Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2020

Stories (84)

84 Stories

28875 karma pts

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“Dispatched” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #235

“9-1-1. What is your emergency?” Casey moved to the edge of her chair, fully aware that all eyes in the Dispatch Center were on her. She struggled to focus on her first call, her mind ruminating on the “we-need-to-talk” text she sent Michael that morning. Her boyfriend had grown distant since starting classes at the community college. “9-1-1. What is your emergency?” she repeated more loudly.Click.Casey tapped her console, disconnecting the line before immediately calling the number back. She had been trained to expect numerous han...

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“Butter & Cream” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #198

I have fed the cat butter and cream before he dies. Dairy is terrible for a cat’s gastrointestinal tract, but then again, so is abnormal dilation of the colon. I’ll take the blame for the dairy. God can take the blame for the rest.For the hundredth time in a week, the cat valiantly tries to poop in his box and cannot. This puzzles him as he hasn’t been sick one day in his whole 15 years of life. What happens when things that have always worked suddenly don’t?The cat tries to defecate again, carefully scratching through the Fre...

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“The Smoke of Her Burning” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #189

Part I: It was so terribly cold.It had always been cold in Denmark, especially on New Year’s Eve.The wintry winds brought a desperate chill to those unsettled and impoverished. Wars continued to ravage the land. Treaties were torn up as soon as they were signed. Industrialization poisoned Scandinavian cities and its people. The young moved west for better opportunities in warmer climes, leaving the rich, the poor, and the poor’s children on the streets of Copenhagen. The rich fared no worse—no matter how many people left the country. Wh...

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“Honestly” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #172

“O Woman That I Used To Love, what should we get for dinner tonight?’’“Honestly, my Greatest Disappointment? I don’t care.”“You do care. You want me to suggest a place to eat so you can shoot it down. Whatever I say, you will wrinkle your little nose like I decided that we should eat out of the cat’s litter box.”“You could not be more wrong, but you usually are.” “Perhaps you could stop on the way home and pick up some takeout.”“I could, but I won’t. Our nightly conversation about dinner is the only authentic communication we will have ...

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“Kaleidoscope” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #171

You never asked for this much insight.But you can’t have both innocence and experience. Experience. A charming euphemism for pain and suffering. Either one will drive out innocence altogether. Isn’t that what you’re really after—a return to Eden? Minus the snake. Minus the apple. Minus Adam, for that matter. However, if you had stayed in an unspoiled world, you would have learned nothing. You would have felt nothing. You would have seen nothing. Better to have loved and lost—etcetera etcetera. Now let’s talk about your ba...

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“Far Away and Fast ” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #168

There were too many of us, Lizzy thought, tucking herself behind a door jamb.Her father smoked in stony silence in front of a television, while her mother swatted her brothers who snatched fingerfuls of mashed potatoes from a large bowl on the dining room table. In various sizes, her brothers pushed and yelled, whining about being hungry, complaining about being late for football or wrestling practice, asking if there were any more chocolate doughnuts from the bakery.As usual, her mother was cross, but she never yelled. She would slam c...

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“Like a Baseball Bat to the Face” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #158

“I need your car.”“Carrie, it’s the middle of the night—”“Simms,” she says in a low voice, unnaturally calm. “Walk back to your bedroom, tell your wife to shut up, grab your keys, and bring them to me.”“C’mon, Carrie,” he whines. Simms is as petulant as a boy whose mother dotes on him—one of the reasons Carrie dumped him in high school.Thirty years later, he is just as weak.“Now, Simms. Hurry.”Simms turns, complying with her request, not because he loves her—but because he loves his wife far less. “Goodness, Simmy! Who is at the door th...

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“No Class Room” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #148

“You’re sharing a classroom with Mister Galanis,” Principal Twomey says, heavyset and out of breath from climbing up the stairs to the 3rd floor. The 3rd floor is the inner sanctum of the English Department. We don’t appreciate visitors here, especially ones from administration. Rarely do they bring good news. And notification of sharing a classroom? There isn’t any worse news to be had.“I am not sharing my classroom,” I say, capping my red pen. As a rebuttal, I motion around the room—from the busts of stately literary masters on the bookshe...

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“Fin” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #147

Maybe the lights won't come back on. Maybe you can sit in silence in the back of the community center next to your ex-wife for a little while. She’s been remarried for years. You try to remember where what’s-his-name works. You hold her hand. She squeezes your hand back.🜋 🜋 🜋You know the community center well. It is where you register your daughter for soccer every August. Heck, the athletic league even talked you into becoming a coach last season. What did you know about coaching soccer for 7-year-old girls? By the end of the...

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“To One Not Sociable” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #146

The tail lights of a Mercedes E-class blink off as it accelerates through the stone gate pillars.An exhaust pipe of a BMW 5-series coughs up a plume of fetid smoke. On occasion there is a slight wave from a Lexus RX 350’s window—a white hand, manicured nails, rings with rocks worth more than my guidance counselor’s annual salary.Finally, the parents leave and I have their sons.And why shouldn’t they leave? They’ve done their job, stroking a six-figure check to matriculate their beloved young men to a storied academic institution. Our cu...

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“Tatterdemalion” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #145

“Tatterdemalion. Ragamuffin. Slubberdegullion.”David’s great-aunt knew a dozen ways to call him slovenly and unkempt, but he paid her little mind. Since the Catholic Mass she dragged him to each day was tedious, he found crawling under the pews much more fun than listening to Latin. As usual, his great-aunt pulled him up by the collar of his shirt and sat him firmly on the pew. A twinkle in her eyes belied her stern expression.“Behave,” she whispered.And he would. For a bit.She fretted over his crisp white shirt, now sullied by dirt, du...

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“Shuttered Hearts ” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #144

Weddings prove to be the perfect hunting grounds. My brother—with his ridiculous scythe—prefers them, harvesting the overly excited elderly in the midst of their joy. He finds those who’ve imbibed too much, attempting to drive home instead of into a telephone pole. On occasion, a jilted lover will show up, armed and reckless, doing most of his work for him. Fortunately, there are also tiny bones in fancy fish and overweight aunts who dance until their hearts give out. Hearts are normally my thing. Click. I smile, giving t...

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“Incapable of Her Own Distress” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #143

There is something liberating about losing the love of your life. Compounded with all the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, it makes the choice to lose one’s mind easier—not to mention the choice of losing one’s life. I guess that answers the question whether to be or not to be. If I were still speaking to you, I’d let you know. O your mother! Gertrude is so lyrical about my death, letting everyone know my surprising demise at the end of Act Four. She didn’t need to be so glib—no one makes it out of Act Five alive—...

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“What You Can Do With Your Book” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

🏆 Winner of Contest #142

You present me with a gift bag as if legions of angels will descend, trumpeting your thoughtfulness in remembering my [insert celebratory event here]. I’m gracious, of course. You shouldn’t have!And I mean that. You shouldn’t have. Because now you are stepping over the line. We are simply:co-workers mothers with children at the same school neighbors with dogs old-friends-from-college, or spouses-of-old-friends-from-college. Regardless, we are not on gift-bagging terms. Especially the kind you immediate...

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“The Good Soil” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #141

“I’m going—I’m going,” she mutters, pushing her three-wheeled shopping cart out of the alley. As the proprietor glares at her, hands on his hips. She stops to inventory her possessions, often rifled through by miscreants in the middle of the night. “I warned you about coming back here,” the man says, menace in his voice. “And I curse you and your children.”The man shakes his head in disgust.“And I curse your restaurant and your health and your cock!” she cries. “I’m calling the police.”“I’m giving your restaurant one-star!” sh...

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Author bio

Copyright © 2023 Deidra Whitt Lovegren - All Rights Reserved. Using content without written permission is prohibited. Check out the website: deidrawhittlovegren.com Listen to a podcast: Readlotswritelots.com Read us one of your stories: Bluemarblestorytellers.com Chat about the joys & frustrations of writing: https://discord.gg/bxTWQw3HJR Winning stories: 🏆#142 - "What You Can Do With Your Book" 🏆#67 - "Your Poor Rick" 🏆#53 - "The Play's the Thing" Shortlisted: 🏅#235 - “Dispatched” 🏅#198 - “Butter & Cream” 🏅#189 - “The Smoke of Her Burning” 🏅#172 - “Honestly” 🏅#171 - “Kaleidoscope” 🏅#168 - "Far Away and Fast” 🏅#158 - "Like a Baseball Bat to the Face" 🏅#144 - "Shuttered Hearts" 🏅#138 - "Homewrecker" 🏅#136 - "Hack" 🏅#124 - "The 10th Circle of Hell" 🏅#121 - "No Thank Hugh" 🏅#77 - "As Ice Glazes Rocks" 🏅#65 - "Marshmallow Wrapped In Barbed Wire" 🏅#52 - "Irrumator Praetor Matrem Suam" 🏅#47 - "A Breakup in Five Acts" My personal favorites are: ❤️ “No One Really Explains” ❤️ “Can't Get Enough of What You Don't Need”

Winning 2 stories 🏆

Contest #142

What You Can Do With Your Book – read story

Contest #67

Your Poor Rick – read story

Shortlisted 16 stories ⭐️

Contest #235

Dispatched – read story

Contest #198

Butter & Cream – read story

Contest #189

The Smoke of Her Burning – read story

Contest #172

Honestly – read story

Contest #171

Kaleidoscope – read story