Week 605 of #ThursThreads was an outpouring of love for a lost colleague, and y’all didn’t disappoint. Thank you to everyone who stopped by and wrote – for your love, for your stories, for your understanding. You make this a special place to be each Thursday, especially this Thursday.
If you’ve just found us, welcome to the crew! May you come back again and write more great flash. A thousand thanks to Patricia Oak for judging this week. Follow Siobhan Muir on Bluesky or check out the #ThursThreads #flashfiction group on Facebook or the #ThursThreads Group on MeWe to keep up with news, etc.
Entries:
- Bill Engleson
- Mark A. Morris
- Eric Martell
- Nellie Batz
- Louisa Bacio
- Siobhan Muir
- Daelyn Morgana
- Miranda Gammella
- Mark Ethridge
- David A. Ludwig
- Teresa M. Eccles
- Richard Eccles
- Kelly Heinen
- Patty Dump
Patricia says: I love judging this contest as much as I dread it. There is always so many great writers that enter I wish I could just pick all as winners. So many told stories that touched the heart and the soul and that is what makes great stories.
Honorable Mentions
Louisa Bacio | Website
Patricia says: This story is the very reason that Ms. Muir does this thread weekly. It has brought a group of people together who probably never would have met and make us a family.
Daelyn Morgana | Website
Patricia says: Another story that spoke to me. I have never been good at saying goodbye to anyone. Even if I prepared to do so. Especially that final goodbye. But reading this story made me realize I just do it my way.
Richard Eccles | Website
Patricia says: I loved dance between Death and the writer. You were just waiting for death to swoop down and take the dancer. Then …..the doctor chases Death away. I love endings like that.
winner announcement
Week 605 Winner
Patricia says: This story is the one that touched every part of me. Just the fact of not walking on graves and the respect that the writer showed to the people who are buried there. But what really did it for me was the line “I hadn’t bothered to “say goodbye or do whatever other people do when people die” describes me perfectly.
For Mary
I walked past the gravestones, trying, as I was taught, not to step on the earth that covered the bodies. I wasn’t sure why it mattered, not really. Those people were dead, some for a few months, some for a century or more, and who knew if there was any of their…soul, for lack of a better word, around to care what happened to their rotting meat sack.
It just seemed respectful, is all. I probably worried too much about that, but all it meant here was watching where I put my feet. Like trying to avoid stepping on the cracks (or you’ll break your mother’s back) on the sidewalk, only with corpses.
Regardless of how one felt about walking through a cemetery, I wasn’t going to step on your body. You’d been cremated and scattered years ago. I hadn’t bothered to “say goodbye” or do whatever other people do when people die. The rest of my family didn’t like that, to put it mildly. I didn’t like them, so I guess that was a tie.
I don’t really know how to say goodbye, when it comes down to it, or even why. Would saying goodbye get rid of the memories?
Whether I want to say goodbye or not, you’re gone, and I’m still here.
I sat down on a tree stump – a grave marker of its own kind – and took out my lunch. It’s quiet here. If I listen closely, maybe you’ll say hello instead of goodbye.
~~~~~~~
Congratulations TWENTY-EIGHT TIME WINNER Eric, and Honorable Mentions Louisa, Daelyn, and Richard! Don’t forget to claim your badges and display them with pride. You certainly earned it!
Pass on the great news on Facebook, MeWe, Bluesky, Mastodon, shiny mirrors, Morse Code, and signal flags. Check out all the original tales HERE. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! 🙂
