Five Total Strangers Novels & Stories

Ruby shot back. Enough. His tone turned cold. Get something else for your grandmother. Do you think she's more important than Matilda Knight? I'm done arguing about this. As Matilda heard her own name, she went stiff. Matilda whispered, why are these uncouth strangers talking about me? Stunned, she reached for Ruby's hand in fear

He turns the tablet toward us. The first video begins playing. The stranger stands across the street, watching us. The timestamp matches exactly. The officer switches to another camera from a different angle. The stranger walks behind a delivery truck, then, nothing. He never comes out the other side. I frown. “Replay it.” The officer does again. The stranger appears clearly. Then disappears the instant the truck blocks the camera. The third camera shows the same moment, no stranger. The fourth, nothing. The fifth, nothing.

“Will there be a second date, though?” Emma shrugged. “We’ll see.” She looked at him. “So what do you have for me case-wise?” Camille rushed to the shelter, carrying Emily. There was a long line of people waiting outside. She swallowed, fearing she may not get a room. It wasn’t long until she was proven right as the doors were closed. She sighed and walked away with her daughter. Typically, they would find a semi-private place to sleep in, but she never felt safe those nights. She thought about it for a moment and realized she didn’t feel safe most nights. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the address she’d been given. All her upbringing had taught her not to trust strangers, but sh

' " I've never had one in my life , ' she replied breathlessly as she sank down on a comfortable couch . Then it is high time you started . He made a sign to the waiter and ordered two White Ladies . ' A most innocuous drink I assure you , he told her . He was eyeing her critically . She had certainly interpreted literally his sug gestion that she should do the thing in style when she went shopping . Her clothes were really too much for such a simple occasion as lunch with one's solicitor ; she might have been going to a garden party at Buckingham Palace . She would have a lot to learn and he didn't quite know who was going to teach her . He felt sure that there were a number of things about

Almost instinctively, I pulled out my phone and checked my browsing history for the video from last night. In it, the side profiles of the two elderly people were identical to the faces of my in-laws standing before me now. If the clip hadn't flashed by so quickly, I would have recognized them right away. And in other videos—those fleeting, fragmented moments—my wife, Cynthia Muller, appeared again and again, holding a child in her arms. The little boy called her "Mom" with intimate affection. Under a sky lit by fireworks, the man held her close and kissed her.

Layla collapsed to the ground, clutching her head and screaming, "Stop filming!" Lucas' face went pale. He trembled uncontrollably, unable to say a word.

I clicked the shutter too forcefully. The sound made him glance my way. He looked directly at me—and smiled politely. A tight, impersonal smile. The kind you give to strangers. Of course he didn’t recognise me. Not with this face—a stranger’s face, reshaped by surgeons after the accident had stolen everything. “You, okay?” someone asked. " Yeah,” I lied. “Just light-headed.”, I blinked. Tom, my colleague, handed me a glass of water. “Here. You look pale. Take this , it will help .” Tom spoke while he handed a glass of water

“What do you mean?” “I need something strong.” Melissa dropped her handbag on the arm of the couch and made her way into the kitchen with her stained blazer. She dumped the blazer into the washing machine, then went in search of the strongest drink they had in the fridge. Shutting the door of the fridge, Melissa came face to face with Emily. She sighed. “I bumped into him.” “Who?” Emily frowned. “I don’t know. I don’t know his name. The stranger.” “What stranger? Of course, we just moved to this city, everyone is a stranger.”

Moreover, in his story, they came from a fairly large country although he did not clearly know where that country was. "No need." Arthur took a breath. "As long as they don't interfere with our lives, we don't need to know where they come from. Because sometimes, we don't know how hard they've covered up their previous lives and how hard they've tried to be who they are now. We work with them professionally, no need to know their background. You remember, Floyd taught me that." Wilson heard that and nodded quickly. Yes, they could be close, but for starters it was better to be safe.

Triple J grabbed the entire bottle from the counter and began to empty its contents in his stomach like it was water. He was so angry and he knew the only way of getting rid of it was by drinking alcohol. How could his parents choose a total stranger over him? Someone they had only known for two months? Fine, he was their son… but so? That changes nothing. He still isn’t a part of the family and he shouldn’t be let in, he doesn’t even want to be a part of it.