Week 533 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 Kris Norris 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:
- Bill Engleson | @billmelaterplea
- Gora Shade | @AngoraShade
- Joseph P. Garland | @JPGarlandAuthor
- Silver James | @SilverJames_
- Siobhan Muir | @SiobhanMuir
- Mark Ethridge | @mysoulstears
- Eric Martell | @drmag00
- Mark A. Morris
- Sheilagh Lee | @SweetSheil
- David A. Ludwig | @DavidALudwig
- Katheryn J. Avila | @katheryn_avila
- Kelly Heinen | @Aightball
Honorable Mentions
Eric Martell | @drmag00
Kris says: Another good one… a few typos and one sentence was just a bit too run-on… I love long ones but this pulled me out. But great concept. I would have like to have known what kind of monster the character was… otherwise good grammar. Good flow, etc.
Silver James | @SilverJames_
Kris says: Well written. Missing some punctuation but… interesting. Again, doesn’t give that feeling of a complete segment, but I enjoyed it.
winner announcement
Week 533 Winners
Kris says: For Gora Shade: Ohhh, I really liked this one. Great use of the prompt and while obviously just the start of a story, it feels like a complete segment. FYI it’s tsked, without an I… weird but true.
For Mark Ethridge: Okay, nicely done. I really like this one, too. Very thought provoking. Nice full segment (that’s really what impresses me). Well written and good grammar. Nicely done.
From Gora Shade:
“You can’t actually believe this shit?”
Erin glanced sideway at her older brother as she straightened the board and placed the planchette in the middle. “You’re going to back out now?” She tisked through her teeth. “Coward.”
Bernie threw up his hands. “They aren’t real!”
Erin cleared her throat. “Shut up and put your fingers on this thing. We’re gonna talk to ghosts.”
Bernie shook his head, but reluctantly complied. “This is stupid.”
Erin put enough pressure on the planchette to guide it in three counterclockwise circles, as the Ouija directions suggested. She stopped and waited, brow narrowing. This was going to be perfect: the board, candles, incense, and Marty’s plan to jump out and scare the crap out of Bernie! “Oh, dear sprits. Do you hear me?”
Bernie chuckled. She shot him a dirty look, but his smirk remained.
“Are there any spirits who would speak with us?”
Somewhere outside, a wind chime rang, but the room was still. The planchette however, was not.
“You’re moving it,” Bernie said.
Lying. “I’m not.”
The planchette traversed the board, moving in jittery slips to the upper left, where the magnified lens hovered above yes.
“Um…” Bernie began. “Who is it?”
The candle flickered and Marty jumped out from behind the kitchen door in his werewolf mask.
Bernie was white as a sheet. “You assholes!”
Erin gripped her sides in laughter until Marty took off his mask, obviously stunned. “What?” she asked.
Marty’s jaw fell open as he pointed. “It’s still moving.”
From Mark Ethridge:
In the picture it was night, with the moon fighting to break through the clouds, and two black dragons illuminated in its white light. “Dragons.” I looked at my therapist. “They aren’t real. At least, that’s what everyone says.”
She didn’t say anything, instead using her silence to urge me to say what I actually thought.
“What if they’re not physical?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if we can’t see them, can’t touch them, can’t shoot them with our guns, can’t take pictures of them. And despite all that, what if they’re still real.”
“What do you mean?”
“What if they’re like demons, angels, spirits, or ghosts?” I scratched my chin. “What if they are real, but live in other dimensions, or don’t have physical forms, so we can’t prove they exist?”
“Do you believe in demons and dragons?”
“Not really. But I think they are good names for the parts of ourselves that haunt us. The voices in our heads. The nightmares in our sleep. The dark thoughts, the anger, the rage, we all have.”
“But what do you think of those parts of ourselves?”
“Those are real. I think we all have them.” I took a deep breath, “My father told me, the last time I visited him before he died, that there was darkness in me. That it was part of me.”
“And?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we’re both black dragons and white knights. Darkness and light. Maybe in some of us, darkness wins.”
~~~~~~~
Congratulations Eight Time Winner Gora and Fifteen Time Winner Mark, and Honorable Mentions Eric and Silver! Don’t forget to claim your badges and display them with pride. You certainly earned it!
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