#ThursThreads - Week 135 - Winners

Week 135 of #ThursThreads had some terrific tales. I'm honored to see all of the returning writers and read your stories. Thank you for coming back again and again to write and for helping me celebrate these years of flash. And so great to have so many new faces in the crowd this week. Welcome! Great thanks to Cindy Amrhein for judging this week. Be sure to check out the #ThursThreads #flashfiction group on FB to keep up with news, etc.

Entries:

• TwiAddict Anne
• Sheilagh Lee | @SweetSheil
• Anna Lund | @AnnaLund2011
• Silver James | @SilverJames_
• Teresa Cypher | @Teresa_Cypher
• Cate Derham | @Cate_Derham
• Josh Peters | @Joshbgosh
• Siobhan Muir | @SiobhanMuir
• Kelly Heinen | @Aightball 
• Louisa Bacio | @Louisabacio
• Sandi Layne | @sandyquill
• Even Sultry | @EvenSultry 
• Veronica Jorden | @RevolutionaryVJ

Winners Announcement:

Honorable Mentions

Even Sultry | @EvenSultry

Cindy says: Even Sultry was my close second for many of the same reasons as Josh. Very descriptive and easy to visualize. I was a bit confused as to how many were there. It does say "two stood admits the rubble." But it also says, "'Perhaps,' said another" making me wonder if there were more than two or not? If only two, maybe it should have said, "Perhaps," said the other.... That aside, I liked it a lot. Like Josh's there was an interesting contrast to what the teacher was seeing as victory and what was really in front of him. Waste. I think the student understood far more than his teacher. Great job Even!

Veronica Jorden | @RevolutionaryVJ

Cindy says: Veronica had a very good opening hook. The first sentence tells us something is going on. By the comparison between air and gold I knew something life threatening was going to happen. Contest aside, I think a reader would keep reading to see what that was. He asks if she can swim. She gives him an odd look. Again we are feeling something is going to happen. Then all hell breaks loose and he ask her again if she can swim. Nice way to bring it back around and we see why that question was so important. I can see this developed into a cool swashbuckling story!

Teresa Cypher | @Teresa_Cypher

Cindy says: This is great flash fiction but I can see this as a scene in a longer story too. I want Annie to get up somehow and kick his ass! :) Good description of the surroundings too. It has some of the elements I liked in the first two above with warmongers being proud of winning a wasteland, death and devastation, and for what? I like oxymoron contrast, can you tell? The one line says it all, "Where's your crown, oh mighty King of nothing?" That was a great punch to the gut last line.

Week 135 Winner

Josh Peters | @joshbgosh

Cindy says: Josh's story sucked me right in. I wanted to know what desolate place this was and what happened. The prose was very descriptive and I easily visualized the surroundings. What I took away from the story at the end was all this devastation, the one character was worried about sinners dirtying the cities, yet what is before him was all laid to waste, an unfixable mess, a pointless out come. Very well done Josh!

"In these trying days we must remember that no one will stop us from fulfilling our destiny!"

The great desert stretched from horizon to horizon. Sand flowed over broken trees and filled empty stream beds. An old fencepost stood marking the remains of a field long forgotten. Nothing stirred except the dunes as the relentless wind pressed them ever onward.

"We will not tolerate unbelievers. We will not allow sinners to dirty our cities. We are the chosen people. We are the chosen ones."

The hot sun beat down on a dark pond, reflecting spots of light on the rock surface around it. A lizard staggered toward the water and collapsed on its side near the water’s edge. Blue markings on its skin rose and fell with the lizard's slow breath. The animal drank once from the rancid water then twitched and breathed no more.

"This land was given to us, and to us alone, by the creator!"

The crumbling city stood in defiance to the passage of time. Broken spires leaned to one side or another as if jabbed into the earth by a child. Concrete and asphalt lie in broken ruins. Abandoned vehicles rusted on their, the rubber of the tires long burned off.

"We will rise up to strike down all that dare to oppose us and history will see the signs of our victory!"

Throughout the ruins bleached human skulls stared with empty eyes at the once proud city surrounding them.

Congratulations Two Time Winner Josh, Even, Veronica, and Teresa! Don't forget to 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. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! :)