Week 320 of #ThursThreads had many fantastic tales. I'm honored to see all the writers come to tie a tale in our sixth year. If you’ve been doing it a while, thank you. If you’ve just found us, welcome! May you come back again and write more great flash. Thousand thanks to J. Scott Coatsworth for judging this week. Check out the #ThursThreads #flashfiction group on Facebook or the #ThursThreads Community on Google Plus to keep up with news, etc.

Entries:

• Bill Engleson | @billmelaterplea
• Siobhan Muir | @SiobhanMuir
• Mileva Anastasiadou | @happymil_
• Sheilagh Lee | @SweetSheil
• Nellie Batz | @solimond
• Mark A. Morris
• Robin K. Abess
• Silver James | @SilverJames_
• Keturah Lamb | @KeturahAbigail
• Kel J. Heinen | @Aightball
• Daelyn Morgana
• Mary Decker | @mishmhem

Winners Announcement:

Honorable Mentions

Kel J. Heinen | @Aightball
J. Scott says: The description in this story - little bits, but very effective - put me right into the story, in a particular time and place. And I liked the ending.

Robin K. Abess
J. Scott says: I liked this one. It had its own "voice," and a bit of a twist at the end. :)

Mary Decker | @mishmhem
J. Scott says: This one was a little sparse on the scenery, but points for use of the theme sentence in a different way than anyone else. :)

Dad asked me to play along. He said we’d play runaways.
I wasn’t sure mom would approve of the game. She never liked hide and seek or chasing after me.
“You’ll leave tonight,” she said.
She waved from afar, watching us leave.

We walked for hours.
“What happens if we win?” I asked. Dad stood still for a while, pondering.
“A better life is the trophy,” he replied.
That sounded worthwhile.

We walked for hours.
I asked dad to stop for a while. I was tired and hungry and cold.
“We can’t stop now,” he said. “We’re almost there.”

We walked and ran and crawled.
Until men in uniforms appeared, pointing guns our way and I wondered if that meant the game was over.
“They’re on our side, son,” dad whispered.
They didn’t seem on our side.
“Stay strong, I’ll come to find you,” he said wiping a tear with the back of his hand, before the men took him away.
Dad promised he’d be back, yet he didn’t. That was the last time I saw him.

I’m now trapped; I’m in a zoo, only this time, I can’t leave. Sometimes I feel like a lion, strong and proud, even in a cage, yet I mostly feel defeated.
“We will win in the end,” I hear dad’s words from time to time. Other kids tell me it’s not a game. Yet I still believe dad. Dad wouldn’t lie to me.
Only this game doesn’t feel like fun anymore.

Congratulations Five Time Winner Mileva, and Honorable Mentions Kel, Robin, and Mary! 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 original tales HERE. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! :)

Welcome back to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked. Today is Thursday and that means it’s time to start flashing. We’ve reached our Sixth year of weekly prompts! This is Week 320 of #ThursThreads, the challenge that ties tales together. Want to keep up each week? Check out the #ThursThreads #flashfiction group on Facebook and the Community on Google Plus.

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.
• The prompt must be used as is. It can be split, but no intervening words can be inserted or tenses changed.

 
Rules to the Game:

• This is a Flash Fiction challenge, which means your story must be a minimum of 100 words, maximum of 250.
• The story must be new writing, not a snippet from something published elsewhere with the prompt added.
• 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 in the post (or be excluded from judging)
• Include your Twitter handle or email in the post (so we don’t have to look for you)
• The challenge is open 7 AM to 8 PM Mountain 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, etc.

Our Judge for Week 320:

LGBTQ sci-fi author and flash fiction writer, J. Scott Coatsworth.

J. Scott on Twitter
J. Scott on Goodreads
J. Scott on Google Plus

And now your #ThursThreads Challenge, tying tales together.

The Prompt:

“That was the last time I saw him.”

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!

Week 319 of #ThursThreads had many fantastic tales. I'm honored to see all the writers come to tie a tale in our sixth year. If you’ve been doing it a while, thank you. If you’ve just found us, welcome! May you come back again and write more great flash. Thousand thanks to Maureen O. Betita for judging this week. Check out the #ThursThreads #flashfiction group on Facebook or the #ThursThreads Community on Google Plus to keep up with news, etc.

Entries:

• Silver James | @SilverJames_
• Bill Engleson | @billmelaterplea
• Siobhan Muir | @SiobhanMuir
• Daniel Swensen | @daniel_swensen
• Sheilagh Lee | @SweetSheil
• Mark A. Morris
• Katheryn J. Avila | @katheryn_avila
• Nellie Batz | @solimond
• Kel J. Heinen | @Aightball
• Cara Michaels | @caramichaels
• Richard Gibney | @ragtaggiggagon
• Anne Chowdhury | @TwiAddictAnne
• Keturah Lamb | @KeturahAbigail
• Mileva Anastasiadou | @happymil_
• Mary Decker | @mishmhem

Winners Announcement:

Honorable Mentions

Daniel Swensen | @daniel_swensen
Maureen says: The story caught me with great description. The world freezing to a standstop, time slowing like that...it's an interesting concept. I was also intrigued with the idea of becoming.

Cara Michaels | @caramichaels
Maureen says: She created a universe I instantly understood. Granted, I'm from a science fiction background, but the pull of romance and the step into wholeness as Ruarc awoke caught me.

Nellie Batz | @solimond
Maureen says: I've been that little sister, being patted on the head and dismissed. The visual of the plant dying as the eldest passed...very good! A sweet harbinger of things to worry about!

It wasn’t me. It was the heat.

Our love was mostly physical, or so I thought. To be honest, that’s how I liked it. The trip had been his idea. The moment I set foot on that place I knew I belonged there: to an endless, lazy summer. Colors were different, bright and vivid. Reality seemed brighter, sunny like our love, flowing effortlessly though our veins.

It wasn’t me. It was the blinding sun.

He spoiled it all by asking me to watch a Christmas movie.

“Will you marry me?” he asked.

He had worked all year for that trip. Yet I wanted a sunny life he couldn’t afford.

It wasn’t me. It was the warmth of the sun, burning my skin, blurring my thoughts, intoxicating my mind.

“Don’t take it personally. I am to blame,” I said.

“You aren’t.”

Insane thoughts crossed my mind, like a speeding train, until I could see the trap clearly; that movie had been his last resort, his desperate, sneaky effort to make me appreciate him, to think of the reward: the house, the family, the emotions, the love.

He bowed his head in shame and left. That was the last time I saw him.

It wasn’t me. It wasn’t him either. We can blame it on the heat.

Comforted now in the arms of another man, who offers me that everlasting summer I longed for, I somehow feel cold.

I sometimes wonder whether summer is not a season, but a state of mind.

Congratulations Four Time Winner Mileva, and Honorable Mentions Daniel, Cara, and Nellie! 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 original tales HERE. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! :)