Week 646 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 more than 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:
- Mark Ethridge
- Bill Engleson
- Siobhan Muir
- Silver James
- David A. Ludwig
- Alex Minns
- Nellie Batz
- K.R. Van Horn
- Kelly Heinen
Honorable Mentions
Silver James | Website
M.L. says: The final words of James’ entry “Those words never boded well” stuck with me and this entire story. The visuals of the coffee shop, the sounds of the song, the tallness of Lara’s visitor all paint a snapshot of this WIP that draws you in. It begs questions about who Misha is, how he knows Lara, why she was lying to him, and what he wants to talk about. This snippet of a larger work of James’ is perfect. The reader doesn’t need to know what happened before to understand what is going on in just this one scene, but it ensnares the reader to want to keep reading. Well done.
Alex Minns | Website
M.L. says: Oh my heart was clenched through most of this story over the missing woman. Clearly something serious was going on if there were multiple people the MC and his friend were confirming were safe. And then she was finally found, having just taken the long way home. Maybe that’s what saved her the entire time. The relief from the MC was clear, but also begged the question, what were they fighting about and was this a common occurrence?
winner announcement
Week 646 Winner
M.L. says: Another story whose final words grab you and don’t let go. This was the shortest story of all the entries, but every word was impactful. What was their destination? Why were they invading? Who was the narrator to the woman? Great use of the prompt here, instead of physically taking the long way home, Ludwig alludes to an emotional journey on the part of the woman in the story, culminating in the last leg of the physical journey home
I joined her at the bow. Sailing into an adversarial wind, her hair flowed like darkness itself out behind her. She was quiet. Even for her.
I joined her in silently studying a horizon that she had seen untold times before. I could ask her thoughts. Anyone else, I would simply read them. Instead, I waited.
“I took the long way home,” she observed.
I needed to play this carefully.
“Why do you suppose you did that?”
The air was heavy with considered silence.
“I don’t think I was ready to do what must be done.”
“And are you now?”
“I have to be.”
“We could turn back. Call it off.”
“Going through with it is the least bad choice I have.”
She turned with a world-weary sigh, our invasion fleet stretched out behind us.
~~~~~~~
Congratulations TWENTY-SEVEN TIME WINNER David, and Honorable Mentions Silver and Alex! 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! 🙂
