Linda Lovendahl

“Taken In One Minute” by Linda Lovendahl

Submitted to Contest #260

Anita stopped at the red light a couple feet ahead of the white line that separated the drive and walk space. Behind her right ear she heard what sounded like a car door opening and closing. She waited until the vehicle came up to the line and looked curiously over her shoulder at the driver.It was a white compact with open windows. Smiling at her with perfect white teeth was a man wearing a low crowned cowboy hat above penetrating blue eyes. There were tuning pegs on the guitar neck that sat on the floor of the passenger seat. His radio pla...

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“Rolling In Sweetened Cream” by Linda Lovendahl

Bowen held the sweaty limp photo in his hand as the oldest of his adopted sons said goodbye and sped down the driveway to catch his ride to baseball practice. The boy had insisted that he look at it immediately because it was sent out by the coach to update everyone of who the new Snack Queen was for supplying treats to the boys. Bowen smiled as he watched the boy’s sprint that had fooled many a pitcher while he stole bases. Adopting the fifth-grade boy and his two younger brothers had never been a mistake, despite the spontaneous, and somet...

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“Birds of Prey” by Linda Lovendahl

Aaron Jackson absent mindedly adjusted his tie as he scanned through the production scene before him. It pleased him as the courtyard outside city hall fell into place for the media event he had organized for the presidential candidate over the past three months: flags snapped against their poles with military precision as a perfect backdrop, staff members set up the lectern with microphones, a band of four army soldiers readied their jazz instruments alongside the stadium and men in black suits handed out promotional materials to ...

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“ Tree Stump Stubborn” by Linda Lovendahl

The engine purred to a stop as my most attractive companion brought his pickup to the curb in the forest service parking lot. Our view was spectacular with mountains and trees and distant waterfalls promised by the promotional brochure.“Which trail do you want to hike? “he said.I was ready to jump out and walk in the expected coolness amongst the shade of those tall vibrant greens: I swore to myself they were calling my name: my hand hit the door handle. As I turned it and stepped a leg out onto the gravely surface I said, “Whichever one you...

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“Knee to Knee, Forehead to Forehead.” by Linda Lovendahl

Submitted to Contest #210

It was nearing dusk but we didn’t care. We had hustled and bustled all the tedious hot hours of the day to get our commitments and chores done on this bright Sunday. It was our wedding anniversary and we had our tradition to maintain: a one-year review. We still had two children living with us. But they were older teens, quite independent and visiting friends this evening. Our truck came to a lazy stop on the gravel parking lot. There were several others at this popular site because there were lookout benches onto the valley below. My husban...

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“The Missing Sign” by Linda Lovendahl

My adult son told me I had one weekend left on their timetable to drive to his home and see my daughter-in-law pregnant with their first child. My mouth blurted the affirmative answer to him and I stared at the phone when I hung up. I looked out the window, realizing I had a fourteen hour drive each way to accomplish the task. I estimated the amount of gas I would need for the mileage and realized I had to ask someone to ride along and split the cost. Feeling reckless, I called an acquaintance who I knew had a relative who lived near my son...

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“Caught Between” by Linda Lovendahl

Submitted to Contest #207

“Cut!”All action stopped. There were only a few bird chirps floating on the air from nearby trees in the meadow as the production crew and the army of men heeding their general’s address in the field of battle were called to desist their efforts.The lead actor, Gerald Humphrey Castor, looked at the film director. He was breathless because the thunder of his message to the troops pounded through his heart and limbs. He lowered the raised sword to his side, his face crinkled with disbelief. “No way, “ he said, his voice as commanding as any me...

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“Rock Tumbler” by Linda Lovendahl

Submitted to Contest #206

“You want out of here? Too busy to answer a few questions, huh?” said Detective Joseph Suarez. He swiped the side of his middle-aged crooked nose, the only faulty part of what would have been a perfect Latino silhouette if it hadn’t been for too many assaults in back alleys and clandestine escapades. He used the disfigurement as evidence of how far he pushed to get what he wanted.  “Not under the Fifth Amendment,” said Andy Giuseppe. He snickered with an exaggerated lift of his beard. Slowly as though daring Suarez, he slide the sleeves...

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“Moonstruck” by Linda Lovendahl

Submitted to Contest #205

We sipped red wine in crystal glasses as the cool ocean breeze lifted our skirts on the balcony of Kathy’s Laguna Beach townhouse. The full moon cast a bright show upon the distant traffic and high-end condos meandering along the terraced landscapes below. The first sweet swallows complimented our rising spirits. This was Kathy’s night of celebration. The concert hall audience stood twice for encores and her soprano voice delivered resonating solos. I recalled the passages that gripped me during the performance. They, again, gave me chills.I...

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“Spellbound” by Linda Lovendahl

I was down-in-the-mouth about having to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles. I had a parking permit for the handicapped zone from the state I just moved from and although I could have hung onto it, I was paranoid of what I would incur financially if stopped by law enforcement in that state and they read on my driver’s license I lived elsewhere. I chided myself that it would be a quick visit. All that had to be done was a clerical task on the digital screen and shred of the parking placard. I knew they processed all kinds of paperwork all...

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“English Required” by Linda Lovendahl

Submitted to Contest #198

His ball playing had tripled the attendance to high school games over the past four years. Everyone wanted to see his talents as the best slugger and runner.  He proved he was a big league contender year after year. The audience cheered every time he flipped his bat at the opponents after a home run. Teachers granted superior grades when his winning charm set them up for the best seats. That’s why it was hard to stuff the counselor’s pale pink notice deep into his breast shirt pocket. Pink notices were warnings. He tapped it flat, not w...

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“The Potter Knows Everything” by Linda Lovendahl

Submitted to Contest #193

And, strange to tell, among the Earthen Lot Some could articulate, while others not: And suddenly one more impatient cried – “Who is the Potter, pray, and who the Pot?”1 I explained to my friends on moving day that my future roommate Korissa had committed to bring a few more laborers to help us out and provide us with a flatbed trailer. She and I got to know each other as professionals in our fields at mutual workshops near her townhouse and it only seemed practical to migrate to her place when my new job started. But my friends and I hem...

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“The Seedling Bucket” by Linda Lovendahl

Submitted to Contest #192

There it was damp and moldy stuck against the bottom of the plastic seedling bucket. “Alex, I found it!” said Sally who kneeled in the furrowed row of the grape field they owned in Fresno, California. “Found what?” said her brother who whistled while he planted fragile seedlings by hand like her in an adjacent row. “The receipt from the co-op store.” He tore his gloves off and dropped the digger by his spot to run over to her. “I can see the logo,” she said as he neared. He couldn’t see her egg shell blue eyes behind the drape of her sun-ble...

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“Whatever It Takes” by Linda Lovendahl

Submitted to Contest #191

Her hip-length shoulder bag bounced against my knees as she threaded her tiny self through the mouse-width space between me and the news racks jammed into the corner of the train station. Surprised, I pulled back into my seat to avoid further contact. She proceeded to shove the racks out of their parallel order along the wall far enough apart so they jutted out into the waiting room at odd angles. I inhaled. What could she be doing? I wondered. At first I accepted her hectic gestures as a match to what I assumed to be the mindless echoes o...

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“Shortfall” by Linda Lovendahl

Submitted to Contest #186

“Stop. You at the door cannot come into this room to speak to me if you are followed by a servant. You alone may enter with my guard.” “Sir, he is not a servant. He is my brother.” “No. He is first and foremost a black man.” “He is under my command in the Patriot Army.” “By the color of his skin, he is a slave.” “He is not a slave but a soldier on my administration staff.” “I don’t give a damn how you entitle him. You have gotten away with him as an escort in accordance to the traditions of Venezuela – nothing else. I contest his presence i...

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