Hope Linter

“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, and Jimmy, get out here now!” She turned to Samantha, her eyes scrunched up and her mouth twisted with distaste. “Kids!” Sama...

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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 México Policia Federal insignia gulped the whole of what looked to be his narrow forehead, and crystalline beads of sweat rolled down the man’...

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“You have to be my Child for a day.” by Hope Linter

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #188

“So what’s the catch?” I asked, thumbing through my paperback book, happy to hear my daughter Lillianne’s glee, instead of her moping, after finding Bubby, her birthday rabbit, lying in his cage, dead. Of all the stupid things for her seventh birthday, I’d surprised her with a fragile, mortal creature, when her mother, my wife, had passed away a year ago. I put my book down.  She clapped her hands. “You have to be my child for a day.”  “And if I am, what will I get?” I wondered where this was going. “Daddy,” she said in exaggera...

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“Saving the Stray Cat” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #187

Light rain fell on the city pavement, as a black cat with white paws brushed by Sandra, outside Hampton’s Drug Store.  “Here kitty, you look just like my old Tinkerbell.” Magnetized by the cat’s topaz eyes, Sandra held out her palm, but the cat turned its head and sniffed the air, and ran off, past a skinny boy juggling, and an old man in a tartan skirt playing a harmonica.  Sandra pulled her baseball cap over her eyes, and fitted her N-95 mask over her face and entered the store, checking for security, and headed to the snack ai...

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“The Lure” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #186

Sun, between noon and sunset and sky a dusky blue. Children, in action, under the water sprinkler in park, shouts of laughter, squeals of excitement. Droplets of water on warm flesh, on hair, on tongues, in eyes. Jillianne, happy, open wide smile, flashing white teeth, sandles off, barefeet on grass, cartwheels through the sprinkler rain, unaware of the woman, lonely and alone on the wooden bench under the maple tree with sun shriveled leaves. Happy that Lauren, her best friend, not in mind of her problem of yesterday, a...

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“All My Dolls” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #185

“I have so many dolls, I can’t count them all,” Anna said to her best friend Candice, while they were being driven home from kindergarten by Candice’s mom. “Can I have one of your dolls? I only have two.” Candice said, pulling at her seatbelt strap. “Candice. You shouldn’t be asking; two dolls are enough for you, and if you didn’t keep losing them, you’d have more,” her mom said, looking in her rearview mirror at the two girls in the back seat. “But I’m missing Samantha,” Candice said. “If you look hard enough, you’ll find her.” Candice’...

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“A Wrench thrown at Heartache” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #184

Zed stared at the email, knowing once he’d put it down, he’d never look at it again. Strings of letters strung together, forming words, forming sentences, so disconnecting. Jessie, the woman who had been the love of his life, was no more the flesh and blood woman in his arms, her face and her words, now mere pixels on his screen, distintegrating.  He hurled the computer into his backyard, symbolic, he knew, but using his physical strength felt good. For good measure, he flung a large wrench, shattering the monitor.  …  Eigh...

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“Walking the Plank” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #183

SJ, as she called herself, not Sarah Jane, as christened, finished working on the bank of computers in the Georgia Community Center Library.  “All done. You shouldn’t have any trouble,” she told the librarian, an older woman with anxious gray eyes. “Thank you for coming.” The librarian fidgeted with the pen in her hand. “Ah,… I’d feel better if you wouldn’t mind sitting with me while I log in and check the system?”  SJ felt the woman’s gray eyes wavering on her and forced a smile. Check, her supervisor had warned her not to expe...

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“Finding Nerve” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #180

1974, Courtney, BC. John and Adam, tenth graders, lingered against the wall of the gymnasium with the other boys, while the girls waited on the other side. Dimmed lights and amplified rock music changed the gym into a sock hop. John rubbed at a mark on his indoor running shoes with spit and straightened the hem of his new Lee jeans he’d ironed for the dance. His mom had told him how she had worn socks when she first danced with his dad at a school dance.  Across the room, Caroline swayed in a very short pink skirt, and he could trace t...

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“ A Veterinarian's New Year's Eve Day” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #179

Disclaimer: The following medical references may not all be entirely accurate. Also I believe the song title is made up, as I wasn't sure of using a popular song title. Kaylee sang, “letting me sing,” in the operating room, while she finished stitching up an older labrador after a routine appendix operation. Gina, her assistant and best friend poked her head in, “Is that the song you’re going to sing tonight at Karaoke. “Yes, it’s my last chance, just fourteen more hours to go before New Year’s.” “Ha, I’ll bet you’ll chicken out, jus...

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“Rejection” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #178

Jessica tugged at the green taffeta dress, she’d gotten from the consignmet shop on East Broadway. Last week she’d fallen in love with how it fit and looked on her. Her coworkers had tranformed the bland hotel meeting room in a Christmas party zone. She scanned the room for Thom. If it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t have bothered to get a newish dress, or even come.  There he was over by the planter, his back to her. With his height, his suit looked perfect on his broad shoulders. Why was he talking to Lydia, who only ever worked night s...

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“I didn't do it..” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #165

On her morning nursing rounds, June passed by Room 215, where Mrs. Edwina Smith, a middle-aged woman in the hospital for an inflamed pancreas, appeared to be slumbering, her enormous chest and abdomen rising and falling. Then the woman grunted and her eyes flickered open. Cleo, the new nurse, was drawing up insulin, her black nail polish shining in the florescent light. By some instinct, June noticed the loaded syringe… it was too much… she was sure.. but no, she didn’t want to confront the new nurse, with her choppy jet black hair and her l...

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“Dinner Cross Talk” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #163

Note: this story contains the topic of cross-dressing.  John put his fork down. The bustling family dinner had gone quiet. Even his kid brother, Carl who’d blabbed on him was silent, but his cheeks were puffed out, like he was going to explode.. Mom in her light blue cotton shirt was looking down at her own plate, salisbury steak half eaten, same with gravy covered potatoes and peas. Dad, at the end of table, still in his work shirt, stared up at the dingy popcorn stucco ceiling, only the whites of his eyes dangling from his brows.. ...

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“Dawn attempts to control meeting with her Mom ” by Hope Linter

Dawn hesitated before she entered Benjamin’s Coffee Shop near her home in Vancouver’s West End. She felt queasy and hoped the Gravol would set in before her mom arrived. The door to the coffee shop looked impressive, tall with dark wood forming a frame around the oval glass. Her mom would find that posh, but she’d complain about the interior minimalist style of the cafe being cold. The cement floor and the ancient school discarded chairs painted bright orange and turquoise suited her own sense of utilitarianism, but would her mom be too un...

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“Greener Grass” by Hope Linter

Betty had a problem. She needed to get to the field on other side of the fence, because the grass was greener and looked more luscious over there. The cows on the other side of the fence were enjoying the grass more, and they looked happier. “Mavis, have you ever been to that field past the fence over to that other field over there?” Betty asked, asked her older friend. Mavis rolled her large brown cow eyes. “Why would I want to go over there, when I can get as much grass as I need right here?” “But the grass over there looks taller an...

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