Week 146 of #ThursThreads had some terrific tales. I'm honored to see all of the returning writers and read your stories. It was so nice to see so many of you this week! Thank you for coming back again and again to write and for helping me celebrate these years of flash. Great thanks to Kirsten Blacketer for judging this week. Be sure to check out the #ThursThreads #flashfiction group on FB to keep up with news, etc.
Entries:
- Sandi Layne | @sandyquill
- Silver James | @SilverJames_
- Kelly Heinen | @Aightball
- Siobhan Muir | @SiobhanMuir
- Lizzie Koch | @Lizzie_Koch
- Mary Decker | @mishmhem
- A.J. Walker | @zevonesque
- Dolly Marionette | @UndeadNether
- Nellie Batz | @solimond
Winners Announcement:
Honorable Mentions
Mary Decker | @mishmhem
Kirsten says: You did an amazing job tying in a lot of detail with a minimal word
count. I could totally see this as a more in depth story, but it works
as a short too. You focus on the details of the character's actions and
their mission without compromising the quality of the piece. Great job. I
would love to read more about this adventure.
Lizzie Koch | @Lizzie_Koch
Kirsten says: While I'm a little vamped out, I enjoyed your short. You tied in
some fantastic imagery, and I got a distinct feel for the main
character's emotions as he sat there with his cold beer watching the
sky. I could see this being expanded into a longer story, if it isn't
part of a longer piece already. You have a knack for painting a vivid
picture, great job!
Kelly Heinen | @Aightball
Kirsten says: Action, tension, and emotion...pow! right in my face. I loved it. I
appreciated the trigger warning too. (Not that I needed it, but it means
you're aware of the material possibly being an issue for readers. Kudos
for that.) I really enjoyed the dialog you had going on. It worked well
for the story and had me hooked from the beginning. I'm actually kinda
curious as to what happened next. :)
Week 146 Winner
Kirsten says: This piece contained the
perfect balance of elements to bring life to a story. The conflict and
tension in the story were simple, yet realistic. I felt sympathy for the
main character and also wanted to smack him. The descriptions were
enough to bring an image to mind and yet leave me to paint in the voids.
It was the ending that sealed it for me. That "aha" moment had me
groaning out loud and wanting to throttle the main character. *claps*
Bravo. This was truly a story in 250 words.
While there is room for expansion, it ended in a way that left the
reader satisfied. We all knew he was in trouble now for not following
through...again. I can appreciate when a writer is able to adequately
portray a self-contained story with such a limiting word count.
The Laughing Dog
Brian’s job description had recently been expanded to beyond acceptable.
After the side boob incident on the six o’clock news he’d been tasked with reviewing every little excerpt supplied from the multitude smartphone images rolling in from the public. It was impossible.
“Consider it a new KPI,” Marriot had said, “Zero side boobs - or cock ups - on the pre-watershed news and you may keep your job. Otherwise it’ll be your bits shown on the news the following day. Capiche?”
He couldn’t afford another default - but it was a hopeless task as every sad little clip got fired through to Brian for vetting.
Kate - his long term crush at work - sent him a video with a dog in it. It had four asterisks in the subject line suggesting it was important. He clicked on it straight away and there was the drooling dog nodding along with a song from One Direction. It was cute he had to admit, but it was not newsworthy, so he quickly exited and went on to the next useless footage (some cop shooting a gang banger - no-one would be interested).
Brian worried about his house. He picked his stories and emailed them through to the news desk. Shortly afterwards he received a text from Kate - ‘You watched it all the way through?’
He laughed. How much time did she think he had?
Come six o’clock and FAB News was the only channel not to feature the dancing dog suddenly being devoured by that hideous alien.
Congratulations Winner A.J., Mary, Lizzie, and Kelly! Don't forget to claim your badges and display them with pride. You certainly earned it!
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the stories here. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! :)
