Limpopo. Free, Complete Short Story.

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

*Sorry this is so late. I had a blinding headache all day till about 2 hours ago. Probably allergies. Yes, yes, desensitization starts next week. Hopefully it works. – SAH*

None of it would have happened without Limpopo. Years later, she’d be sure of it.

He was just an assignment, not even an exciting one. At her protest that it was almost Thanksgiving and she was intending to take time and maybe spend some time in Kansas city where she’d grown up and hadn’t been for many years.

Commander Cathay had scoffed, “Oh, please. You come back to the minute after you left. And besides, it’s just up to Denver and only a hundred and fifty years past. It’s practically taking the bus to the corner.”

It wasn’t taking the bus to the corner. Cass had to go by props and costuming and get outfitted in clothes from two thousand and five. Nothing fancy. Jeans, a black t-shirt and a leather jacket. “Because it will be around the same time of year,” Jill in costuming said, as she threw Cass things from the racks. “Do you need to concealed carry?”

Jill was startled. “No. I’m supposed to distract him, maybe go on a couple of dates, so he doesn’t take the appointment at the University of Nebraska.”

“He?” Jill said. “And if it’s a razzle dazzle job, that shirt won’t do. Actually the jeans won’t do.” She’d stopped just short of saying that Cass wouldn’t do, because how would a slim blond with no special assets in the right place razzle dazzle anyone? “Take them off. Here,” Jill went through the racks and after a while threw a skirt at Cass. Cass threw it back. “I’m going to walk through a park not dance at a club.”

(Removed because book — Christmas in Time — will be available for sale on Amazon 12-14-2025)

40 thoughts on “Limpopo. Free, Complete Short Story.”

  4. My first thought was Poul Anderson’s, “Waltzing Potatoes,” which uses, “gray-green Limpopo,” to describe the filk’s protagonist’s meal at a con hotel.

    But definitely another winner.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Another reminder that our hostess is an incurable romantic. Thank you. I loved it.

    (And she can’t be older than dirt because she’s practically my age and I’m only showing “fair wear and tear.”)

    Liked by 1 person

  11. So very reminiscent of Dandelion Girl: “Day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, and yesterday a deer, and today, you.”

    That’s a compliment, for anyone who hasn’t read it. (And if you haven’t, the third search result on DDG is a PDF of the full text of Dandelion Girl. Written in 1961 so it may or may not be out of copyright depending on who owned the copyright at the time and whether they renewed it; I haven’t checked).

    Liked by 1 person

  14. I loved it. FWIIW, I saw my cardiologist yesterday, and for values of fine, everything is. Possible issues coming down the road, but doable, and several years off.

    I’ll take it, along with the dust in the room.

    Liked by 1 person

    2. The Reader envies you. His visit to the cardiologist last month has launched a series of tests (with more to come) to determine whether the time has come to fix or replace the Reader’s leaky mitral valve. The Reader has known it might get to this point since it was identified a decade ago, but still isn’t looking forward to it even though there are better options than a decade ago.

      And for Sarah – thank you for another great story. You are causing indoor dust storms everywhere among your readers.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Doc says one of these years, it’ll become an issue, along with maybe needing a pacemaker, but everything is mild enough that echo scans every other year should do enough monitoring for the while. I’ve lasted 20 years longer than my father, and have 26 years to catch up with my mother, so I’m not making bets on either side of the longevity race.

        Semi-related dust storm. Got an email from SIL, and their 12 year old Golden just crossed the Rainbow Bridge. She was a sweet girl.

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  15. Please tell me in the next century or so, they rebuild the iconic monkey house at the KC Zoo. They don’t have to keep monkeys in it.

    Loved the story (I’m starting to see a theme in these), but I’m thinking it was a setup. Like, if they sent her back *knowing* she was supposed to marry this guy she’d have an entirely different reaction than if she had to fight for the right.

    Liked by 1 person

        1. No actor is so good that they won’t leak at all. Maybe the boss’ boss set him up. Heck, the boss’ boss’ boss was set up! They had to rinse away some propagated tell that otherwise woulda made Cass unconsciously go Hmmm at the wrong instant.

          Anyone who saw it remembers the Rick&Morty episode when Morty tried to recreate that romantic Meet Cute.

          Great story, Sarah! This one and “Star Shepherd” hit extra hard.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Agreed on the conspiracy elements.

            And her immediate boss’s ignorance can be chalked up to middle manager obliviousness where a seemingly routine task is involved.

            Liked by 1 person

      1. I’ve got one that could go in such a collection!

        Not exactly a short story, though — it’s 14,000 words. I did better than my first attempt at a short story, which ended up at over 30,000 words.

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        1. I’m going to publish a collection called Christmas in the Stars next week some time. Collections are single author. Anthologies are multiple author. This will be a collection.

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  19. The great grey greasy-green Limpopo River… Love the reference. Can’t for the life of me remember the poem it’s from, but there was a little book with illustrations somewhere way back in my childhood, and I’ve had that phrase running through my head for as long as I can remember.

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