Thursday, October 24, 2013

#ThursThreads - The Challenge That Ties Tales Together - Week 93


Welcome back to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked. Wow, this is the 501st post on my blog. WOW. We should do something to celebrate. And it's Thursday again today, so what should you be doing? Writing #FlashFiction, that's what! Welcome to Week 93 of #ThursThreads, the challenge that ties tales together. Need the rules? Read on!

Here's how it works:
  • The prompt is a line from the previous week's winning tale.
  • The prompt can appear ANYWHERE in your story and is included in your word count.
Rules to the Game:
  • This is a Flash Fiction challenge, which means your story must be a minimum of 100 words, maximum of 250.
  • Incorporate the prompt anywhere into your story (included in your word count).
  • Post your story in the comments section of this post
  • Include your word count (or be excluded from judging)
  • Include your Twitter handle or email (so we know how to find you)
  • The challenge is open 7 AM to 7 PM Pacific Time
  • The winner will be announced on Friday, depending on how early the judge gets up.
How it benefits you:
  • You get a nifty cool badge to display on your blog or site (because we're all about promotion - you know you are!)
  • You get instant recognition of your writing prowess on this blog!
  • Your writing colleagues shall announce and proclaim your greatness on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus

Our Judge for Week 93:

Beta Reader, Collaborative Editor, Designer, Marketer, Veronica Jorden.



In honor of the 501st blog post, I'm giving away a $5.00 Amazon giftcard to the Winner.

And now your #ThursThreads Challenge, tying tales together.

The Prompt:

“It’s beautiful, but it’s flawed.”

All stories written herein are the property (both intellectual and physical) of the authors. Now, away with you, Flash Fiction Fanatics, and show us your #ThursThreads. Good luck!

10 comments:

  1. “It’s beautiful, but it’s flawed,” the man claimed staring at the figure.
    “Isn’t everything that matters flawed?” the woman asked.
    “Meredith there are things as angels we are expected to do.”
    “You expect me to extinguish a new life?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why can’t we let this one go?” Meredith pleaded, “I’ve kept it in stasis.”
    “Meredith, you know what happens to those who flout me. There’s danger from his kind.”
    “His kind? There is a name for him,” Meredith protested.
    “Meredith, fixing a name to his kind makes him seem more like us. Now can I trust you’ll end this?”
    “Fine.”

    Michael then left. The subjects’ brown eyes opened, meeting Meredith’s.

    “Hello, Merry.”
    “It’s time Adam. You must stay safe.”

    Merry then flew him to the ground.

    “Why?” asked Adam.
    “God made you in his own image therefore you are meant to be. Enjoy the garden.”
    “I love you.”
    “You’ll love another called Eve. Now remember don’t eat of the red fruit on the trees or the garden will disappear,” Meredith commanded then disappeared.

    Eve appeared her hair long brown hair covering her nakedness. Adam smiled at her and drank in her appearance. Eve walked away. Adam caught up and offered her an apple from the tree. She refused. He bit it first and then placed it at her lips. Eve bit and the two came together with this aphrodisiac. The garden disappeared. The two had to fend for themselves, as it was meant to be, in God’s own image.
    249 words
    @SweetSheil

    ReplyDelete
  2. The jeweler hesitated to place the ring on the glass countertop. Nikos Constantine, his gaze darkening as displeasure tugged one eyebrow into an arch, waited. The man caved, clumsy in the way he dropped the velvet ring mount. He backed up, one shoulder lifted in an attempt to ward off any blow the dragon enforcer might deliver.

    With a delicacy belied by the strength of his hands, Nikos held the diamond to the light. A lasered pinpoint of green blazed and ebbed as the stone’s facets captured the light and held it prisoner. He stared deeply into the center of the stone, unable to believe what he saw. The flaw appeared heart-shaped, like a tiny emerald caught in the flash and sparkle of the diamond—an emerald the exact color of Sade’s eyes. The dragon had to own this jewel no matter the cost.

    “It’s beautiful, but it’s flawed.”

    So is she, Nikos thought, and wanted it even more. “I’ll take it with me.”

    “Don’t you want to know the price?”

    “Price is irrelevant.”

    Stavros appeared at his side as the jeweler disappeared into the office to write up the bill. “She won’t accept it, Drakon.”

    “She will when I tell her its name.”

    “She will only rip the Dragon’s Heart into pieces, Nikos.” He was braced for the clawed hand that gripped his throat.

    “She is mine.” Nikos refused to acknowledge otherwise.

    “She is human.”

    Nikos released his watch dragon. “Yes. And that makes her a treasure. My treasure.”

    -----

    250 words from a far future WIP

    @SilverJames_

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tiny, teeny, micro, early, premature; these are the words they toss around today. Son, fourth child, grandson, nephew; these are the words we use today. Percentages, medical terminology, these words fly around us in a swirl of words we don’t understand. Fifty percent, they say today. That’s up from his first day of life. Then, it was fifteen percent.
    It’s beautiful but it’s flawed. Not an it. My son. My son is beautiful and I don’t see the flaws.

    Colin is his name. Colin Christopher. He was so eager to see his mommy and daddy and three older sisters that he came twenty three weeks early. He was so small she fit in the palm of my hand. He didn’t cry, didn’t move, just lied there, still, engulfed in tubes and wires.

    Beautiful but flawed.

    My wife…she almost died in childbirth. The pregnancy was a surprise and very difficult. I wasn’t home when she went into labor. My oldest called a neighbor for help; my youngest daughter dialed 911. If not for them we might’ve lost my wife. But she made it through.

    I looked at Colin as he sat in his wheelchair, a grin on his face, waiting for the school bus. He smiled, waving his arm in the air. He’s more excited about the first day of school than me. My wife walked him to the bus, ready for his first adventure. Still flawed, but always beautiful.

    @Aightball
    239 words

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  4. "Talk or get out."

    Drake sighed. “Very well.” He bit his lip, one canine compressing the full flesh and teasing her with its beauty. Focus on him, not his lovely fangs.

    “I’m sure you’ve heard the stories told of Vlad Tepes, the Romanian Prince who went insane for the love of his wife and eventually evolved into Vlad Drakul, the most hated vampire of all time.”

    “I know the tale.”

    “Yes, Bram Stoker had a field day with it. What is lesser known about Vlad is what he did after that horrendous story.” Drake turned his gaze out the window to watch the retreating police cars. “He went into hiding and tried to repent for his evil deeds, making reparations everywhere he could. His father had founded the knightly Order of the Dragon and Vlad’s heinous crimes had defiled its sanctity. Vlad went into hiding, trying to live small and quiet.”

    Aliandra connected the dots. “How small and quiet?”

    “Quiet enough to move to a little town in Michigan to start over.”

    “You’re Vlad Drakul? The model for Bram Stoker’s Dracula?”

    Drake grimaced. “Yes, and I must restore the sanctity of the Order by either making reparations to the order’s founder—”

    “Who’s dead.”

    Drake nodded. “Or sacrifice myself for a dragon.”

    Aliandra raised an eyebrow. “What kind of sacrifice?”

    “It didn’t say.” He shook his head. “But that’s what’s wrong with my love for you. It’s beautiful, but it’s flawed, and I don’t wish to defile you as well.”

    250 ineligible words from WIP Order of the Dragon
    @SiobhanMuir

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  5. Her heart was beating so fast. It had been months since the last time, but she was sure she was ready.

    She had bought a gorgeous satin nightgown, especially for tonight. It was a little more than she would usually be willing to pay, and a little shorter and tighter than she would usually be willing to wear, but she had a feeling it would be worth it.

    She heard his car pull into the drive, his footsteps up the pavement, the key turn in the lock. Her heart raced again. Could she do this? Before she could change her mind, the bedroom door opened, and her husbands mouth dropped.

    'You look amazing, let me see you fully'.

    She dropped the straps of her gown over her shoulders, slid them down her arms, until it pooled at her feet.

    'Wow, such a picture, it's beautiful'.

    She smiled, and took hold of her post-baby tummy.

    'It's beautiful, but it's flawed'.

    'No my love', he said, taking hold of her hands, 'just beautiful'.

    Dee Little
    172 words
    lovebooksblogbooks@gmail.com

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  6. The kid looked at his hand, and watched the blood leak from it. I’d tried to warn him, but he hadn’t listened. This was Earth. The world of the humans. Where even the flowers were violent, and dangerous.

    I laughed. “Careful, boy.” I pulled a strip of medical tape out of my pocket, and wrapped it around his finger.

    “What happened?”

    “The humans have a song. Says every rose has its thorn.” I carefully reached into the rosebush, and pulled the stem out into the open. “The song doesn’t lie.” He could see the stem, and the thorns spaced randomly around it. “This is a rose, kid.” I cut the stem, and pulled the rose bloom free, handing it to him.

    He studied it. “It’s stunning.”

    “Yeah. It is.” I sighed. “Every bit as beautiful as anything in the City of Gold.”

    He nodded his head. “Look at the way it’s petals all wind together.” He ran his fingertips across the petals of the rosebud. “They feel like velvet, or silk.”

    “They are one of Joshua’s most exquisite creations.”

    The kid stared at it. “And yet, it’s filled with thorns.” The kid shook his head. “How? How can this be?”

    “This is Earth. Where Lucien and the fallen live.” I looked up at the moon in the star filled sky. “Perhaps Joshua’s greatest creation.” I took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. “It’s beautiful. But it’s flawed. It’s why Joshua trapped Lucien and the fallen here. On Earth.”

    250 Words
    @LurchMunster

    ReplyDelete
  7. INSTITUTE OF REFORM

    Sterile light from the white hallway briefly illuminated the dark space as the stout warden ushered the severe lady inside, only to again be snuffed by the closing of the heavy door. Both women approached the dim observation window across from the door.

    “It has been nine years, Melisant. You have good news for moi?”

    Lady Martel drummed her boney fingertips together as she peered into the one-way glass. Though grey haired and weathered, the dowager was unbowed by age.

    “It’s beautiful, but it’s flawed.”

    The shorter more rotund Warden Melisant crossed her thick arms with her hands in her armpits. Her scowl was deeper than usual as she kept her gaze near the floor.

    “Do tell.”

    The stately dressed old woman pressed a dark gloved hand against the glass with a predatory smile. A girl with ash brown curls was huddled in a corner of the room below, silently sucking her thumb.

    “We were able to chemically arrest its growth, but lost the right eye to complications before managing to stabilize the reaction. This has had predictable impacts on its vision, though its balance and immune system also seem to have been compromised. We were successful in augmenting its other senses, and heightening its ability to recover from physical trauma.

    With your authorization, we could prepare a fully functional model without the flaws of this first attempt.”

    “No, I believe we are ready for full production. As for the flaws, they will only better serve this one’s purpose.”


    249 words
    @DavidALudwig

    ReplyDelete
  8. Robin settled herself on the cement steps of the library, leaning against the railing. The full moon shone down, causing the sidewalk to glow in the light. The markings on her wrists itched and Robin absently scratched at them, glancing over her shoulder. She didn’t know how long the vampire was going to be but Robin had things to do.

    Mischief to plan.

    “Well, well. Robin Goodfellow. Caught in the trap of your own making.”

    Robin’s eyes narrowed before turning her head towards the cultured voice holding the right amount of snobbery and privilege. Pale blonde hair that looked almost white under the moon gleamed and the shadows cast made the sidhe’s eyes look hollow as he stared down at her from where he stood on the railing.

    “I didn’t expect you to show up. Slumming it or lose a bet? Last I knew, you said that the human world was beneath you.”

    “It is, but I’m supposed to give you a present for your Queen.” He tossed her a pouch.

    Whatever was inside was solid. Robin gave him a cautious look, opening it up. Tthe large gem fell into her hand. She held it up to the moon to see the flickers of light gleam and throw prisms on the ground.

    “It’s beautiful, but it’s flawed.”

    “She wants you to fix it. I figured you were flawed as well so it’s a perfect match.” He chuckled and turned away from her.

    She glared where he had been standing. Dick.


    250 words
    @solimond

    ReplyDelete
  9. #ThursThreads is now CLOSED. Thanks to everyone who wrote this week and I hope to see you next week. Good luck in the challenge. :)

    ReplyDelete

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