A character crosses paths with a stranger who looks eerily familiar.

Posted in Dramatic on Oct 4, 2024

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✍️ 69 stories

“The Ridgeway” by Becky Dickson

Submitted to Contest #271

The Ridgeway It was a miserable night to be out in it. The Ridgeway path snaked out in front of them, endlessly, bloated with rain and muck like a dirty slug found crawling on its belly in the garden. The wind had been howling with a brutal disregard for anything it came near, it blew with aggression as though it wanted only to hurt, only to freeze, only to slice. There was no part of John that was not wet, or so he came to believe. He no longer walked with a confident and brisk step, he squelched with all the dread of a man emerging from a ...

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“The Stowaway ” by Han Ly

Submitted to Contest #271

The sea of darkness glimmered like black onyx, silent against a full, oblong moon. To the east, an autumn draft stirred. Footsteps scuttled about like the mice, scavenging their next meal as heads bobbed and weaved over the side of the barque cargo ship, straining for a glimpse of the obscurity below— a woman, clinging to a sliver of driftwood, her knuckles bone white, gently rocking to the cradle of waves against the lullaby of the sea. As they hoisted her stiff body upwards, her arms and legs dangled limply; like a rag doll, pick...

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“THE MESSAGE” by VICTORIA HALTON

Submitted to Contest #271

I had a steadfast stride as I climbed the concrete expanse known as the Detroit Bridge near downtown Cleveland. My every step agitates the heat causing dust plumes in my wake. I looked to the cloudless sky wondering where they are? Car exhaust rides the eastward winds as I head west of Cleveland. Luckily, the traffic is moderate but I welcome gushes of cooling air that gracefully touch my skin. The bridge is normally kept clean by the sanitation workers which is why I found it odd when I saw debris in my path. As I glare ahead at brown obje...

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“In The Window” by X Kaiser

Submitted to Contest #271

When Saige was younger, he remembered living next to a family of three. A girl named Kotohina, his age, lived with her two aunts. She was beautiful, with her long raven-colored ringlets and skin untouched by the sun. Her cheeks always had a natural rosy tint. Her aunts always dressed her in frilly dresses, making her appear like a porcelain doll. Asking her about it, she squeezed a teddy bear close to her chest. "I don't mind." "Aren't you uncomfortable?" She shook her head, looking down at the ground. "It makes my aunts happy. So if they're...

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“Overall Awkward Ordeal” by Samantha Evans

Submitted to Contest #271

Eliza frequented Cafe Brie often enough to be considered a regular—she practically lived in this coffee shop when not at home. She liked the ambiance and its ability to feed her busybody nature. Honestly, to her, people-watching counted as novel research. Her writing was bettered by realistic characters. Today, Eliza sat sipping her nonfat soy latte, brow furrowed. The man standing at the counter cut a familiar silhouette. His hair was deep red and messy, he had square shoulders, and his skin was slightly olive-toned. Indeed, she had met him...

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“His Dark Eyes” by Elle Cee

Submitted to Contest #271

I can still picture him clearly, the middle aged, dark hired man, average except for big black glasses. Not sunglasses. I could see, or maybe I imagined that I could see, his dark eyes. And I did see him. Everywhere. Me, age 11 or 12… I was amazed at such coincidences! He cruised the local strip of stores near my house at the same times that my friend Sue and I did. He shopped at the pharmacy a block away at the same times that we killed some of our long days pretending to look at greeting cards. He walked on the same streets that we r...

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“The Phasing Dimensional Library ” by Robert Hall

Submitted to Contest #271

L2BA TSF3 O1Bob Hall hates his name, say it out loud, and you’ll understand why, sounds really stupid. He’s changing his name to Wentworth Hall; this will instill awe and respect in others. Wentworth was starting to feel unusually strange because the powerful psychedelics were kicking in. He wasn’t quite certain if taking 50 hits of Grateful Dead LSD, a huge ball of Magic Psilocybin Mushrooms and Very Pure DMT at the same time was the grandest idea he’d ever had. He’ll find out sooner rather than later. Massive earthquakes started shaking th...

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“Please pardon me” by Karen McDaniel

Submitted to Contest #271

“Pardon me, but you dropped this,” she said as she handed me a ketchup packet that had fallen on the ground near my feet. She was gone before I could focus and place the familiar voice or even say thank you. It all happened so quickly that I was not sure it was real. But I was moved by her kindness. The ketchup was for fries and the fries were for my Dad. I was headed on my shift to spend the night with him. He wasn’t eating well, so I always tried to tempt him with stuff he used to like to eat. It rarely worked, yet he seemed to appre...

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“The Not so Total Strangers” by Michael Lewis

Submitted to Contest #271

TThe train standing on platform five is the 9:40 pm from Chicago Union Station due to arrive at Penn Station at 7:30am the following morning. I dragged my overstuffed suitcase into my compartment and with effort, managed to lift it up to the overhead rack. Slumping down onto my seat, I closed my eyes and sighed deeply. A voice cut into my now relaxing body. “Man, that suitcase looks like it contains all your worldly possessions.” “You have no idea sir, just how close to home your comment is.”I thought...

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“Second Chances Café” by Chad Williams

Submitted to Contest #271

[Content Warning: Depression and implied physical violence.] “Hi, yes could I get a medium caramel macchiato with two pumps of vanilla please?” “Name for the order,” asked the cashier. “John,” I replied. My usual café was closed this morning due to remodeling, so I ventured down the backstreets to a hole-in-the-wall called ‘Second Chances Café’. It's a fitting name, considering they got my order wrong the last time I was there, pre-COVID. Maybe the owner named the place so their employees could have some leeway. I walked to the pickup counte...

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“Reflections of Tomorrow” by Janet Brown

Submitted to Contest #271

Reflections of Tomorrow Ignatius Carr had always been a creature of habit. Each morning, he awoke at exactly five-thirty, ran ten grueling miles through Brooklyn, and then got to his auto repair garage by nine to begin his work as a mechanic. The routine provided a predictable rhythm in his life, and in the current chaotic world, kept him grounded. But on this particular spring morning, as the sun rose above the skyline of the city into Ignatius’s small apartment, something felt off-kilter. The air seemed electri...

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“I Know You” by Adam Sifre

Submitted to Contest #271

On a clean, deceptively bright morning, the storyteller lowers himself onto his usual bench. Even that small effort makes him wince. He has the misfortune of attaining an age where he aches in more places than not. He tries and fails to ignore the stranger standing behind him and off to the side. The stranger claims to be a nurse, but this does not fool the storyteller. There is no one here, other than the two of them. The storyteller and the stranger are always alone. Part of him knows this isn't exactly right, but most of him be...

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“In My Shadow” by Jay Dillon

Submitted to Contest #271

Elliot sat in his usual seat on the subway, the one near the doors where he could lean his head against the cold window. The rhythmic clacking of the tracks always helped him escape his thoughts for a few moments, a brief reprieve from the monotony of his days. The train rocked back and forth, lulling him into a near-daze.As the train slowed at the next station, Elliot glanced up and saw the doors slide open. That’s when he noticed him, the man at the far end of the car.At first, Elliot thought nothing of it. Another face in the crowd, anoth...

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“The House that Knows” by L E

Submitted to Contest #271

It was a dark, ominous night, cloaked in fear that gripped the soul and refused to let go. The wind howled like a chorus of lost souls, whipping through the trees with a mournful wail. The branches, skeletal and gnarled, twisted and clawed at the air as if trying to escape their shadows. In the pitch darkness, shadows twisted and writhed, as if alive and hungry. The black starless sky was silent as a grave, staring down at the shadow-filled ground. They slithered along the ground, creeping closer to the forest’s heart where the old, abandone...

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“Hit & Run” by Eurydice Veil

Submitted to Contest #271

Passed Down Pages was my favorite bookstore in the city. Each and every novel was preowned, sold to the store, and placed on the shelves at ridiculously low prices. I would go in every other Friday after I got paid, right before class, and browse the romance section in search of trashy novels about billionaire CEOs and their secretaries, daydreaming about one day meeting a billionaire of my own. Unfortunately, you don’t meet billionaires in used bookshops. I was skimming the back of one of those novels when I caught something out of the corn...

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A character crosses paths with a stranger who looks eerily familiar.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 69 stories

“The Ridgeway” by Becky Dickson

“The Stowaway ” by Han Ly

“THE MESSAGE” by VICTORIA HALTON

“In The Window” by X Kaiser

“Overall Awkward Ordeal” by Samantha Evans

“His Dark Eyes” by Elle Cee

“The Phasing Dimensional Library ” by Robert Hall

“Please pardon me” by Karen McDaniel

“The Not so Total Strangers” by Michael Lewis

“Second Chances Café” by Chad Williams

“Reflections of Tomorrow” by Janet Brown

“I Know You” by Adam Sifre

“In My Shadow” by Jay Dillon

“The House that Knows” by L E

“Hit & Run” by Eurydice Veil

🌟 Similar prompts

A chance encounter brings together two old friends who have changed in surprising or strange ways.

Write a story that includes the line “Have we met before?”

Two strangers discover they have a hidden connection that alters their understanding of each other and themselves.

A character finds a clue or object linking them to a stranger.

Contest #271

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

389

Contest entries

137

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: