Hope Linter

“The Road to the Millers” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #239

My electric car battery died in the middle of a valley of green pasture, speckled with black and white jersey cows. In a better frame of mind, I would have appreciated the setting; the spring blue sky and the winding rural road that disappeared ahead over a hillock, like in so many of those paintings, where I loved to let my imagination wander and lead me into the unknown. But now, over the crest, a kilometre away, there wouldn’t be adventure, but another no-news nuisance story.  “Damn asinine assignments,” I shouted, and ham...

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“Her 9:15” by Hope Linter

Warning: occasional swearword, prostitution He whispered tender things in her ear, including how much he enjoyed their date-nights, and nibbled her lobes, until she felt fluttering sensations in her toes, stretched out on her red, satiny bed sheets. He’d told her his name several times during the fifteen times he’d paid visits to her, but she refused to remember. This evening, he was her 9:15; another man in a line of customers who paid for her services; one of her gentler regulars, perhaps attractive in a broken tooth, crooked shy smile k...

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“Challenges of a Middle-Aged Mediocre Runner” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #235

Arlene pulled at the white laces in her pristine running shoes. The synthetic off-gassing didn’t have the pleasurable leather smell from runners in the old days, but they emitted newness and hope. Satisfied the laces were tight, she double tied them and stood up, her weight suspended on the cushiony soles. In the elevator, feeling a spectacle in her middle-age, wearing lycra running gear, she breathed thanks as ...

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“Diary of me dumping Sugar” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #233

January 1, 2024 Dear Diary. My New Year’s Resolution is to give up sugar for a month. I thought I had eaten all the Christmas chocolates and sweets, and the boxes of Purdy’s chocolate I’d bought as extra gifts just in case, but today I found a box I’d put for safekeeping in the closet behind the linens on the third shelf. (The boys can’t reach up there yet!) I meant to give them to my sister when we visited her ...

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“Serving Soup at the Mission” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #231

I adjusted the new name tag my ten-year-old niece had made to replace my discreet Outreach Gospel Mission one and stirred the huge old blackened vat of soup. A diminutive woman who seemed familiar but I couldn’t place disappeared behind Leonard in the lunch line-up. Bending my head, I inhaled the fragrant aroma of the vegetables, potatoes and onions I’d diced along with the pearl barley I’d added in to make up for the l...

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“A Hot Chocolate Offering” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #227

John snowshoed past white skirted firs and pines on the North Shore mountains, noting the morning light blue sky giving way to cloud and obscuring the morning sun. Below, the city of Vancouver stretched out; shiny highrises and greenery surrounded by blue sea. He located their highrise in the West End, and wondered what his girlfriend, Caroline, was doing. She’d been distant, and it bothered him.    “Wait up, you...

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“Charlotte's Vacation” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #226

At the Vancouver YVR airport, Charlotte checked her boarding pass to Cancun, Mexico. She rubbed her temples. Her perennial headache threatened to return, despite taking two Advil tablets before leaving home. The parent next to her sang and bounced a toddler on his lap. Charlotte hadn’t slept last night, not just because of the flight, but her sleep had been getting worse, even with the sedative, Immovane.  A few...

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“Meeting My Doppelgänger” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #225

“I saw someone, who looks exactly like you,” Janine, a friend in my running group said. She sat kittycorner to me at the end of the large dark table in the back of Starbucks. I nodded, deep breathing, I didn’t like being at that end, closest to the washrooms with the exit doors at the other end of the cafe. In fact it was a phobia of mine, I’d mentioned to Janine and a couple of others, but I’d made light of it myself, ...

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“Armour too Fine for Slaying a Dragon” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #217

Humming, Nebneb polished his bronze helmet and breastplate and used a special brush to clean out and polish all edges and crannies. Hours passed by in moments, and sometimes he’d be in a position so long, he’d get stiff and have to move around. He held the breast plate up to admire its shine, and met the stern reflection of his father, chief Elbisnopser, of their tribe, Nogard Sreyals.  “You’ve been polishing yo...

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“We're Going Where?” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #216

Tom sprawls on his couch, a bag of opened cheesies in his lap, and his hands covered in orange greasy dust. A ping-pong tournament is playing on his television. He’s content, relaxing, and doesn’t care who will win.  He snacks and grows drowsy, and the bag drops from his hand, as he nods off to the intermittent drone of the commentators and the clacking of paddles fades from his awareness.  With a start,...

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“Jeremy's Sliver” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #194

Jeremy felt a prick on his finger, the one next to his thumb. He stared at the redness surrounding the hair-thin bit of wood sunk into the fleshy pad of his fingertip. It hurt, and he tried to pull it out with his fingers, but couldn’t get hold of the tiny end. “I’ll get it out.” Missy left the TV room where they were building a small house out of wooden popsicle sticks and returned with a large pair of black sc...

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“A Ride to the Airport” by Hope Linter

“I’ll give you a ride to the airport,” George said, while we were having coffee at Happy Bean Cafe in the West End of Vancouver. “Oh, that’s wonderful,” my boyfriend Tom said.  “That’s kind of you, George, but we don’t want to put you to all that trouble. It’s too early and we’ll preorder a taxi.” I’d done research and the buses wouldn’t be running until after six, which would be too late for us. ...

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“Haro's Crush” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #191

I have taken some artistic license with names and other aspects of the Japanese culture. The Ryōan-ji Temple with it’s famous Zen garden does exist in Kyoto. Eighteen-year-old Hiro Ito contemplated the perfectly raked white gravel in the karesansui or dry landscape of the famous Ryōan-ji Zen garden in his hometown of Kyoto. Wooden floor boards embued with the earthy scent of generations and smo...

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“Green Lawn Vendetta” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #190

Samantha waited to take revenge on her neighbor, Madison, for reporting her to the city, for watering her lawn on an alternating off day. Just because Madison’s husband, Tom, got elected onto the city council, didn’t make her the law on the street.  She turned up the water volume on her garden hose, when Madison stepped out onto her porch, but Madison turned to yell back into the cavernous house, “Casey, Barry, ...

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“A Mexican Standoff” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #189

The following story may have errors of accuracy in regards to Mexican references, where I chose vocabulary to serve the story. That said, I was inspired by the beautiful culture and language. Miguel Cartez glanced at the shipping bill of lading the policeman held out in front of him. A fly buzzed around the light bulb of his Italian luxury banker’s desk lamp. The policeman’s black cap with the ...

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