Week 724 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 Eric Martell for judging this week. Follow Siobhan Muir on Bluesky or check out the #ThursThreads #flashfiction group on Facebook or the #ThursThreads group on Discord to keep up with news, etc.
Entries:
- Bill Engleson
- Siobhan Muir
- Silver James
- David A. Ludwig
Mentions
Silver James
Eric says: The line about “Bestow her most tender mercies upon” was perfect. Who knew that ravens had such a way with words?
David A. Ludwig
Eric says: A bunch of devils fusing into a single, fighting mass is a terrifying image. That same group of devils turning into some sort of machine? Shudder.
Siobhan Muir
Eric says: Makes you want to know about the blessing that Kate gave, and you can feel the warmth from the tea and smell the cookies and know that it’s just that cozy and dark time at the end of the year.
winner announcement
Week 724 Winner
Eric says: A kind of fun take on the “Mr. Play it Safe” verse from Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic,” with a darker angle. Leroy needs to be right so much, he wants the plane to crash. Made me think about how we get trapped by our fears, even to our own detriment.
Flight of Antsy
Leroy Lemster had never flown. While billions of people had been flying off to vacation paradises, distant locales, he had always grounded himself.
When asked, he told the unvarnished truth. “When I was twelve, I went to see a Jimmy Stewart movie. The FBI Story. After ten minutes, I walked out.”
As most people hadn’t ever seen the film, or not really remembered it, they usually had to ask, “Why?”
Leroy would then tell them. “A plane is blown up in the sky. All those people killed by a mother murderer…for the insurance.”
And there it was, and because of that cinematically traumatic childhood experience, Leroy had never flown.
But now, Muriel, his hard done, put-upon wife of forty-five years had laid the law down.
“I’ve had a lifetime of this stupidity, Leroy. Here they are. The tickets. Two tickets to fly to Hawaii. No more boats. We are going to fly. We’re going to march right down to the airport, stand in line, get all checked in, get to the plane where we’ll get right on it, find our seats, sit down, buckle up and fly to Honolulu. Where we will have a great time.”
Leroy had never seen Muriel so insistent. He could feel his rubbery knees buckle onto their thirty-year-old shag carpet.
Maybe it was time, he thought.
He’d had a good life.
The children were well-off.
And when the plane did crash, he would be vindicated.
That would be almost worth dying.
~~~~~~~
Congratulations FIFTY-ONE TIME WINNER Bill! Don’t forget to claim your badge and display it with pride. You certainly earned it!
Pass on the great news on Facebook, Bluesky, Mastodon, shiny mirrors, Morse Code, and signal flags. Check out all the original tales HERE. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! 🙂
