Welcome to Thursday 360!
Are you a Christian writer? Think you can write a mind-blowing short story in 360 words or less? Let’s see what you’ve got!
Here’s How it Works
New posts will publish here on Thursdays. Write a 360-word (or less) flash fiction story based on the photo prompt (featured near the bottom of this post) and enter it in the comments section below. The results will be posted the following Thursday along with the new prompt. Winner will get the opportunity to display the Champion’s Badge on their website.
Rules and What-not
The rules are pretty simple. All entries for the current challenge must be posted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday, April 20th. They must be original, unpublished stories inspired by the photo prompt and they must have no more than 360 words (title doesn’t count). Stories don’t have to be Christian in subject matter, but cannot contain foul language, erotic, anti-Christian content, etc… (Let’s try to keep it G-rated, folks.) By posting, you attest that your entry conforms to these rules; I am in no way liable if it doesn’t. I reserve the right to reject/delete anything that does not follow the rules.
All entries remain the property of their authors.
Results for Last Week’s Challenge
Drinking in the Son Shine by Charles W. Short: A woman sick of the sin and despair of her life in the city, returns home and finds peace in the faith of her childhood. A story full of truth, hope, and beauty. Thanks, Charles.
Ready by John Mark Miller: The protagonist discovers that she (I’ll assume it’s a she because of the prompt) can communicate with aliens. The aliens want her to come with them and help them find the Savior. She decides to make the sacrifice and take the risk of leaving earth and going to help them. This story had a very creative take on the prompt. Aliens never crossed my mind while choosing the prompt photo. 🙂 So props for creativity, John.
Peace by Daleen Cowgar: The protagonist struggles with unkindness from others. She feels discouraged and overwhelmed until she relies on God for her strength and peace. So often in life we find ourselves facing difficult situations and begin to feel overwhelmed because we’re trying to figure them out ourselves. How much more peaceful our lives would be if we learned to rely on God more often than we do ourselves.
Champion: Charles W. Short
Here’s your e-badge, Charles. Congrats on two in a row.
The Prompt
And here’s the prompt for this week’s challenge.
Remember the deadline is 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday, April 20th.
Photo Credit, David Niblack, Imagebase.net
Also, remember to become a follower so you can get email notifications of results and new posts.
Check out Christian Flash Weekly after you’re done for another great contest to help you hone your short fiction skills.
Whitney L. Schwartz 
Congrats on a well-deserved win this week, Charles!
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Congrats Charles!! 🙂
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Thanks everyone. And thanks Whitney. Now let’s see what I can come up with for this coffee cup man. Is coffee mentioned in the Bible?
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Haha. I’m sure you can come up with something. The question is…will I? 🙂
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Loving Out Loud in a Broken World
James looked up and down the road. Five new homes were being built across the street from him, in an area the realtor had promised would always be a greenbelt.
The noise of the hammering had woken him up early, he bemused himself thinking he would be to work early. He walked across the street and handed the foreman a cup of coffee.
“Sorry James, I pitched the idea to the boss of starting two hours later, but he wouldn’t agree to it.”
James walked around the man and looked over the blueprints.
“Don’t worry about it, Rick.”
The two men had only met a few days before, but had become friends despite the circumstances.
“Did you notice the plans changed? He promised the city to build to a certain quality but what he is actually putting in is substandard.”
The foreman cast James a worried look.
“I have long since learned not to bring up things like that. If I want to remain employed, I don’t point out he is a crook.”
Rick sipped his coffee and watched for a reaction. When James didn’t say anything he breached the topic that concerned him.
“If you turned him in you could get the project stopped. Maybe even get your greenbelt back.”
James nodded. “Mmhmm.”
He stepped out and looked up and down the road at the other houses being built.
“Looks like you have a crew of twenty men today. They all need this job to get by.”
Looking Rick in the eye he added, “You and your wife need this job to get by.”
Collecting the coffee cup James turned to head home.
Rick stopped him with a touch to the arm. “Thank you, but why do you care about my crew or my family.”
James faced him, and Rick was surprised to see a tear in his eye.
“I saw you pray with your men the first day the work started. So I prayed too, and God answered. God told me this was my mission field. The workers now, the residents later—God called me to serve Him by serving this community.”
354 words
http://www.charleswshort.com
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http://www.twitter.com/charleswshort
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A Cup of Kindness
An old black man walked by my house two times a day, five days a week, once in the morning and again in the evening. He wore a pair of patched denim jeans and a drab green field jacket. His shoulders slumped forward as he walked. I watched him go by for a week before I decided to do something. So at seven on Monday morning I went out to the end of my drive and leaned against a telephone pole with two cups of coffee in my hands.
When the man came, I gave him a smile and a nod. “Morning.”
He looked up, surprised, and nodded back. “Morning.”
“I’ve seen you walking by every day and thought I’d introduce myself. I’m Trevor Dawson. This is my house right here.” I gave a backward nod toward my home.
The man glanced behind me and nodded. I could see the questions in his eyes. No doubt he’d never had a meeting quite like this before. I’d seen my neighbor Mrs. Pence hurry her kids in from playing in the front yard when she saw him passing by.
“Name’s Barrett, Barrett Cotter,” he said.
I held out one of the cups. “Coffee? I’ve got an extra cup here.”
He looked between me and the cup uncertainly for several moments and then suspiciously took the mug.
“Thanks,” he said with a nod.
I went out the next morning and did the same thing and for every morning afterward. After the first few days, he started to open up. I got to know Barrett Cotter as well as if I’d known him my whole life.
One day he said to me, “You know, Trevor, you’ll never know what a difference you made in my life. Before, my life was empty. No one cared about an old man like me and I was beginning not to care either… Until you came along.”
That’s how I learned that even small acts of compassion can make a huge impact. Sometimes all it takes to make a difference in someone’s life is just to offer them a cup of kindness.
Word Count: 353
Host entry–Not eligible to win
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You never know, what just a smile can do for a person. Love this story.
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