#ThursThreads - Week 24 - Winners

Week 24 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. Great thanks also goes to judge Claire Gillian for reading all the tales.

Entries:

• Nicole Wolverton | @nicolewolverton
• Angelica Dawson | @AngelicaDawson
• Rafe B. | @etcet
• Eli M. Clark | @EliMClark
• Afsaneh K. | @Afsaneh_Dreams
• Sheilagh Lee | @SweetSheil
• Aylah | @Aylah50
• Jeffrey Hollar | @Klingorengi
• Robert Mahone | @Computilizer
• Siobhan Muir | @SiobhanMuir
• Dee | @Dee_768
• @Phoenixlavan
• Charles W Jones | @ChuckWesJ
• Goran Zidar | @GZidar 
• Nellie Batz | @solimond
• Jalisa Blackman | @J_M_Blackman
• Mark Ethridge | @LurchMunster
• Anthony Angeline | @unfoldingmyth
• Aurora Lee | @AuroraLee

Winners Announcement:

Honorable Mentions

Anthony Angeline | @unfoldingmyth

  Claire says: This was a very close second place for me. I liked the ending with Spring being the narrator’s fresh start on his own life making a critical life choice with his head and not his heart. I liked the use of a bumblebee as the maker of the wing whirring noise, the prompt line and how nicely it fit in with the story, not just as background noise, but possibly symbolic of a man seeking the right relationship too.

Eli M. Clark | @EliMClark

Claire says: Crisp, clear narration in what sounds like a cool YA story. I got a little caught up in the Griffith vs. Griffin vs. Gryphon in my head, but I knew what the author meant so it didn’t detract from the tension in the story. The cliffhanger ending was pretty cool too.

Jalisa Blackman | @J_M_Blackman

Claire says: I really enjoyed the writing in this one, and who doesn’t love a bad ass female playing the stereotypical male role of grizzled warrior only with a Valkyrie flavor.

Aylah | @Aylah50

Claire says: OK huge personal bias with this one because it’s incredibly reminiscent of my NPR round 8 submission that’s on my blog right now, only in my story, the man texted his lover and ended it right before they were to run off together. So…I’m already a sucker for a tale of illicit love come to a bittersweet ending with one wanting the split and the other barely cloaking his devastation with a deadly calm manner.

Week 24 Winner

Dee | @Dee_768

  Claire says: I loved this one because the focus was on this old leaf she found, something so irrelevant to a reader now but incredibly important to this girl and the world in which she lived. That world was vividly portrayed for me in just a few sentences. I even loved the sentence about her wanting to be noticed, that passionate sense of hope. The prompt was ancillary to the story but the trigger for the tragic ending. I read this one and it really scored with me and stuck with me as the day wore on.

Huddled, Jessa reached for the leaf, easing it from the rusty old fence. Brown and sere, it could crumble to dust in her hand if she weren't careful.

How could she get it back to the Colony intact? Her pack was filled to bursting with the precious cargo she'd traveled so far to find. But the leaf, if indeed that's what it was, could be even more precious. She had to get it back to the Leader. He'd know if it was a remnant of the Before or if it meant life was returning to the planet.

It might make him notice her.

Her heart bounced, then steadied. Not likely. Her sigh was invisible in the moaning wind as she resumed her trudge, gentle fingers curved to shield the leaf.

Always watching, ever listening, she sniffed the acrid air, seeking a first sense of the Colony. The ruined road would lead her there, she knew, and she prayed to the None to bring her home tonight, before full dark made traveling too dangerous.

The whir of wings broke the silence, and Jessa dropped to the ground, just one more rock in the rubble. Only her eyes moved as she squinted to discern. Was it a Ravager's raptor or a dove from the Colony? Had it seen her?

The bird landed nearby, and she sighed in relief. Gathering herself, she rose to finish the journey. She looked for the leaf. Crushed brown fragments blew away on the breeze.

Congratulations Dee, Anthony, Eli, Jalisa, and Aylah! 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. :)