Week 489 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 Eric Martell for judging this week. Just a reminder, there will be NO #THURSTHREADS next week in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. We’ll see y’all back here in two weeks.
Entries:
- Bill Engleson | @billmelaterplea
- Sheilagh Lee | @SweetSheil
- Silver James | @SilverJames_
- Catherine Verdier | @CatheVerdier
- Siobhan Muir | @SiobhanMuir
- David A. Ludwig | @DavidALudwig
- Mark A. Morris
Honorable Mention
Sheilagh Lee | @SweetSheil
Eric says: Fifty years is a long time, and whole lives can be lived. Visiting those who we knew when we were young doesn’t always involve bringing offspring, but it always involves bringing the baggage of our lives. You can’t go home again, but you can reconnect and move forward.
winner announcement
Week 489 Winner
Eric says: This story does a nice job of transporting us to death row, with its attendant cruelty. Who is Haggerty, and why does he want to die? Who’s the narrator – a guard, a psychologist? There’s more here, and good stories make us want to see what else there is.
“Come in,” I said, offering him a smile. It would be the last one he’d see. He’d been waiting for this day for over a year, refusing any offers of leniency. It was unusual for a killer to choose to die; most the men on the row preferred to linger, hoping their appeals would be granted. And while they were waiting, they’d relish the sport, baiting the relatives of their victims and the police, eking out the remainder of their sentences slipping out half-truths and lies.
Haggerty was a cool one. He’d shown no interest in head games, his behaviour more that of one of the hopefuls who claimed to be innocent. His removal from the general population was a matter of routine, not for their protection.
He was a spent force, it seemed. Either that or there was no one here who could satisfy his requirements.
“You’re very quiet,” I went on. “I’d have thought you’d be happy. I know you’ve just had chicken, fries and a quart of root beer. And a pack of cigarettes too – not that you got the time to finish them.”
But nothing. Not even a glimmer of a reaction. I’d hoped to be able to reach him: break through his barriers to release the rage that compelled him.
I tried again. I pressed the button to open the window of the viewing gallery.
“Well, look at that,” I said. “You’ve got an audience. Maybe word got out that you were dying today.”
~~~~~~~
Congratulations TWENTY-FIVE TIME WINNER Mark, and Honorable Mention Sheilagh! 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! 🙂
