Week 675 of #ThursThreads was a small showing, but 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 almost 13 YEARS! Are y’all ready for the 13th Anniversary next week?
If you’ve just found us, welcome to the crew! May you come back again and write more great flash. A thousand thanks to Silver James 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 Ethridge
- David A. Ludwig
- Siobhan Muir
- Sheilagh Lee
Silver says: What an eclectic bunch of tales this week. Talk about being all over the map! Y’all are impressively imaginative. I read to be entertained and you writers certainly provided that. Decisions, decisions. I vote everyone gets an honorable mention but David. He gets the win this week.
Mentions
Bill Engleson | Website
Silver says: This little treatise made me smile like the scurry of squirrels who live in my trees, and I’ve shared my life with indoor cats and a few outdoor cats who come and go on their whim. A fun, interesting piece that made me happy.
Mark Ethridge | Website
Silver says: Uhm…uh…wow. Magic, machines, and men. What an intriguing tale. Sad and vindictive. And I LIKED it!
Siobhan Muir | Website
Silver says: A sweet moment after what could have been a disaster. Glad there was a HEA because I’m all about the happy.
Sheilagh Lee | Website
Silver says: Well, okay then. Anna certainly puts the digger in the gold part. That was an interesting twist and one I didn’t see coming.
winner announcement
Week 675 Winner
Silver says: Replicants! And bug queens! Villains and heroes and that last line FTW! How many Helens and how many Gemini’s does it take to… You fill in the blank, because I’m still mulling the possibilities.
The Helen Harpers who weren’t fully occupied keeping parasitic insects from entering their heads had already succumbed and turned on the rest of her. One supervillain under her belt and she thought she could handle the one who disappeared the superhero Gemini? Stupid.
“This could all go much easier if you stopped resisting.”
The humanoid bug queen taunted Helen. The way Helen’s duplicates screamed as they were taken over, Helen was not looking forward to reintegrating them and their memories. But she couldn’t just leave a dozen of herself out there. Right?
An explosion on the overlook interrupted the battle between the Helens and the bugs below. All turned to see a missile speed into the bug queen’s torso. The explosion sent her skidding. Even before she came to a stop, all the insects and controlled copies fell limply to the ground.
Gemini stood on the overlook, reloading a shoulder-mounted launcher. That was too simple. Also, if that one wasn’t Helen and wasn’t the superhero… Did her supervillain double just save her?
“You have ten seconds to get clear with any duplicates you want to save!” Supervillain Gemini called down. “After that I’m going scorched earth!”
Helen exchanged a glance with her three duplicates still standing. She raised a hand between her and Gemini while backing toward the unconscious bug queen.
“Wait! We can take her in! Maybe help her! We don’t have to kill her!”
Gemini hefted her launcher back to her shoulder.
“You forget, I’m no hero.”
~~~~~~~
Congratulations THIRTY-THREE TIME WINNER David, and all the Mentions Bill, Mark, and Sheilagh!
Next week is our 13th Anniversary, and that means new badges and banners.
Pass on the great news on Facebook, MeWe, Bluesky, Mastodon, shiny mirrors, Morse Code, signal flags, heck, even carrier pigeons. Check out all the original tales HERE. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! 🙂
