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

Posted in Short Story on Oct 4, 2024

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✍️ 70 stories

“Quantum Quest” by Rick Hempsall

Submitted to Contest #271

The clicking of a keyboard echoes in the quiet of the night. Andy, a lone game developer with the brain of a supercomputer but the social finesse of a squirrel, wrestles with a new glitch within his latest VR escapade, "Quantum Quests." The daily grind of coding and problem-solving can drain the brightest minds of their glow. Andy lives for the strange and bizarre, to battle the unanswered questions of life, while creating his own world where he can feel free. Like most inquisitive minds, Andy always keeps a keen eye for detail in his everyd...

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“Bad Woman” by Rulide Faye

Submitted to Contest #271

Walking down the street late evening after work, I noticed a man in the distant front seemed to be following a young teenage girl. He would stop in his tracks whenever you would pause to adjust your loosened shoelaces. With the street relatively scarce with pedestrians, I took large strides to quickly close the gap between you and me. A whiff of alcohol hit me as I passed by him.Closing in on your side, I looked ahead with a certain determination. “Don’t look back. There's a man behind you following you for a while now. Keep calm, and act li...

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“The Implications of Savagery For the Nuclear Family On Holiday” by Aaron Bowen

Submitted to Contest #271

Crispy shreds of fried potato broke beneath the press of the well-used fork I wielded in my right hand. Then, a liminal moment of spearing and lifting before— sublime pleasure— a bite crackled between a crown and a filling. Latkes, it would seem, were every bit as addictive as I’d been led to believe by one of the myriad Youtube videos my wife and I had watched about food in the waning hours of our shared evenings. Channel name and creator’s face forgotten, all that remained, crystalline in my memory, was the content and it...

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“Crossed Paths” by Michael Palmieri

Submitted to Contest #271

June 2003 Shane had just graduated from high school and was attending a party. He stood in the front yard, waiting for his blind date to show up. His friend had set him up, insisting the girl was amazing—someone he absolutely had to meet. But after three hours and a few drinks, Shane’s hopeful anticipation began to crumble into disappointment. Shane sighed heavily, his once hopeful attitude fading into something more dismal. "Why the long face?" a voice chimed in, catching him off guard. A girl, probably just two or three years older than h...

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“Once Upon A Psychopath ” by C. H.

Submitted to Contest #271

Boone watched herons hunt along the river’s edge as fog turned the damp leaves into fleeting glitter. He’d come to this spot for months, the marshy landscape reminded him of home. He decided to return to Louisiana, unsure why he’d left in the first place. His Vermont house, perched on a wooded hill with berry bushes and a view of Mount Mansfield, offered solitude, but it wasn’t home. By 4 a.m., he was back at the river for one last sunrise before packing his things. As cattails swayed in the breeze and blackbirds called, Boone followed a dra...

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“Stranger Than Fiction, Stranger...” by Beau Smith

Submitted to Contest #271

It was far, far away. It was so close that it defied space and time. It was beyond the physical. It was the physical. It was vast, like God. It was small and humble, like God. Honestly, I don’t know what it was. But that’s where the gods dwelt, and that’s where the Sol Shades came from. Who would contrive such a thing? The Nerd…He was busy in his tower—a tower perched atop a high mountaintop, overlooking a beach where waves crashed against jagged rocks. The Nerd Tower. Every evening, the sun sank into the horizon, smearing the sky with fiery...

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“Mzungu Dreams” by Jeff Meade

Submitted to Contest #271

Mzungu Dreams The gentle wind whistling through the savannah grass was punctuated only by the grunting of rutting impala. Young bucks fought over who got to lead the small harem of does. They’d do this all day, and the leadership, or rather ownership, of the herd changed hands every hour. Such is the nature of life in Uganda’s Lake Mburo safari park. “Look, Quincy! I made the Buffalo!” Meren, our local Bugandan safari guide, proudly displayed her clay buffalo skull to my seven year old. They had torn apart a termite mound and use...

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“Three Encounters” by Lisa Rehfuss

Submitted to Contest #271

Encounter One Navigating an unfamiliar street teeming with late to work, workers, in a city I just arrived in an hour before, throngs circle, dodge, jostle, wind, and whine pass. It's already a hectic day. Then, a roar more agonizing than proud, erupts. I eye him about half a block down.He stands over six feet, five inches tall.Enormous. Brown skanky hair falls shoulder length onto clothes that barely hold their shape and a body which has seen too few showers. Settling on his reflection in a store window, people are giving t...

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“Serendipity Brew” by Christopher Madsen

Submitted to Contest #271

Gina stomped toward her daily caffeine cathedral, Seattle Shotz. Her stilettos clicked like a metronome against the sidewalk. She shoved on the glass door, craving her afternoon pick-me up. Nada. Gina's eyebrows did a full-on scrunch. She gave another push. Still nothing. Her eyes narrowed on a handwritten note behind the glass: "Closed Today. Open Tomorrow :)" The smiley face felt like a passive-aggressive slap. "Are you kidding me?" she huffed. Arms akimbo, she glared at the note. This was the cherry on top of a week teetering o...

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“Our history isn't written in our DNA” by Kaila Haines

Submitted to Contest #271

They were on opposite sides of the barricade, but it was like looking into a mirror - except for the color of their skin. The angry black man had been shouting obscenities as John approached and stopped mid-insult. John could see by the look on the man’s face he saw the resemblance too. They both took a moment to examine one another. Slim, elegant eyebrows curved graciously over dark brown eyes. So dark they were practically black. A wide eggplant-shaped nose hovered over lascivious lips that women seemed to find attra...

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“A Mountain and Dungeons & Dragons” by Nate Young

Submitted to Contest #271

“Welp,” the mountain guide said, “here we are. This is the path. This one here, the one we’re standin’ on, that’s the main path. You can get up to that peak o’er there in ‘bout three-and-a-half hours er so. There’s another trail, but it takes a while longer and is MUCH harder. You fools probably ain’t ready to go on it yet.” I looked around, looking for any intrigued faces, but saw none. Luckily, I don’t really mind standing out in the crowd. “Hey! I’d like to go on that second path!” ”Oh,” the guide said drearily. “I was hoping no one would...

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“Identity theft” by Sandy Burke

Submitted to Contest #271

Liza was sitting at her desk, enjoying a perfect homemade latte, and absent-mindedly scrolling through Facebook. She looked down to admire her foaming milk art when she heard a message coming through on her DMs. She didn’t look up immediately because she wanted to take a picture of the perfect Christmas tree she had made on top of her coffee. Liza had a lot of time on her hands lately because she was between jobs, which she preferred to say instead of being out of work because it sounded much more optimistic. When she was done filming her ma...

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“In the Pocket” by Christopher Rankin

Submitted to Contest #271

Three knocks on the front door. Bill always knocked three times on the door of the of the name he had to cross off. He had been doing this for 20 years and it was something that he was good at. 1945 was the first time he had killed a man, not in the war but on the streets of Chicago. He was so close to getting out of this life that he had built, he only needed to finish this last job. He had enough money put away and he was going to use it to start a new life in Florida, a new life filled with sunshine. His trusted Smith & Wes...

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“Skipping Stones, Skipping Dreams” by Daron Thompson

Submitted to Contest #271

Skipping Stones, Skipping DreamsBy Daron Thompson Lisa McKenna never skipped fast enough to escape the noise—the shouting, the sirens, the sound of her world crumbling around her. Each time the skipping rope slapped against the cracked pavement, she felt a brief flicker of peace, but it was fleeting. As the sun barely peeked over the horizon that morning, Lisa stood outside her apartment in the empty lot. The streets were quiet now, eerily so, but Lisa knew the silence well. It was the kind of silence that settled before something bad happen...

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“Bit Coin Girl” by Odiseo Quintin

Submitted to Contest #271

When Josh travels from his Mexican retirement home back to the States, he uses a handy website to find persons willing and able to housesit for him. Otherwise, the plants and the family pets would have no way to survive on their own. Lavinia, a citizen of Great Britain and a gal formerly teaching in Thailand, willingly flew from London to the Mexican state of Baja California Sur to fill the position for a three-week period. Upon Josh’s return, she remained in Mexico and rented a condo near the beachfront for the remainder of her stay. The fo...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 70 stories

“Quantum Quest” by Rick Hempsall

“Bad Woman” by Rulide Faye

“The Implications of Savagery For the Nuclear Family On Holiday” by Aaron Bowen

“Crossed Paths” by Michael Palmieri

“Once Upon A Psychopath ” by C. H.

“Stranger Than Fiction, Stranger...” by Beau Smith

“Mzungu Dreams” by Jeff Meade

“Three Encounters” by Lisa Rehfuss

“Serendipity Brew” by Christopher Madsen

“Our history isn't written in our DNA” by Kaila Haines

“A Mountain and Dungeons & Dragons” by Nate Young

“Identity theft” by Sandy Burke

“In the Pocket” by Christopher Rankin

“Skipping Stones, Skipping Dreams” by Daron Thompson

“Bit Coin Girl” by Odiseo Quintin

🌟 Similar prompts

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

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?”

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: