Week 708 of #ThursThreads was a success, a remarkable feat for 13 solid years. Thank you to everyone who writes each week. You are why we’re still doing this. I’m truly grateful for all y’all!
If you’ve just found us, welcome to the crew! May you come back again and write more great flash. A thousand thanks to Louisa Bacio for judging this week. Follow Siobhan Muir on Bluesky or check out the #ThursThreads #flashfiction group on Facebook or the #ThursThreads server on Discord to keep up with news, etc.
Entries:
- Bill Engleson
- Silver James
- Siobhan Muir
- David A. Ludwig
Louisa says: Whether there are more than a dozen entries or less than a handful, this judge takes the reading seriously. Thanks to all who participated during this very busy time of year. I finished reading hundreds of end-of-the-semester final papers and enjoyed the flash fiction stimuli.
Mentions
Bill Engleson
Louisa says: We all come with baggage, and Bill slyly reminds the reader of that fact. “I’d lost track of crappy childhood stories.” From the sounds of the “wandering writer,” he’s in for quite a case. It sounds like the start of an entertainment noir.
David A. Ludwig
Louisa says: David’s piece reads more like a script with sharp, quick dialogue that provides a lot of the details. Visible action cuts through the discussion and there’s a threat of danger. The final line hints at further conflict.
winner announcement
Week 708 Winner
Louisa says: Silver weaves a tale of “found family” – an odd assortment that includes a Gargoyle, a Werewolf and Fae. (So far, it doesn’t include a bar.) The pacing of the piece drew me in with its long descriptive paragraphs and the short closure: “He was a selfish bastard so all bets were off.”
Sinjen watched Sade from the window. He knew all her secrets. Her strengths—which were legion. And her weaknesses, fewer than she thought. Smart, brave—sometimes too courageous for her own safety. Caring. Still, she grappled one deep-seated fear and he fought against its entanglement constantly.
Sade would never admit it to anyone and especially to herself, but she’d buttressed herself against that biggest fear—abandonment. He’d known of the human child growing up in Mathias’s household. Mathias was his maker after all. But to think that now, he shared her bed? Her father, a mild man who understood numbers rather than emotions, had no inkling of how do deal with a child. Her mother had used her as a pawn—as had both Mathias and Oberon. Thank the gods Roman had been there. The Gargoyle became her rock—Sinjen almost smiled at the pun—and then Caleb became her guard dog, a role the Werewolf would readily admit. Even the damnable Fae, for all Ariel’s artifices, watched over her in his way.
He considered the words he’d said to those others who, whether they understood or not, were part of her found family. She doesn’t need fixing, she needs to be loved. And he did. Love her. She would age and die. He wouldn’t. Could he say goodbye? Or would he succumb to his own worst fear and become a monster, forcing a change she didn’t want.
He was a selfish bastard so all bets were off.
~~~~~~~
Congratulations EIGHTY-SIX TIME WINNER Silver, and Mentions David and Bill! 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! 🙂
