? What if you go on living and no one’s left you can live with?
These are the questions you ask yourself when you get old and you can’t stand to look at the newspaper anymore because you’ll see names there you recognize from when you were young. Or worse, when you weren’t.
Began happening in my late teens, but those were accidental checkouts – firearm mishaps, car crashes, war, lightning strikes, mountains falling on them. I was going to say “Could happen to anybody,” until I remembered those.
Then parents started dropping all around me, which I recognize is the natural course of things. No one gets out here upright.
But it was observing the minds, bodies of some of them going sour, like they’d passed their sell-by dates, that caused me to stare at the mayonnaise at the bottom of my own jar and notice it separating.
Then you begin losing your peers, your friends, loved ones, and loss, doubts, pain work you over more than time has. That’s when your mirror becomes like the window through which you watched all those “old” folks fail.
“I said I think you’ll make it.”
I know. But the bread’s moldy and the shelves are bare. Nothing to make it with anymore. It really does go dark and cold once they shut that door.
~~~~~~~
Congratulations Six Time Winner Joe, and Honorable Mentions Joseph, Sheilagh, and Bill! 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! 🙂
