Week 641 of #ThursThreads was a success, and y’all never disappoint. Plus, HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025! 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 M.L. Gammella 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
- Richard Gibney
- Miya Kressin
- Siobhan Muir
- Mark A. Morris
- Kelly Heinen
- Silver James
- K.R. Van Horn
- David A. Ludwig
- Sheilagh Lee
- Nellie Batz
- Louisa Bacio
Honorable Mentions
K.R. Van Horn | Website
M.L. says: I was struck by this story – having been dealing with some major grief in the past few years of my life, Van Horns words also ‘hung on me, heavy.’ Grief is funny that way, grief, like poetry doesn’t wait for you. It comes out regardless of whether you are ready or not. Excellent work. A simple story that is completely encompassed in 250 words.
Nellie Batz | Website
M.L. says: I was immediately pulled in and wanted to know Deni’s and her sister’s backstory. What made them strange or different? Why did they have to leave? And their poor grandma having to send them away for their own protection. My mind tickles with all the possibilities of a coming-of-age story for Deni and her sister as they grow into whatever made them special and taking on the world.
Silver James | Website
M.L. says: I think most of us can relate to those moments in our lives when everything seems to be going wrong, when even a simple question can take you completely off the rails making you question everything. And then there’s the one person who helps center you and ground you, even if that same person can also be why you get riled up.
winner announcement
Week 641 Winner
M.L. says: I’m immediately captured by Mark’s opening sentences. I want to know why this person was dispersed to a molecular level, and by the end of his words, I knew. The descriptions of the two men in the story are detailed and succinct. Driven by desire – for whom? Margaret? Tantalizing detail that the reader desires to know more. And the final gotcha in the last paragraph. I chuckled out loud over the scientist’s seemingly innocent question. Well done.
The world softened, pulling him in, molecules dispersing to accept him. One moment he’d been there, rugged and solid.
And the next he was gone, leaving nothing but a memory.
~~~~~~~
“I saw it happening,” Marilyn said, her eyes reddened by tears. “I tried to reach for him, but my hand passed through him, not even disturbing the hair on his head.”
Kent had always been fastidious about his style. He wore suits fashioned by the French and kept his facial hair immaculately trimmed. He’d had a pompadour stacked so high that it would often graze against the top of the door frame when he walked through it, helped in part by the Cuban heels he wore. He was a large man, but he wanted to make a significant impression. He’d not been a mindless thug. He’d been a force of nature.
The scientist was a lesser man. He was balding and wore glasses, his eyes hidden by the thick glass of their lenses. His wardrobe was filled with polyester and nylon, the material hard and scratchy against his skin. It was almost as though he was suffering a penance for misdeeds he’d never spoken of.
But he was a man who’d been driven by desire.
“I can’t understand it,” he said, clutching the quantum disruptor pistol behind his back. “It’s not natural. Do you think it might have been something he ate?”
~~~~~~~
Congratulations FORTY-ONE TIME WINNER Mark, and Honorable Mentions K.R., Nellie, and Silver! 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! 🙂
