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

Posted in Dramatic on Oct 4, 2024

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✍️ 69 stories

“Sorry Game” by Luna Selas

Submitted to Contest #271

Sorry Gameby Luna SelasIn the basement family room, I sort through stacks of boxed puzzles. The number of pieces expands, parallels our increasing maturity as my brothers and I grew up; 200, 500, 1,000 pieces from farm scenes to galaxies.I stack the boxes in a plastic garbage bag, not to throw away, but to drop off at the local women’s shelter. Overhead, fluorescent lights buzz, illuminating the worn carpet and shabby furniture.I haven’t been in the house in six years. Not since my mother’s stroke forced her into a nursing home. Dad had...

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“FAMILIAR STRANGERS” by Glenna Agnew

Submitted to Contest #271

All my life, I felt like I didn’t belong. I always felt I must be a foundling, perhaps left in a basket on a doorstep in the middle of the night. A quick sharp rap at the door followed by running feet as someone dropped their unwanted load and beat a hasty retreat to nearby bushes or down some dark laneway. In my head, the scenario changed regularly. Sometimes I felt that the person who had abandoned me ran quickly away without ever looking back. At other times I felt that they may have hunkered down behind some bushes, watching and wa...

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“It's Always You” by Justice Peoples

Submitted to Contest #271

The Man Why do I know her? This was all I could think about as I stared at this woman across the mall. I’m sure I’ve never met her but something about her feels so familiar. She was stunning. Her hair curled into a full, beautiful afro that made her stand out from everyone else in the room. Her skin was a golden brown that seemed to glow whenever the sun hit her skin. I felt as if she was this rare, mythical figure. Something that would disappear the second I looked away. But there was something else. Some other connection that I could not f...

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“Mouse Under the Bed” by W.S. Clyffesend

Submitted to Contest #271

As I sank into the couch, I took comfort in the familiar feeling of the worn cushions and I took great pleasure in running my fingers along the grooves of faux leather I often picked at. It had been another long day. There was nothing like letting my eyes glaze over while something was on the tv, just anything to get my mind off of how much my feet hurt and how spent my body felt. Just a few more days and I’d be able to pay the month of rent off and then I’d worry about the utilities. I looked over to the front door and double checked that I...

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“AM I, WHO WERE, YOU WILL BE” by Alexa Intrator

Submitted to Contest #271

AM I, WHO WERE, YOU WILL BEThey were looking for volunteers for the AIHG (AI Hologram Generators) at MIT, and as an Adjunct Professor of English Gita felt she should again be doing her bit to help scientific research. She was in awe of the brilliant students from around the world who came in and out of the labs and looked so serious and preoccupied with their experiments.She’d once volunteered for a language recognition experiment with invented words that sounded a bit like Sanskrit. (Gita's Sanskrit was not advanced -- she’d taken it as par...

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“The Ones We Left Behind” by Charlotte Hall

Submitted to Contest #271

TW: mentions that a character was abused in the past, but no descriptions during the story. Freya trudged along the wet-ridden cobblestoned streets, trying not to slip or step into a puddle. She looked up from her phone screen for a second to cross the road, and sighed at the grey sky, casting down upon the dreary small town she’d lived in all her life. Every day felt exactly the same. She couldn’t wait to quit her job and move out of town. She’d been saving up for as long as she’d realised she didn’t have to live here forever. &n...

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“The Sad Saga of Hootie Hannigan” by Greg Gannaway

Submitted to Contest #271

THE SAD SAGA OF HOOTIE HANNIGANBy Greg Gannaway The year was 1876, the same year Jack McCall, better known as Crooked Nose Jack, shot Wild Bill Hickok in the back of the head and killed him. Hootie Hannigan was sitting in a saloon in a little starved-out south Texas town, dressed in his usual odd assortment of patched clothes, having a plate of rewarmed beans with hog belly and drinking whiskey. He had arrived in the hottest part of the day, the sun high overhead, arched a little past noon. Inside the saloon the air was dim and still, slan...

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“MAI: Girlfriend” by Jereld Pan

Submitted to Contest #271

‘MAI is and will be the most technologically advanced language learning algorithm we’ve had since the invention of the computer. It doesn’t just pass the Turing Test, it aces it. Soon they will have to invent a new test to see if humans are smarter than MAI. If you don’t believe me, try it out for yourself, I swear you won’t be disappointed. Generate a face for MAI and start messaging your new MAI creation to see how it learns and adapts to you. Before long, you might be learning from it instead.”He looks back at his post. Reading and reread...

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“Familiar Stranger ” by PDF Writes

Submitted to Contest #271

It was a cold October morning when I stumbled into Bill's Diner, just like every other day. I ordered my usual: black coffee with a side of eggs and bacon. The chill in the air was typical for late October, so I’d wrapped my green scarf tightly around my neck to fend off the bitter breeze.“Mornin’, hon,” Clara greeted me as I slid into my usual table by the window. She was Bill’s wife and had been welcoming me this way every morning since I’d met her. My mom and I were always on the move, never staying long enough to call a place home. I wor...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 69 stories

“Sorry Game” by Luna Selas

“FAMILIAR STRANGERS” by Glenna Agnew

“It's Always You” by Justice Peoples

“Mouse Under the Bed” by W.S. Clyffesend

“AM I, WHO WERE, YOU WILL BE” by Alexa Intrator

“The Ones We Left Behind” by Charlotte Hall

“The Sad Saga of Hootie Hannigan” by Greg Gannaway

“MAI: Girlfriend” by Jereld Pan

“Familiar Stranger ” by PDF Writes

🌟 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: