#ThursThreads - Week 20 - Winners

Week 20 of #ThursThreads had some great tales! Thanks to all who entered this week. I'm honored to see all of you and read your stories. And it was great to have some new "faces" join us along with our returning regulars. Huge thank you to judge Emerald for reading through all of them.

Entries:

• Angelica Dawson | @AngelicaDawson 
• Toni Wyatt | @Toni1777
• Ryan Strohman | @rastrohman
• Wakefield Mahon | @WakefieldMahon
• David A Ludwig | @DavidALudwig
• Mark Ethridge | @LurchMunster
• Jeffrey Hollar | @Klingorengi
• Charles W Jones | @ChuckWesJ
• Nancy Porter | @ModernBard1024
• Revo Boulanger | @RevoBoulanger
• Goran Zidar | @GZidar
• Rebecca Kovar | @RRKovar
• Siobhan Muir | @SiobhanMuir
• Tom Keller | @dryadsgarden
• Cara Michaels | @caramichaels
• Greg Nance | @acenance
• Nellie Batz | @Solimond
• @LupusAnthropos
• Aurora Lee | @AuroraLee
• Jalisa Blackman | @J_M_Blackman
• @Phoenixlavan
• Jeff Tsuruoka | @JTsuruoka

Emerald says: It was extraordinary to have the opportunity to read and consider the entries from this week's Thursday Threads. Truly. I have tended to find flash fiction challenging, so all these authors offering these beautiful pieces as though it were easy was a delight and inspiration to me! I was dazzled, really. It was obvious everyone who entered this week knows how to write. It was equally obvious to me, therefore, that these pieces would likely all resonate with various audiences.

I also want to mention, because it was so noticeable as I was reading—in every single one of these pieces, there was something that struck me. An image, a phrase, a twist. Something in all of them caught my attention particularly, making me smile, or almost cry, or breathe a bit differently.

To all of the authors who created and offered something here this week, thank you. It was an honor to read your work. Thank you, Siobhan, for offering me the lovely opportunity to act as judge today.

Winners Announcement:

Honorable Mentions

Goran Zidar | @GZidar

Emerald says: The final lines of this took my breath away. To me the piece built with a steady, economical use of words that conveyed what needed to be conveyed, nothing more, and then the simple, profound finality of the father's words closed it with perfect neatness. Beautiful.

Mark Ethridge | @LurchMunster

Emerald says: This piece juxtaposed, for me, striking images (huge castles, the squareness of the walkways) with an intriguing premise. The intrigue was even layered—I was interested in the narrator's response to holding Rose's hand in the first paragraph, and then by the description of the place where they were, and then by the narrator's dialogue. Then the last line provided even an unforeseen increase in the suspense, making for a simultaneous climax and finality that left me captivated. Very impressive for so few words!

Toni Wyatt | @Toni1777

Emerald says: The description here drew me in right away and kept my attention on alert. I found the image of the ravine and the idea of its being there with so many other unknown vehicles stark—and then the final section both surprised and struck me. Nicely done.

Week 20 Winner

Rebecca Kovar | @RRKovar

Emerald says: The tone and imagery here somehow worked together to seem virtually flawless to me. What the author managed to convey in so few words about where she was, the allusion to why, what it looked like, that she was an artist, what she made, and what for—all with such gentleness and beauty—blew me away. I was doubly struck by the last line, which surprised me because I was already so enthralled. I found this piece exquisite.

Memorial

Mae stepped off the road and onto a barely discernible path of weedy groundcover edged by tough grasses and wild strawberries. They were no good for eating, which suited her just fine. After six weeks restoring the first bit of the family farm to some functionality, Mae needed a reminder of why she’d once loved the old place.

She turned the corner and came to her favorite place. Vines climbed over and through the wrecks of old machinery, covered stacks of rusted blades and bits of wood torn from buildings that had fallen years ago, snaked their way to the top of the heap, then bloomed entwined with rolls of barbed wire.

Grandpa Jack had loved the chaotic heap. Mae’s father considered it garbage. Mae had seen art waiting to be created from found objects with bits of memory attached. Even now, with the bulldozer pushing last of the decrepit outbuildings into a pit, she could not bring herself to destroy this little pile of history.

She pulled out a piece of barn board and wiped off the dirt, then freed a bit of rusted metal. Fifteen minutes later, she had a very basic block carving. This one would not be used to make prints for her next show. With wire snips, she twisted a bit of barbed wire, then hung it on the tree that had somehow managed to survive being surrounded by decay. It was a much better monument than a cold stone in a manicured cemetery.

Congratulations Rebecca, Goran, Mark, andToni! Claim your badges and display them with pride. You certainly earned it! :)

Pass on the great news on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, shiny mirrors, Morse Code, and signal flags. Check out all the stories here and I hope to see you all back next week for #ThursThreads. :)