Welcome back to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked for the Month of Love Themed Challenge. It's Thursday today, so what should you be doing? Writing #FlashFiction, that's what, and writing it to the theme of All Forms of Love (M/M, F/F, multiple partners, BDSM, etc). This doesn't necessarily mean sex, but it does need to show love in some form. Welcome to Week 108 of #ThursThreads, the challenge that ties tales together. Need the usual 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 108:
Pet rescuer, travel enthusiast, and erotic romance author, Kate Richards.
And now your #ThursThreads Challenge, tying tales together.
“There’s a better way.”
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.
And just because we love them, here is a Judge's Badge for our lovely and talented judges this month.
“There’s a better way.”
ReplyDeleteThere is always a better way. And someday I will learn how to show it to people in the way it was shown to me, in a way that doesn’t leave them feeling resentful.
I didn't want to cook dinner.
I hated making meatloaf.
It wasn't that I didn't like to cook: I did. It was just that there were things that the teenaged me would rather have been doing instead of being up to my wrists squishing raw hamburger, bread, and eggs into a cohesive mass.
“Yours always tastes better than mine,” I protested to my grandfather in a ploy to get him to do it. It wasn’t a lie: even though I had learned from watching him make it his meatloaf was better than mine.
The ploy failed.
“Let’s see what you’re doing that’s different,” he replied.
Well, at least I wouldn't be stuck in the kitchen by myself. And my paternal grandfather was my favorite person in the universe.
Still, I didn't want to make meatloaf.
Ground beef in a bowl, salt and pepper added, eggs added, I started tearing bread into chunks and dropping them into the bowl, all under his watchful eye.
“It’s the way you’re tearing the bread,” he said, reaching out and taking it from me. Strong gentle fingers broke the bread into pieces. “You have to do it with love.”
There is always a better way.
And it is always done with love.
(245 words)
Such a sweet story. Heartwarming and real.
DeleteLovely. And loving.
DeleteThis is so cute! And I can so relate to having better things to do than cook and I was a teen a long time ago. x
DeleteWhat a tender an unexpected approach to the prompt. So nice.
DeleteAll ready! Can't wait to see what everyone writes today
ReplyDeleteThe door opened and shut behind her, and Lily froze. A man's heavy sigh made her insides tighten in anticipation, as his all too familiar scent enveloped her.
ReplyDeleteShit, shit, shit.
She'd done it now. Her brattiness had landed her in trouble often enough, but not once had it warranted the intervention of Master Jonas—until now.
She swallowed past the lump of apprehension in her throat as his booted feet appeared in her vision. His ever present riding crop tapped against his leg in an even, controlled staccato, that sent her heart beat into overdrive.
Everyone knew the more annoyed Master Jonas was the slower the taps of that crop against his legs, and that swish seemed to almost slow to a crawl the longer he stood silently watching her.
Another sigh made her blink, and she bit her lip to stop her moan of delight when he ran the end of his crop over her nipples, and up and down her collarbone, and then used it to raise her chin.
The disapproval in his dark eyes cut her to the quick, and she blinked as her eyes filled with tears. Master Jonas could reduce any submissive to tears with just one look, let alone Lily.
His expression softened slightly, as he held her gaze and swiped her silent tears away with his fingers.
"There's a better way to get my attention, pet."
"I know, Sir. I'm sorry, but I was jealous."
"Silly, girl, you know I'm yours."
249 words
@mamaD8
Fabulous tension. x
DeleteThere’s a better way
ReplyDeleteWithout flowers and candy
To tell me that you care
To tell me you love me
Or don’t you dare?
Show me your emotions
Ask me about my day
Take me in your arms
Out of the blue
For I want no one but you
I don’t need jewelry or money
I need you to let me know
All will be okay
That you’re there
Beside me, to offer solace
When all I want to do is cry
I need you to love me
And not ask why
But let me take you in my arms
And share my happiness
That you are mine
And I am yours
112 words
@SweetSheil
So true! beautifully written. x
Delete“I can’t marry Alexander. I don’t love him.”Stasia stated.
ReplyDelete“It’s your duty.”
“It’s always duty. Did I ask to be born a Grand Duchess?”
“Nor, did I ask to be a pauper who has no choice but to slave and obey,” muttered Georgina.
“What is the difference between us?”
“It’s always money, my lady,” Georgina answered.
“But do we not look alike? Are we not sisters, you on the wrong side of the blanket?”
“Yes.”
“There’s a better way for both of us. I shall run away and marry my true love Viktor and you shall marry Alexander in six months as me.”
.“But how am I to be you?”
“We will practice every day and next week I will flee and you will remain as me.”
“You do love him? Don’t you?”
“I do but I am not worthy of him.”
“You have the blood of the Nikolaevna. You are worthy,” insisted Stasia.
“I agree.”
The next week they practiced and Georgina fooled a number of servants pretending to be Stasia. The time came and Anastasia snuck out to marry Viktor and Georgiana became Anastasia. Georgina and Anastasia’s entire family were massacred six months later. Anastasia felt guilty and scared.She never admitted to anyone except Viktor that she had once been Anastasia Nikolaevna, grand duchess of Russia.
218 words
@SweetSheil
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia was seventeen when she was murdered along with her family but their are plenty of rumours that she survived, this is all fiction on my part.
Such an awful thing to have happened to that family. Apparently, the daughters had jewels stuffed down their gowns and the bullets never killed them so they were bayoneted to death. Great dialogue btw lol. x
Delete“There’s a better way than doing what is expected of you. Those who matter will love you all the same.”
ReplyDeleteWhispered words from her new lover in the depths of a startling and truth revealing night—but did she believe such nonsense? No, not really, it was simply semantics that didn’t touch the deepest parts of her that needed the comfort. She ached with fulfilled pleasure, and ached even more with the guilt of finding it.
Yet…. God she wanted to believe all would be well. That following this avenue would satisfy those deepest longings that’d haunted her life. That those who mattered really would love her all the same. The world judged—at least her part of it did. Judged harshly and without understanding. Judged with the blind and ravenous glee of hypocrisy.
“We deserve to be happy.” Her lover stroked the hair from her face with gentle fingertips. “We’re adults, so what if we share the same gender?”
Her figure looked soft and inviting beneath the silver beams of moonlight that streamed through the window. A body of mountains and valleys to get lost within—so much unlike the hardened planes of a man—for a moment she wondered how she ever found passion with the latter.
Tomorrow would dawn and she’d walk into its light a different woman. Someone who’d faced what she’d buried deep inside and hoped to never see. She smiled, regardless of the world, she’d found honesty and true happiness.
246 words
@OliviaStarke
powerful, emotive stuff written beautifully. x
DeleteA shadow fell over the table, further darkening the melted chocolate in my aluminum bowl. When a finger reached to scrape a dollop of shining sweet goodness she slapped it away, then looked up to an expression of mock hurt.
ReplyDeleteJim momentarily sucked in the injured finger, then pointed at her. “What was that for?”
I dropped another marshmallow into the bowl, turning it to completely enrobe the fluffy white. “Can’t spare a drop of this, sorry. You’ll have to wait like everybody else.”
“Don’t want to.” His voice rumbled low and numbed my insides. The table between us served as the best obstacle to keep him distracting me altogether. It never took much from Jim—a wink, a crook of the neck, a quiet plea to come to bed—to get me to forget my catering work. I couldn’t afford to slack on Valentine’s Day.
“There’s a better way.”
“What?” I looked up again from my chocolate pop-making station. Damn him, he stood behind me now, brushing his hard body against me. I’d plant the heel of my hand into the warm chocolate if I wasn’t careful. “I’ve been doing it like this since I don’t know when.”
“How about like this?” Jim took a spoon and, his arms around me, reached down with it and scooped up a covered marshmallow. “No toothpicks poking holes, less risk dropping them. Good, huh?”
I leaned back in Jim’s embrace. Very good.
Leigh Ellwood
kspatwriter at yahoo dot com
Very sensual! x
DeleteLove this, Leigh.
DeleteVictoria lay on the bed, face down amongst the crisp, clean sheets, breathing in the gentle scent of spring which relaxed her fully. She wondered where Alex was but she daren’t move. Once Alex told you to do something, you did it. And he had told her to lay still and wait for him. At least she wasn’t naked like last time. Her skin bubbled up in goosebumps as she recalled that last time and she wondered what he had planned this time round. Her stomach swirled with excitement, causing her to become restless.
ReplyDeleteWhere was he?
She heard the gentle padding of feet across the thick carpet and saw Alex placing lit candles around the room; assorted shapes, colours and sizes with the subtle scent of vanilla filling the air.
“Looks beautiful,” she murmured as seductively as she could.
“Yes, I guess it does. But there’s a better way for us to use them.” His eyes sparkled mischievously but his face remained stern as it always did. Victoria watched as Alex picked up a large cream candle, causing the wax to drip slowly down the side. He caught it on the tip of his finger. “It’s not too hot, you’ll like it, just remember the safe word.”
“Ok, “ was all Victoria could muster as her head told her to run, filling her with fear from the oncoming pain whilst her body waited in anticipation for the unknown thrills Alex brought her.
242
@Lizzie_Koch
Tantalizing tid bit, I want more!
Deleteoooh, juicy! I'm with Olivia on this one. More, please!
DeleteI held out my fake quilt-print fabric, stitched with love but little skill. The German quilting thread cost ten dollars, so I settled for flimsy polyester thread that knotted whenever I sneezed.
ReplyDelete“Please don’t laugh,” I said. Straight pins stuck out at awkward angles, and the fabric crumpled where I had gripped the edges. “I know the back looks terrible.”
My accountant mother would have tsked at the multicolored tangles, but my white-haired companion patted my shoulder. Dorothy let fabric fly through her sewing machine without patterns or pins.
“I hate it,” I said, picking at the Frankenstein-like mess of red and blue stitches showing through the back.
“There’s a better way,” she reassured me, dabbing spit onto thread to push it through the eye of the needle. She slid the needle through the muslin backing without letting it show on the mock quilted top.
“Oh!” I exclaimed as she knotted the thread and worked the loose ends under the stitches, leaving a tidy trail of thread.
“Snip it here, next to the knot.” Dorothy held the tail while I followed her instructions. “You finish here,” she said, pointing to the unstitched squares. “Next time, I’ll show you how to do the binding.”
“Okay.” I gathered my material, as if I were collecting sheet music after a childhood piano lesson.
“Julie,” she said, and I paused. She closed her hand over mine, and my chest tightened. “Well done.”
I ducked out the door before she could notice my tears.
249 words
@AnastasiaVitsky
Such a beautiful tale and relationship. x
DeleteBeautiful! So vivid and moving.
Delete“When I become your Luna, it will be my job to give you what you need and serve you with all that I am. True?”
ReplyDeleteChayse blinked. She meant her words, but he didn’t understand. “How are you serving me if you’re the dominant one?”
“Oh, Chayse.” Her hands cupped his pectorals as she laid her head between his shoulder blades. “That’s the unspoken secret in a D/s relationship. The Domme is the true servant to the submissive’s needs. A Domme needs to be needed, and She cannot help but serve Her submissive in every way that’s required. The submissive has all the control.”
He digested her words, smelling the truth of them, and his fear evaporated a little at a time. “How? If I’m tied up, where is the control?”
“Being tied up only restricts your body, not your person. You will have a safeword, and nothing can go beyond it.” Aislynn stroked his chest with soft fingers. “It is stronger than ropes, or leather, or steel. It stops everything, no questions. The Domme is bound by your safeword, and by your trust.”
He swallowed hard, desperate to give it to her, but fear stalked him. “How can I believe you?”
Aislynn caressed his belly and ribs. “I can only show you. If there’s a better way, I don’t know it.”
Chayse’s heart thundered in his chest, warring between fear and excitement. If she meant what she said, he’d be free of the fear. Forever.
“Bones. That’s my safeword.”
250 ineligible #WIP500 words
You make it so effortless, it flows beautifully with gorgeous characterisation. x
DeleteJackie buttons up her blazer, and hurries down the hall to a private office.
ReplyDeleteShe's never been more nervous about meeting a student for tutoring.
A college professor, she has close to a hundred students in her Advanced Calculus class. It was Elise Hanson that needed help.
Elise was one of the most beautiful young women Jackie had ever laid eyes on. Her heart raced each time she saw her. Never mind how the rest of her body behaved.
Jackie told the dean that she was simply too busy to take on tutoring this year. The truth was, she had time, but she didn't want to risk her job. The dean insisted she help Elise.
Jackie pauses before opening the door. An image of Elise laying on the desk tempts her. Oh, the things she could teach the young woman. Warmth spreads throughout her body.
She opens the door and the scent of vanilla welcomes her. Candles adorn the room, casting them in a soft glow. Beautiful, shy Elise stammers about wanting to learn Jackie's other profession.
While student/professor relationships are frowned upon, they are not strictly prohibited. She teases Elise. “And what other profession might that be?”
Elise whispers, “Dominatrix.” Her taught nipples strain against her thin cotton t-shirt.
“So you brought a few books on the subject?” Jackie laughs, a deep throaty sigh that raises a delicious blush across Elise's cheeks. She gestures to the books as if to dismiss them. “Dear Elise, there's a better way.”
A Better Way to Learn
by @West1Jess
250 Words
Definitely a dangerous encounter. Could read more of this; please. x
DeleteThanks. This was great fun to write, so I may just keep going with it! ;)
Delete~~~~~
ReplyDeleteHe walked out.
It didn’t matter. Still hurt. In or out, didn’t matter. Still made the noise of the world screech and grate in his ears.
It wasn’t working. The pain was too big. There was simply no possibility of living without love. To be alone was never a problem. It was feeling lonely that killed.
But the world said no.
Then he met him.
And he saw the strength. Power. Love. Life.
He’d always been a simple man, unobtrusive.
He was shown that there’s a better way to be a man.
Strong. Loving. Soft.
How could that be wrong?
~~~~~
Word count: 100 on the nose
Twitter handle: @AnnaLund2011
It's not wrong at all. Love the short, sharp sentences. So much angst in such few words. x
Delete"There's no way I'm getting to LA in time," Jess said into her phone, frustration building and clearly showing in her voice.
ReplyDeleteRachel couldn't help a smirk as she continued working under the hood of the BMW with New York plates which had been stuck on the desert highway for an hour until Rachel came along with her tow truck.
"Can you fix it," Jess asked.
"Needs a compressor, that's all," Rachel said, wiping the sweat from her forehead with her kerchief. Jess watched her, captured by the sleekly toned muscles of Rachel's arms, bare and lightly tanned.
"Oh, good, because I have to be in LA by tomorrow evening."
"Sorry, hun, no chance of that unless you have a private jet come for you. I need to order the part so you'll have to stay overnight in town."
"There must be something you can do. Can you drive me? I'll pay anything you ask..."
Rachel smiled. "Anything?"
Jess flushed, but something stirred inside.
"There's a better way. I mean so you don't have to come all the back here for your car. I have an extra bed. You can stay with me and I'll have your car repaired and ready for you by morning."
Both women's eyes locked for a long moment before Jess finally nodded.
"I hope you can cook," Rachel said with a grin.
Cate Derham
@Cate_Derham
227 words
True Romance
ReplyDelete----------------------
Mark slaps me on the ass with a firm hand. “Honey, you’re getting laid tonight whether or not you bathe.”
“That’s how I know you love me.”
“That’s how you know we’ve been married 15 years.”
Despite his promise, I jump in the shower. I am not interrupted even once by questions like “Mom, have you seen my DS?”, “Mom, can you sign this for me right now?”, or “Mom, is it okay if I pee while you’re in there?”
Mark is serious about getting lucky, what with romancing me like this. Some think there’s a better way, but they haven’t had two kids, two cats, a dog, and no privacy for twelve years.
I stop short in nothing but a towel at the bedroom door. Wood floors - we do have them. It’s been so long, they’d become a myth. And what is that on the bed? Have we always had pillows shaped like tubes and giant squares? If I think back hard enough, I have a hazy recollection that they came with our bedding set. I take a peek under the cat-hair-free comforter. Clean sheets.
Oh yeah. That man is getting laid until his brains come out his ears.
@AFOdom
201 words
"Hey you."
ReplyDeleteI turned and smiled at my husband Jimmy as he walked out of the locker room. His face opened into a wide, genuine smile, but his eyes were twitching and he trembled slightly. Pushing my concerns aside, I embraced him.
"Did you get all the crash victims back?" I asked, moving us into an alcove. I pressed my lips to his.
"I did. Sean asked me to stay, and I said I'd do it if no one else would."
I nodded, as he kissed me, deepening it immediately. I pressed him up against the wall, already hard. There's a better way, but when you're at work, you roll with things. Jimmy ran his hands up my back, tugging at my hair. I bit his lower lip, trailing down to nip his neck.
I sucked on his neck, just up from where his shoulder started. "When we get home, I'm going to fuck you so hard…"
"You know how to turn a guy on." Jimmy tilted my head, licking my collar bone and I shuddered.
"Would you two quit having sex in the corner and come out here, please?"
Our manager's voice interrupted us and I groaned, leaning my head on Jimmy's shoulder. There goes my mood. I mean, I know we're at work, but damn. I glanced over and saw that Sean's back was turned. There was just enough light from the hallway to see a blush fading from his cheeks. I wonder how much he saw.
@Aightball
250 words
#ThursThreads is now CLOSED. Thanks to everyone who wrote this week and I hope to see you all next week. :)
ReplyDelete