Welcome back to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked. It's Thursday today, so get your flash ready. Writing a #flashfiction thread! Welcome to Week 116 of #ThursThreads, the challenge that ties tales together. Want to keep up each week? You're welcome to join the FB #ThursThreads group where we'll do events and make announcements. 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 116:
Radio show host, domestic discipline diva, and erotic romance author, Cassandre Dayne.
And now your #ThursThreads Challenge, tying tales together.
The Prompt:
“We’ll see about that.”
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!
Gwyn covered her ears. Sumner’s words lashed at her, a torrent of loathing and disdain. She trembled beneath the onslaught. Dazzling prisms blinded her—unshed tears. Riley women didn’t cry. Ever. Hadn’t her mother beaten that refrain into her all her life?
ReplyDelete“You will go through with the marriage, Gwyneth.”
“We’ll see abut that.”
Venn stepped in front of her. Where had he come from? How did he know she needed him?
Sumner screamed obscenities, spittle flying from his mouth. Her gentle musician stood there like a rock, her fiance’s tsunami of condemnation crashing against his stalwart frame, shielding her.
Raising his hand, Venn silenced Sumner’s tirade. “Ye’ll not be calling the cailín such names. An honorable man doesn’t treat the woman he loves in such a way.”
Sumner turned his wrath on Venn and Gwyn cringed.
“Why you street trash! How dare you tell me how to treat her? She’s mine. I’ll do with her as I please. Get the fuck away from her. You’re the one who’s filled her head with all this romantic crap. You just want her for her money.”
“And you don’t?”
Venn’s pointed question whipped through Gwyn like lightning. He only wanted her for her money? But of course. The man was a street musician. He lived in a flophouse and wore shabby clothes. How could she be so blind?
Stumbling, she turned to run, but Venn’s words stopped her.
“Better to be poor and love than have no soul.”
Could it be true?
***
250 words on WIP in my Faerie Reign world
@SilverJames_
“Grandma, may we go hunting tonight?” asked her teenage grandson.
ReplyDelete“No”
“Why not? We could use some venison for the pot.”
“Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time there were a couple named and Carl and they were trapped, surrounded by guns and cops, a city block wide. Celine was young and barely eighteen and thought of their love, as Romeo and Juliet.”
“It’s a no win situation,” Celina declared.
“We’ll see about that. There’s always a way out. I love you and I can save you, Celina,”Carl answered.
Carl then took Celina by the hand and propelled her to the roof.
“There’s something I’ve been keeping from you.”
“Don’t tell me you’re superman,” Celine kidded.
“No, but I can fly, even with you.”
“How?”
“You’re a vampire?” Celine as he revealed his pointed teeth.
“Will you make me like you?”
“Let’s fly away right now and when we get there I’ll make you like me, if you still want me to.”
“With this Carl took flight carrying Celine in his arms when they landed a short time later he asked if she wanted to be a vampire. She said yes. Together they still live in the mountains of Virginia, so if I were you I wouldn’t go out hunting at night or the hunters will get you.”
“I’m going to hunt venison tomorrow,” the grandson cried.
“Sounds good to me,” Grandma replied, “As long as you watch out for the wolves, but that’s another story.”
250 words
@SweetSheil
sorry the name Celina was inadvertently moved to after I can save you instead of beside named.
DeleteHere's the corrected copy ~
Delete“Grandma may we go hunting tonight?” asked her teenage grandson.
“No”
“Why not? We could use some venison for the pot.”
“Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time there were a couple named Celine and Carl and they were trapped, surrounded by guns and cops, a city block wide. Celine was young and barely eighteen and thought of their love, as Romeo and Juliet.”
“It’s a no win situation,” Celina declared.
“We’ll see about that. There’s always a way out. I love you and I can save you.”
Carl then took Celina by the hand and propelled her to the roof.
“There’s something I’ve been keeping from you.”
“Don’t tell me you’re superman,” Celine kidded.
“No, but I can fly, even with you.”
“How?”
“You’re a vampire?” Celine said as he revealed his pointed teeth.
“Will you make me like you?”
“Let’s fly away right now and when we get there I’ll make you like me, if you still want me to.”
“With this Carl took flight carrying Celine in his arms when they landed a short time later he asked if she wanted to be a vampire. She said yes. Together they still live in the mountains of Virginia, so if I were you I wouldn’t go out hunting at night or the hunters will get you.”
“I’m going to hunt venison tomorrow,” the grandson cried.
“Sounds good to me,” Grandma replied, “As long as you watch out for the wolves, but that’s another story.”
249 words
@SweetSheil
Jimmy Ricklefs situated his wheelchair near his friend Bethany Downs, as the sun peeked through the shade trees on the battle grounds. Watching as two strong horses pranced at the start lines, armor-clad warriors astride them, he grinned. Applause thundered through the arena as the jousters prepared for their match.
ReplyDelete“I’m rooting for the guy in the black armor.”
He pointed to his right. She shook her head, gesturing to her left. Another jouster, dressed in silver, waited for the signal to go.
“He’s too skinny. I’m going for the silver guy,” she said.
Jimmy turned his head. Sizing the man up, he shook his head. The silver knight was stockier; there was no way the horse would propel him to victory.
“I bet the horse will be sluggish. The black armor will win.”
“We’ll see about that,” she smirked.
When the signal was given, the horses surged forward. Jimmy's eyes bulged when the heavier rider was faster. The jousters met in the middle, lances clanging and clanking. Finally, the black rider broke the silver rider's lance tip and was awarded the points.
“You thought the silver guy was good looking,” he complained.
Bethany smirked. "Hard to see him under all that armor. I simply had confidence in his abilities."
Jimmy snorted. "Sure ya did. It was his good looks admit it."
Jimmy laughed as his friend blushed. There was a slice of cheesecake on the line, and so far, he was losing.
@Aightball
243 words
I remember it as a vivid day—the sapphire sky stretching on and on until it gave itself over to the emerald grass. Nothing ugly should’ve touched such a sight in my memory. But when you’re young and live as the young do—in the moment—it’s impossible to know the shadows that can fall over your world.
ReplyDeleteI had taken in that morning, swallowing it up whole, savoring its sweet flavor on my tongue as I’d prepared for my trip into the city. I hadn’t been feeling well, something wasn’t quite right inside somewhere. My parents hadn’t found the answers they’d wanted so I had been shuttled off to another specialist weeks before. Today, my parents had told me, today we will have answers.
The car ride had been an adventure. The skyscrapers unbelievable and impossible to comprehend for someone my age. How can buildings grow tall as trees? I wondered. And so many, many, cars and people, where are they all going?
The room where I’d heard the truth had been cold, antiseptic, and full of strangers. When I think back and consider things, it hadn’t been the right place to hear it. At least not for my parents, because I hadn’t understood the words cancer, tumor, nothing can be done….
“We’ll see about that,” my father had repeated while my mother cried.
It had been another vivid day when my illness took its final hold. Another sweet day kissed by sunlight when the last shadow fell.
@OliviaStarke
249 words
Deal
ReplyDelete@West 1 Jess
249 Words
Exhausted after outrunning Sheriff Winslow, Jorge stumbled into the barren front yard of a thatch-roofed hut. Thick smoke unfurled from a wood stove pipe run up the back, a welcome sign of warmth against the evening sky. A porcelain-skinned woman with long, black hair held the door open. He knelt in the dirt a few paces away, lost in a crystal blue gaze. Full red lips parted in a smile.
“Poor dear, you look miserable. Need a place to bed down for the night?”
“Yes Ma'am, but I don't have any way to repay you.”
“We'll see about that,” she said.
“I won't harm you, I promise.”
Her smile grew and warmed her eyes. “Oh, I'm not worried about that.” She stepped aside, beckoning him in.
He sat near the stove, watching her stir the pot.
She met his eyes, “Potato stew, no meat. Not much game wanders through these parts.”
“I'd give an arm for a bowl of it.”
She laughed. “I don't need any body parts, but for your soul you can have as much as you'd like.”
“Deal.”
As Jorge ate, the woman told him a fantastic story, of how she'd turned a man into a toad once. They laughed together.
“I don't believe a woman as pretty as yourself is a witch.” With dropping eyelids, Jorge set his bowl on the floor. His chin met his chest.
“That's alright, I don't need your faith. Just your soul.”
I really like the whole mood of this and the way it runs so smoothly. Especially love the way it ends.
DeleteThank you, Cate.
DeleteShe was captive in a prism of light within an obsidian cave on a remote moon of the fifth planet. A savage angel, her wings were useless here. Her spirit, which sustained her for these past ten lunar months, began to lag. She was as close to despair as she ever had been. Tears filled the corners of her ice blue eyes.
ReplyDelete"Just what I thought... You're defeated, eh? Given up?"
"We'll see about that," Sorin said after a long moment. She looked over her shoulder at her tormentor, Ejan, who was the only other being in this hell with her. He'd been there when she was first imprisoned and rarely spoke.
"What are you planning?" he said, actually sounding curious.
Sorin just lay back, not certain what she intended to do. It was hopeless. The obsidian walls rendered her magic useless. She alternated between defiance and despair, refusing to give in, but unable to unlock the secrets of the prism of light which held her, but also was key to her freedom.
Ejan snorted. "You're not trying hard enough. The key to your escape is within you."
"What do you know, Ejan?"
"There's no fun in just telling you."
"Don't you want to get out?" Sorin asked.
The older man looked wistful. "I don't know."
"Well I do know," Sorin said, defiantly.
Cate Derham
@cate_derham
223 words
There are many worlds behind the words you wrote here, this being just the tip of the iceberg. I love that promise of so much more beyond what we see here. This wouldn't happen to be an excerpt from a WIP, would it? Sounds like a good read!
Delete~~~~~
ReplyDeleteAll over the place, the birds came smashing to the ground, like missiles.
Dead. Every last one of them, killed in flight. Whatever this was, it was swift and lethal.
The sorrow over the pretty birds lasted all of ten minutes.
“We are all going to die, this planet is doomed,” said the old man that everyone thought was crazy the day before.
“We’ll see about that.”
When the first humans started falling over, with eyes rolled up in their skulls, Earth had simply ran out of time.
They were already dead. Their bodies just hadn’t gotten the message yet.
~~~~~
Word count: 100 on the nose
Twitter handle: @AnnaLund2011
I love the mystery here and the sense of inevitability and doom. What will happen next! Nicely done!!
DeleteI am liking this end of the world thing you're doing, ma'am. It's creepy and fascinating and I want to see all this collected. :)
Delete"So, human, why have you come here?"
ReplyDeleteBethany returned her gaze to the general and fought against a scowl. "I didn't mean to come here. As I told the captain, I was just going for a walk and I ended up here."
He tilted his head and strode around her, his gaze assessing, but not sexual. He waved one hand through the air behind the small of her back and grunted with surprise. "You're not a centaur."
"No, I'm not." Bethany narrowed her eyes.
"Are you a gorgon or a druid?"
"No."
"Humph. We'll see about that." One of the others sneered as he paced closer, striking out at Bethany's head to grab her hair.
She ducked and pivoted away from him, wishing she had a rope to hogtie his arms. Instead, she kept her gaze on the bigger beings, mentally calculating how fast she'd have to run to make it to something she could climb.
"Enough."
The general hadn't spoken loudly, but the authority in his voice stopped everyone in place. Bethany braced herself for evasive action, but held her ground. Men had been trying to railroad her for years and she'd hit her threshold of tolerance.
"You will be respectful of those in our village."
Bethany raised her chin. "Tell him that."
A smile quirked the general’s lips. "I just did."
"Oh." Bethany grimaced. "Sorry."
227 ineligible #WIP500 words
@SiobhanMuir
I must say these are all amazing. It's going to be tough to choose. Well done!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's such a fun exercise!
DeleteThe glittering expanse of the city at night lay prostrate beneath the Olympian height of the penthouse. A sea of souls, the mere suggestion of which stoked an unspeakable hunger in Etienne. Closing his eyes in the darkness the white haired child imagined holding the mass of humanity in his pale hands.
ReplyDeleteEtienne spun enraged by the intrusion of the subtle scrape of the door opening, only just clamping his jaw shut in time to avoid telling off the tall broad-shouldered figure that entered.
“Still standing in the dark?” Etienne’s much older brother scoffed.
The small boy turned away from his athletically perfect sibling. The light from the inner room allowed Etienne to watch his brother’s reflection in the window. After a pause, the imposing teen glanced back toward the inner room.
“You made quite a mess of your babysitter. Again. Ever consider cleaning up when you’ve done playing?”
Etienne tossed his hair out of his eyes. “She can clean herself up when she comes to.”
The older brother sighed, but refused to take the hint and leave. Instead he marched over next to his small companion.
“The city is beautiful, isn’t it?”
Etienne’s fist clenched, “Someday it will be mine. Not just the city, but the whole world.”
His brother shook his head, “You mean ours, don’t you?”
“No. Mine.”
“We’ll see about that. Of course, first something must be done about Mama.”
234 words
@DavidALudwig
Spooky and evil.
DeleteHold the Anchovies
ReplyDelete@mishmhem
181 words (less title)
“Did you deliver the package?”
Rhiannon gave her interim handle an odd look and shook her head. Keith would never have asked that question. Keith knew to let her do her job and trusted her to let him know if she had any problems or needed his help.
The way Kris stood over her waiting for her to make a mistake, only served to emphasize the fact that Keith was not there. Part of her knew that that was exactly why Kris was riding rough-shod over her: suspect the handler, suspect the 'asset.'
“No,” she answered petulantly when Kris continue to stare at her expectantly. “I dumped it into the river...”
When Kris continued to stare, and she realized just how dangerously close his hand was to his pistol, she rolled her eyes. “Of course I delivered the package.... now... can I talk to Keith?”
“We'll see about that,” he assured her in a tone that told her 'cold chance in hell.'
“What's next?”
“227 Main... Spinach and Garlic... Hold the anchovies.”
It was going to be a very long shift.
Hunter grinned at Jordan’s face, enjoying her swollen lips and flushed, dusky skin. They spoke of his prowess in this, the game of seduction, and he was man enough to appreciate what a make-out session could do to a girl.
ReplyDeleteEspecially an enthusiastic, pretty brunette like Jordan. Especially at a college party where the alcohol and illicit drugs were passed around a little freely.
“Ready to get out of here?” He rested possessive hands on her hips.
She dropped her heavy-lidded gaze to his lips. “Sure. I’m just on the next street, at the Alpha Pi Omega house.”
“Ah, the one with the bright green letters?”
“That’s the one,” she said with a languorous nod that set her heavy black hair to slipping sensuously over her shoulders. “Did you drive?”
She had asked a rational question; it was time to blur her lines again. He smoothed his hands up her sides, brushing her curves and pressing her more solidly against the wall. “Yep. Can you handle my stick shift?”
She giggled. “I think so.”
“Good. Come on.”
She never noticed that he eased her out the kitchen to the patio before she could retrieve her purse. She never noticed how he commanded her entire attention all the way to his nondescript coupe.
She didn’t notice much of anything until he had been driving for thirty-seven minutes. “Hey, I thought we were going back to my house.”
He clicked the safety locks. “We’ll see about that.”
===
248 words
Sandi Layne
@sandyquill
The vein in her neck pulsed as she glanced around the darkened corners of the room. Alone, the feeling of being watched persisted.
ReplyDeleteA spider-web of sensation tingled against the back of her neck, and Kayla screamed, swiping at her bare skin. Nothing.
Marcus promised he’d meet her here at the abandoned house, but he promised a lot of things. Rarely, did they come true. After dating for two years, she should know better. Her heart ached, already knowing the decision needed to be made.
A creek of footsteps echoed outside in the hallway. The sound grew louder as the unseen individual got closer. Half an hour late; it was about time he arrived. She held still, waiting for him to enter with his excuses.
The doorknob rattled, and stilled. A huge thud pounded against the closed door, and another.
“Is that you, Marcus?” she asked, barely above a whisper.
Somehow, she knew it wasn’t. Whatever waited on the other side wanted her, and if she opened the door, it would have her.
In her back pocket, her phone buzzed with a text message.
“Just parked. Be right there.”
Her finger hovered over the keyboard, thinking of the last time he’d hit her, the blood filling her mouth, tart against her tongue. The threats to kill her if she ever left.
The old wood door creaked and strained against the frustrated onslaught.
She turned off her phone, and slid it back into her pocket.
“We’ll see about that.”
248 words
@LouisaBacio
Mystica watched the white flames play across the surface of the lake. She saw the Angels attack Merlin, and the dragons. She saw villages of fairies and humans burned to the ground. She spoke to the machines, “Are they coming here?”
ReplyDelete“Yes.”
“Will you stop them?”
“No.”
“So, you will allow this war?”
“Yes.”
The flames shifted, showing her the Angels enter the Great Northern Forest. She knew they’d arrive any moment. She used white magic to float above the center of the lake, where she waited for the Angels to arrive.
She watched them float above the trees, surrounding the clearing, and the lake. A single Angel silently flew across the clearing, to the center of the lake. “Witch of white! For your use of magic, and protection of those cursed with wild magic, you shall die."
“We’ll see about that.”
The Angel swung his arms, as if he had two swords, and was trying to cut Mystica to pieces. The white magic protected her. The Angel didn’t understand. “How are you still alive?”
She stared at him. “Burn.”
White fire leaped from the lake, grabbing the Angel’s ankles, yanking him from the sky, dragging him under the water. The trees around the lake and clearing launched their branches up, like spears, into the Angels by the lake.
That quickly, the Angels were gone.
Mystica shook her head. “The White Magic protects itself,” she declared, “And I am the White Magic.
241 Words
@LurchMunster
Kevin grabbed James’s arm as the perpetrator walked across the student union. Kevin hesitated, awestruck by the granite-like bicep under his grip.
ReplyDeleteJames leaned in close. “Is that him?”
Kevin gulped. He could smell the coconut in James’s shampoo. He wanted to move closer, but he shook off the thought. “Yeah. That’s the guy who stole my laptop.”
“Let me at him!” James punched the palm of his hand with his knuckles, and moved to take off.
Kevin stood in his way. “No. You can’t!”
“Why not?” James furrowed his brow. It was adorable.
“Because I won’t have you kicked out of school on account of this.”
“He stole your laptop. I have to do something.”
“I know you want to, but I’ll file a police report.”
“What if he sold it or f-d it up?”
“I’ll deal with it. The laptop’s not important. Not as important as having you as my roommate.”
James smiled and threw an arm around Kevin’s shoulders, hauling him up next to his hard frame. “I like having you as a roommate, too. “ He looked toward the offender who was ordering a cup of coffee. “It still kills me to see getting him away with it, if only for now. He’s so smug.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“Huh?”
“I kinda set a booby trap in case it ever got stolen.”
“Oh?”
Kevin nodded shyly. “Let’s pick up a pizza and I’ll tell you about it.”
Hunter Frost
@HunterFrostMM
250 Words
I want to know, see more!
Delete#ThursThreads is now CLOSED. Thanks to everyone who wrote this week and I hope to see you next week. :)
ReplyDelete