Week 626 of #ThursThreads was a success, and y’all never disappoint. Thank you to everyone who writes each week. You are why we’re still doing this, and why we’ve made it 12 YEARS!
If you’ve just found us, welcome to the crew! May you come back again and write more great flash. A thousand thanks to Mark Ethridge 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
- Siobhan Muir
- Joe Hesch
- Silver James
- Patricia Dump
- Eric Martell
- David A. Ludwig
Honorable Mention
Joe Hesch | Website
Mark says: I love the dialog of this piece.
winner announcement
Week 626 Winner
Mark says: Because. It could happen. A totally dystopian view of the future.
I pointed at the sign above the bathroom door. “Men Only – This Means You!” it read, blocky black font on a white background. A custodian was adding a second below it. “Whites Only,” this one said.
“It wasn’t like that when I was your age, Jacob.” Some days it didn’t seem like all that long since I’d been his age, riding around with my mothers in their electric car as we drove to the polls to vote for the woman with ancestors from two continents who was elected President on a third.
“What wasn’t, Pop-pop?” The kid had never known anything different, of course. Nor should he have. The history I remembered wasn’t taught in schools, not the private schools the rich kids went to and sure as hell not the Job Training Center Jacob had attended starting at age three.
I looked at the signs again and thought of the Riots of ‘24 and the Second Civil war, then the Second Constitutional Convention in ‘37. I saw the eyes of the custodian track to me when I spoke, and I thought of the New Pledge. I thought of how 13 becomes 61, but how 61 forgets 13. I thought of my mothers in their unmarked graves. I thought of rough beasts and grandfathers and grandsons.
“Nothing,” I finally said. “Just my back acting up.”
“Okay, Pop-pop.”
We turned towards home, but I couldn’t resist a look back at the signs.
“Say, Jacob. You guys learn about poetry in school?”
~~~~~~~
Congratulations THIRTY-TWO TIME WINNER Eric, and Honorable Mention David! Don’t forget to claim your badges and display them with pride.
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! 🙂
