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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about someone welcoming a stranger into their home.

Posted in Thriller and Suspense on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

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✍️ 161 stories

“The Mystery Man.” by Damian Nowacki

Submitted to Contest #96

Author’s note: Hello! New story here! This is a first-person story written by a 14-year old girl  about a family (and a cat)  that live in the UK who get a strange stranger that their uncle brought along with him. Hope you enjoy my story!   Uncle Len was our favourite uncle. Not just mine, also my big brother’s (Sam, although he likes to be called Blaze since he said that ‘Sam’ is a babish name) and probably my mum and dad’s too. He was ever so kind, he brought presents every time he visited, that’s why we wanted him ...

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“Chance Acquaintances” by Jon R. Miller

Submitted to Contest #96

Relying heavily on his cypress-wood staff, Manabu dragged his feet along a coastal road. Sunbaked asphalt warmed his soles through the straw sandals. At the rate his motor skills deteriorated, he’d be a limping pile of body parts in no time, much less arrive at the next fishing village. He panted heavily. The taste of brine saturated his mouth. He halted, buttressed himself against the staff, and squinted at the late afternoon sky. He had to admit the light blue firmament had grown on him. The color struck him as odd and exotic at first. But...

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“The Child in the Forest” by Adrian Stolecki

Submitted to Contest #96

It was Midautumn when father found the child. The girl that would change my world. My father was a hunter and had gone out with three other men from the village to hunt boar. The leaves had all but fallen from the trees already and there was a chill on the wind that seemed to press down on the village, forcing everyone to stay in their homes huddled around their hearths and bundled in their wool and furs. The harvest was over, and the lord in his stone keep on the hill had gotten his due, despite the village barely having enough for the wint...

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“Inside man, outside man” by Brett B

Submitted to Contest #96

Johnnie Walker, the one with the blue label, that was his drink. The taste was adequate, but it was the burn that he craved. That sweet, smokey flow that scorched his insides. Each sip igniting life into his dormant corpse with its toasty embrace. He preferred it neat, as to assure that burn would not be diminished or diluted in any way.Hypnotized by the glow of the crackling logs in the fireplace, he swirled his amber potion around in its glass. Relaxed to the max by rolling the sleeves of his button-up halfway on his forearms but neglectin...

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“Strange ” by Stone Burn

Submitted to Contest #96

Ranger and Jasmine stood in front of their house embracing each other. The rain pounded down on them. Lighting lit up the sky and thunder boomed louder than it ever had before. ¨We should probably go inside¨ Jasmine said, shivering as a big gust of wind blew. They quickly went inside. A few minutes later they heard a loud knock on the door. Ranger and Jasmine looked at each other. Who was at their door this late in the night? Soon the knocking became pounding. It seemed like the door would break under the pressure. Ranger jumped up and opene...

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“The Man In The Brown Coat” by Dominic McQuinn

Submitted to Contest #96

Normally I really don’t like people in my house. I’m not a very organized person so my house is kind of a mess. But this man… I don’t know but there was such kindness in his smile and the way he asked to stay for an hour or two. So naturally, I let him in without really thinking about how much of a mess my house was. I apologized straight away but the response I got was unexpected. “Oh I don’t mind Miss, I’ve lived in worse areas so believe me it’s quite alright.” huh that was an oddly nice way of saying I’m not too messy. “Would y...

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“The Last Time” by Sofia A

Submitted to Contest #96

I was not expecting anyone to knock on my door that night. Especially at 11:30 pm. I also was most certainly not expecting a body to fall on me when I answered. The person was drenched from the rain that had persisted through the past hour or so. I screamed as the dead weight knocked me to the ground. The body had me pinned to the floor. I pushed and flailed until I could wiggle my way out from beneath it. I scrambled to my feet and looked down at the person, they laid still and unmoving. Panting from my efforts, I thought about what to do...

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“Stranger Dangers” by Gwad Rètrö Rumerz

Submitted to Contest #96

Don was getting ready to sit with his family and have supper when he heard a knock at his door. Who could that be? he wondered. He ran to the master bedroom and picked a gun. “Kids, go to your room,” said his wife Jeanette. The knock sounded on the door once again. He held his pistol ready to pull the trigger and tiptoed to the front door, “How’s out there?” “Sir, help me, help me, I fell off a motorcycle.” Don opened the door slowly. He saw a man about ten years younger than him clutching his left shoulder with his righ...

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“Light in an Empty Home” by Jordan Wharton

Submitted to Contest #96

Knock. Knock. Knock. Aurora's pale blue eyes focused on the large oak door that had not accepted a visitor since the accident five years prior. She was sprinkling homemade garlic seasoning on fresh broccoli she picked up the day before from the Eagle River farmer's market. Outside her kitchen window, the sun glistened high above the snow-capped Chugach mountains. Her house was not anything special, but it did the job. The two-story cabin, once full of energy, sat in silence at the top of Grizzly Drive. She remembered the days when Joh...

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“Locked out” by Juliana Meyer

Submitted to Contest #96

"Um guys?" Jules says in a worried tone "Ya?" Jalen asks as Joslyn is running back and forth down the hotel halls because she had lost the game of exploding kittens. "Um so the door kinda shut on me" Jules says in a fake laughing tone "Um well me nore braden have a room key to the hotel room so we are stuck out here" Jalen worries "Don't tell joslyn yet though" Jules says whispering "Ok" "Ok" "Ok" Jalen, Braden and Bella agreed. JOslyn was running for her heart's content until "Whoa!" Jolyn faceplants on the ground with a thud. "Im ok" Josly...

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“You're My Boy Blue: The Day We Relied on a Stranger” by Sharon Smith

Submitted to Contest #96

      "Oh great! We're screwed!", Johnny yelled out as Sharon tried to veer off to the side of the highway in Benson, Missouri.  The SUV completely shut down out of nowhere as they were traveling out West.  They were only halfway through their trip and had to be in Arizona in about two and a half weeks. The two of them had never gone on any excursion like this before. All alone in Missouri where neither of them knew a soul. They sat in disbelief as they worried about what to do next. "I guess we just g...

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“Alex's Cocktail” by Vanit Shah

Submitted to Contest #96

Trigger Warning: Extreme Prejudice - “I’m coming, I’m FUCKING COMING!!” Lumbering my way down the steps, I curse to myself as the doorbell rings for a sixth time. Who in blazes would come calling this late on a Monday? I wrench the door open, ready to deliver an earful to the poor FedEx person who has the misfortune of delivering to me tonight. Somehow, I’m greeted by something even worse. Long, unkempt hair, a ratty t-shirt and faded jeans. The strong stench of cigarette smoke. A bristly beard covering most of his face.“Bloody panhandlers! ...

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“Ms. Eirian and the Stranger” by Keiko Canonita Ong

Submitted to Contest #96

A long, long time ago, when gods and goddesses, demons and fairies, wizards and dragons, still roamed the land, there lived a human woman in a rural village. As it is with villages, everyone knew everyone – and everyone knew this virtuous lady. This woman was the village school teacher, a position which garnered respect from the folks – even the village chief treated her like his own mother. Nobody knew where she had come from, but that did not matter. She was kind and did not seek trouble. In fact, when the village children saw her face, ...

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“Welcome, Stranger!” by Maya Ramos

Submitted to Contest #96

Silence was common on Alice's home. It is very that Alice is literally used to it. How could you not be used to it when you are all alone on the house, right? But one rainy night, that silence was broke by a loud knock on her wooden door. Knock! Knock! Knock! The first three knocks were ignored by Alice because she does not have anything or anyone at all to expect as a visitor to her home, but then the knocks continued and it is getting to her nerves. With a heavy feet, she walks towards the door and was surprised to be greeted by a youn...

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“Make it right” by Carol Gichuru

Submitted to Contest #96

Martha opened the diner early in the morning, like she had been doing for the last six months since she bought it from an old couple, she felt it was a day like any other. She had two waitress's and a cook, serving breakfast to the usual customers she noticed this particular young man wearing a blue t-shirt who had been coming in everyday for the past one week.  Ordering the usual egg sandwich and coffee. He sat politely as always at the corner reading his books for two hours, when he walks out and comes back in the evening. She had hea...

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🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about strangers becoming friends, or friends becoming strangers.

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Start your story in an empty guest room.

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Write about a character who has to rely on the hospitality of strangers.

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Contest #96

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