Nick's words were a mere thread of sound, but incredulity and rage both came through.

Her voice was weak, a mere thread of sound, but he'd never been so glad to hear anything in his life.

Still alive, though the beat was rapid and a mere thread.

The oil lamp was a mere thread of light now.

"I'm not afraid," she said on a mere thread of sound.

Some were attached to the main mass by mere threads.

In a mere thread of a whisper she asked: "Dead?"

He called her name, his voice a mere thread of sound.

She was moored now to the world by a mere thread.

Her voice a mere thread of sound, she asked, "But who will protect me from the inside threat?"