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

Posted in Dramatic on Oct 4, 2024

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✍️ 69 stories

“Cecil and the Stranger” by Madison L

Submitted to Contest #271

The end begins in an empty, fog-laden town. Bare-bones, name already forgotten–this place is nothing but a pit stop for Cecil. A pothole-ridden road connects the parking lot to the train station. In between cracks in the asphalt, green weeds shoot this way and that. Pervasive through it all is the fog, so thick that Cecil can scarcely see three feet in front of himself. Still, he walks with an unshakeable sense of giddy glee. He feels it in his fluttering heart, in the smile that plays at the corners of his lips, in the feather-lightness of ...

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“Familiar Faces” by Jacob Kiser

Submitted to Contest #271

I’m sure all of you have at least once seen someone and you could swear that you knew them but couldn’t quite tell how you did. At least I hope y’all have otherwise I might be going crazy. Granted with the past week I have had I’m not to far from jumping to that conclusion. I do truly wonder if I should stop writing this and just feign ignorance maybe if I just pretend, I don’t know what I do now maybe just maybe I’ll be ok. NO, I need to share this I need to make other people aware of what is happening underneath our noses. As I was saying...

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“A Day At The Mall” by Kathy Hayes

Submitted to Contest #271

A Trip To The MallA Short StoryBy Kathy Hayes The mall was quiet for a Saturday. Maureen had several errands in the mall and she wanted to get them out of the way early. Maureen arrived at the mall at ten AM determined to be out by noon. She planned to pick up a sandwich for lunch and eat it on the way home. Maureen’s children and their families were coming to dinner at her house at six PM. There were a couple of birthdays they needed to celebrate, and plans needed to be made for the upcoming holidays. &nbs...

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“A Lapse of Judgment” by Sam Everard

Submitted to Contest #271

Harold was starting to suspect that the bus wasn’t coming at all. It was a still night, breezeless and pleasantly chilly, but he would still much rather be indoors than waiting on the backless bench he’d been perched on for the last 40 minutes. He shuffled his heavy shopping bags between his feet, and sighed loudly for his own benefit. Interminable. He hadn’t even brought a book out with him, and his phone was dead. His faith, or what was left of it, had to be placed entirely in the reliability of the rural transport network. Perhaps it was ...

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“The Beautiful Stranger” by Lizzy Shaw

Submitted to Contest #271

The Beautiful StrangerIt was a violent attack, one minute I was fine, the next my breath was gone. I thought it was a bad cold, nothing I needed to take seriously. My entire life I was one of those guys who was full of energy, never missed a day of work. Out of nowhere I started coughing, then I couldn’t catch my breath, gasping for air I suddenly realized I needed help. I was at my office at the time it happened, I called 911 but I could not remember my work address, even if I could have I wasn’t able to speak to the operator in between the...

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“The Scarred Stranger” by E. Casson

Submitted to Contest #271

I once heard someone say that everyone is held prisoner by their past. That's something I know all too well. The only thing I've wondered though, is if there's there's a way to get free.I study the revolver in my hand, trying to focus my aim despite the clamor and yelling all around me. The gun goes off, and the smoke clears, revealing the target.Another miss.I re-holster my gun as my paper target is taken down and replaced with one that isn’t littered with bullet holes. A young boy — no more than fourteen — bounces eagerly onto the platform...

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“Vestiges” by Laurence Croft

Submitted to Contest #271

(CW: swearing, violence, suicidal thoughts)I didn’t recognise the stranger, but my body did. My gut squirmed and the vein in my temple began throbbing. Then my fists and jaw clenched and the muscles in my arms started spasming like in the days when I used to hit the gym obsessively – to ‘clear my head’, I had told the therapist, leaving out the faces I envisioned on the punching bag.But who was the stranger? He had passed me in the park. Late twenties. Longish, strawberry blond hair. Aquiline nose and a beard straddling the boundary between ...

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“Chasing Your Thing” by John Sullivan

Submitted to Contest #271

Tom is a guy, not a man, not a dude, never a Sir or Mister anything. No, Tom was just a guy a regular uninteresting or often uninterested guy, at least that is the way he felt most days. See, our guy Tom works at WESTEX, a large company that does a bunch of different things that make money. This, by the way, is how Tom typically answers the question "Oh and what do they do?" he has it down to a verbal template but in simple terms WESTEX produces thermal solutions to a bunch of industries, so if it gets hot or cold and should be the opposite ...

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“A Dead Man Cannot Carry a Sword” by Marie Fielding

Submitted to Contest #271

I am walking down the street. I should be happy. I have been lately. I have managed to go on, to pick myself up as they say. On my own, more or less, so I should be proud of myself. And I should be happy. So why do I have this eerie feeling, this sense of unease, of something being not quite right. It is almost physical. I feel the air closing in on me, I feel a tightness in my chest. I must not focus on it. I must focus on the street, on the people, on the cars and the shop windows. I must keep my mind and body focused on a simple mundane o...

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“Reformation.” by Brendan Csaposs

Submitted to Contest #271

James strode down Fifth Avenue, weaving through the late afternoon crowd with the ease of someone who had walked this path a thousand times. All around, the city hummed with life – it was that perfect hour of mid-afternoon where everyone had found their rhythm for the day. The autumn air had a crisp bite to it, leaves swirling along the pavement intermingling with the rubbish, but his mind was far from his surroundings. He was moving catatonically almost, lost in the rhythm of his daily routine: work, home, sleep. Repeat. But then something ...

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“Convergence” by C. Charles

Submitted to Contest #271

Kurt sat on a bench outside the main hall of the University and watched the students and professors make their way across the campus. He watched the way some students walked in groups while others hurriedly swerved around their classmates, obviously late for something. Some students looked professional and put together with bright, eager eyes—ready for the day. Some of them looked like they’d just rolled out of bed, their sleepy eyes drooping and fighting to stay awake. It seemed like they were all drinking coffee out of paper cups. The prof...

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“Choose Your Fate” by Mary Silinski

Submitted to Contest #271

CW: domestic violence/abuse, suicide, murder Somebody was watching me. Even in my severely drunken state, I felt the tingling feeling in the back of my neck - something I always claimed was a superpower of mine. I took my attention off the bartender with whom I had been arguing - just give me one more fucking drink - and swiveled my head around. The disco lights of the club spun around me in a blur, and for a moment I marveled at the pretty colors, reveled in them. “Will you buy me a drink?” I drawled, even before I had finished turni...

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“Face that looks familiar” by Ellen Talboom

Submitted to Contest #271

Observing people is such a fun past time. So many different people going about their daily life activities. Different yet the same. Some look familiar, some very familiar, while others, nope. This is why being employed in the hospitality field is the same yet different every time. Crowds move around, window shopping then stopping at the Resort Cafe for something yummy.One time, this guy came into the cafe. He looked so much like a former classmate. He probably thought he was being hit on. Nope. Awkward. No more doing that.Another day at the ...

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“You Must Have Me Mistaken” by A. McGregor

Submitted to Contest #271

The TV is muted, but the man watches the screen. He reads the subtitles. A strike among dockworkers and longshoremen on the Eastern Seaboard has effectively cut off flow of imports and exports at the ports. The screen cuts back to a young news anchor. The man watches her red lips as she talks, wishing he could hear her voice. The news depresses him, but he bets she has a lovely voice. “James?” the barista calls out, interrupting his thoughts. The man grabs his coffee and smiles politely at her. She has warm, inviting brown eyes. There’s some...

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“The Hunt for the Android in the Dark Forest” by David Dean

Submitted to Contest #271

Contains illicit love: Giselle Prata rushed out of her office. Her android, Johnny Antunes, and her sister, Hannah had wandered into the forest surrounding Nazca, and neither had returned. The blazing sun beat down on Nazca’s narrow streets as Giselle drove, reflecting off every surface of the car. Giselle felt the oppressive heat soak through her clothes as she searched for her android. The model, a sleek general intelligence unit worth more than half a million dollars, was not supposed to behave this way.When she arrived at the forest, she...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 69 stories

“Cecil and the Stranger” by Madison L

“Familiar Faces” by Jacob Kiser

“A Day At The Mall” by Kathy Hayes

“A Lapse of Judgment” by Sam Everard

“The Beautiful Stranger” by Lizzy Shaw

“The Scarred Stranger” by E. Casson

“Vestiges” by Laurence Croft

“Chasing Your Thing” by John Sullivan

“A Dead Man Cannot Carry a Sword” by Marie Fielding

“Reformation.” by Brendan Csaposs

“Convergence” by C. Charles

“Choose Your Fate” by Mary Silinski

“Face that looks familiar” by Ellen Talboom

“You Must Have Me Mistaken” by A. McGregor

“The Hunt for the Android in the Dark Forest” by David Dean

🌟 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: