Kristina Hopper

“Somewhere” by Kristina Hopper

The diner was tucked away off of a dirt road. A half-lit sign only brightened the DI…with the remaining ones left dark. An orange cat wandered through the gravel area, stopping periodically to look off into the dusk. A random palm tree, which had no clear reasoning for its presence, rested at the entrance. With all the oddities, there were at least twenty cars parked. A group of people stood at the door, chatting amongst themselves. Down the road, was a single pump gas station. Once entering the small city, you had to catch this place, or yo...

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“Life in Friendship” by Kristina Hopper

Submitted to Contest #283

The grass was unkept. Random piles of debris littered the driveway. Half-open cardboard boxes. Overspilled containers of dog food. Worn down cigarette butts. The mailbox was tilting to the side; the door half open and overflowing with brown envelopes. The entire house was reminiscent of any living state. Walter Totten navigated his way through the devastation and knocked on the front door. He heard a dog barking behind it. Then silence. Walter knocked again. The dog began barking once more. This time, he heard a rattle, and the door opened. ...

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“Once Upon a Christmas Eve” by Kristina Hopper

Submitted to Contest #282

“I guess I’m sorry.” “You guess?” Ryles Bennett shifted in his seat. “Okay. Okay. I don’t guess. I’m sorry.” Kit Barren looked at Ryles with a look of exasperation and let out a heavy sigh. “Whatever.” Ryles looked down at his phone. There were numerous messages from his fantasy football group chat. Didn’t score any points. Not in the playoffs…again. My grandma is bringing her roasted potatoes for Christmas dinner. Nobody will say anything but why does she put raisins on it? Ryles looked up. Kit was stirring a pot on the stove. “I think I bu...

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“An act of Kindness” by Kristina Hopper

Submitted to Contest #276

Grief is such a difficult construct. One that a human layers with differing views of timelines, guidance, and social acceptance. When someone passes away in our culture, we bury them in the ground after a series of services preluding the burial and we try to find solace that our loved ones are in what we deem to be a better place.              Grief has been a difficult construction for me. On January 3rd, every year, for the rest of my life that day will be a solemn remin...

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“The Council” by Kristina Hopper

Submitted to Contest #273

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” The wind was howling and causing the ship’s bells to ring frantically. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” the deckhand continued to recite the verse of Psalm 23. The night sky had taken on an auburn hue. Annoying sea rats roamed throughout the sand of the long-gone island. The deckhand’s prayer could be heard until a path of twinkling lights presented itself. A wooden door appeared at the end of the path guar...

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“Impending Doom” by Kristina Hopper

Billows Montgomery leapt thought the air. The cat’s feet landed with a thud on the hardwood floor. Thunder was crackling through the night sky and lightning was flashing periodically. Rain pelted the windows of the house, making it seem like rocks were being hurled at the glass. But the weather was not the reason for the cat’s leap. The fireplace, in the living room, had made an explosive sound and black smoke had risen in the room. Billows stood on the edge of the ceiling high bookshelf and waited. After a few moments, a figure rose from th...

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“Life Choices” by Kristina Hopper

The bell chimed. Customers came in and out. The smell of coffee and pastry filled the air. The old-fashioned register made a chugging noise. With each order, a line of numbers would appear, and paper would unravel. Pop McGrady, the shop’s owner could be heard yelling out order numbers. Three employees, were mingling around, fulfilling orders, and working like a seamless machine. Curtis Winfield stepped through the coffee shop’s door. His morning had consisted of chasing his golden retriever, Mutt, around the neighborhood. Mutt was chasing on...

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“Community Table” by Kristina Hopper

It was an early fall evening. Leaves were painting the town. The sun was disappearing behind the clouds and the night was setting in. A black cat was sitting on Gerrick Button’s porch, staring at him intently. It was his neighbor, Anna Harbor’s cat, McMuffins. He always found his way to Gerrick’s porch throughout the week. He had many guesses to why that was, but Gerrick would normally just walk by McMuffins, say “Hello” and let the cat be. Later in the evening, he would hear Anna yelling for McMuffins, but Gerrick believed that the cat did ...

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“The Ritzy Column” by Kristina Hopper

Submitted to Contest #254

This column is meant for entertainment purposes. Please do not sue me. Any tips or leads can be directed to my email which you can find on our newspaper’s contact page. It is fifteen minutes past six in the evening. The aura of prestige and class permeates throughout the Vee ’Ola restaurant. Political figures dine here. Self-made millionaires dine here. It is even rumored that actor Getta Davis received the call to learn that she had landed the role, in what is now her award-winning movie, Plausible Deniability. The reservations are made mo...

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“This Moment” by Kristina Hopper

Submitted to Contest #253

People went by at a hurried pace. Walkie talkies screeched frantic words. Behind the curtain, the crowd seemed full of excitement. Beacon stood close to the small set of stairs leading up to the stage. She looked at her reflection in the floor length mirror, oddly placed across the hallway. Lime green pantsuit. White high-top sneakers. Sparkling rings. Expensive (but truthfully not) glasses. Everything was up to par. Beacon glanced at her phone. Six forty-four. “Beacon!” A man, with an untucked black dress shirt, black dress pants and a gold...

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“Desperate Remedies” by Kristina Hopper

Submitted to Contest #248

“There is this desperate need to always afflict. To run. To create destruction. To drop proverbial bombs that detonate on arrival. It is an empty feeling. It is what you are calling survival.”               Rachel Wallace shifted in her seat. She held onto the glass of water, in her hands, too tightly but she desperately had a feeling of needing something to hold onto. Her therapist, Cecil, waited patiently for Rachel to regain some semblance of calm. She reached out with ...

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“Phases of Time” by Kristina Hopper

Submitted to Contest #243

There is life. Then there is nothing. The door had these words emblazoned on it, like a sense of warning but also as a sense of certainty. Lem tucked her hands into her jacket even deeper and walked to the closest window, which overlooked the city. Life was continuing, as it always had. People milled in and out of buildings; people milled in and out of the sidewalks. Flying cars flew throughout the skylines. “Lem?” A female voice interrupted Lem’s onlooking. She turned around to find a woman dressed in a green fatigue type jacket and pants, ...

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“Expiration Date” by Kristina Hopper

Submitted to Contest #238

The sky was pitch black. The air was still. There was no distinguishing reason foreseen. It was a vast desert land; the lack of life was not visibly suspicious. The only oddity was the time of day. The watch on Cassidy’s wrist read three in the afternoon. The flashlight, that normally resided in her backpack, was in her hand, lighting the way. She had also shone the light on her watch, to determine the time. She trudged through the desert land, step by step. It did strike her for a second that the sky being pitch black was a concerning event...

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“Everlasting Spark” by Kristina Hopper

Submitted to Contest #237

This is ridiculous. The three words plopped into Oakley’s mind, as she took the key out of her car’s ignition. It was a rainy Wednesday evening but uncharacteristically warm for a winter night. Oakley was already running ten minutes behind. This is ridiculous. The thought plopped into her mind again. Her sister, Shaina, had convinced her to go on this date. She did not want to go. Not because she thought the guy was awful or anything like that, but because she just was not convinced love was a real concept. She was thirty-one years old...

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“One Saturday Afternoon” by Kristina Hopper

Submitted to Contest #228

It was blistering cold. The wind was howling. And even with the uncomfortable conditions, the sun was beaming in the afternoon sky. Josiah Drake was bearing the less than stellar conditions. He pulled his jacket closer to his body and rounded the corner of the sidewalk. Behind his hometown’s post office, was the entrance. He could see people going in and out of an area that was plastered with EVENT HERE signs blocked off by concrete barriers. He was positive his fellow townspeople would be less than thrilled with the barriers blocking the ma...

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