Foreigner On The Periphery Novels & Stories

Mom started pointing fingers and scolding me as if she finally found a way to attack me. She continued, "We're just asking for a room change, it's not like we're not bringing you along. And yet, you're saying such things—you really disappoint me, Heidi. "Back then, Madie chose to go abroad just to let you experience a complete family. Even after she came back, she was worried you'd mind, so she dared not come back home and rented a place herself. But now, you're even refusing her a room? How could you be so selfish?"

His skin was tanned, as if he spent most of his time outside – killing territory passers – and he had a light stubble lining that perfect jaw. “Name’s Chase, never come into my territory again” he says and I’m suddenly pushed backwards. I land on my bum again, knowing that it will join the parts of me that will become blue. I scramble up, rushing towards Felix. For the first time in our lives, he wraps an arm around my waist, comforting me. “If I see any of you close to the border again – I will end you!” Chase warns. He glances at me for a second, giving me a wink before disappearing into the woods. When he’s gone I nestle my head into Felix’s shoulder, tears leaking out of my eyes.

His thumb presses lightly against my lip, not soft, not gentle, just enough to pull me back into him, and the connection shifts instantly, thinning but not breaking. Jax exhales slowly behind me. “Better.” But it doesn’t stop. It spreads. I feel it move outward, not toward one place anymore, but in different directions, faint threads stretching farther than before, and my body reacts without thinking, my shoulders tightening as I take a slow breath. “They’re not just outside the border,” I say. Derek’s eyes narrow. “How far?” “I don’t know,” I answer, my voice quiet, steady. “But it’s not just one group.”

her body looked thin and shriveled, like something had sucked all the life out of her. Jamie had seen bodies like this before. Twice, to be exact. "That makes three," Jamie said to himself, grimly. "Three bodies in two months. All drained the same way." "The foreigners are back," an old woman in the crowd said, her voice shaking. "They have come back to drain us all." Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd. Fear filled the air, thick and heavy. “Holla!! everybody back to your homes, the soldiers will take it from here." The district chief finally arrived together with his entourage.

Her gaze stayed on mine a second too long before shifting back toward the maps again. Coward. Interesting. I almost smiled at the thought. “Tell me about the outsiders,” she said quietly. “Which part?” “The real part.” There it was again. That refusal to settle for fragments anymore. I respected it. “Their movements are coordinated,” I said. “Too coordinated for random territory pressure.” “So someone organized this.” “Yes.” “Someone powerful?” “Powerful enough to move across pack borders without triggering immediate retaliation.” Her expression hardened slightly at that. “You think this reaches beyond Ironfang.”

"I can explain," said the stranger. "I'm a Bronze Nation emigrant, now an outlander technically by your terms. I recognized you from afar when I saw you questioning the locals, but I didn't know if you were friend or foe. There's been no word yet about the situation on the border so I was being cautious."

—And adornments, if you wish. This close up I notice that his teeth are slightly pointed when he speaks. It's a wolf. I feel uncomfortable, but I tell myself that now I am among them, among the wolves. There are no more Servants of the Goddess, and someone from the mainland would equally be an outsider. I'm alone. Young Reeina misinterprets my silence. — Did I displease you, Oracle? - What? She looks at the foreigner. She's confused. Well, no one is more confused than me.

No, John Donne, her inner voice said, drifting off even now as Sèdonoudè pled the case for his soul, we are each as islands, distant from each other as one star is from the next. ‘An I wanna tell you I ahm a grateful man for de way you helped me, coz I know is many, many, many people what don’ like a black, African man such as meself, an I wanna mek it up to you somehow, you know?’ Neither Lala nor Linda could really understand what it means to live at the margins. Not as an individual, suffering from illness such as Lala, or in poverty and illiteracy like Billy, even as a criminal in a community, but at the very edge of existence brought about by famine and war, and the displaced statelessn

“Yes, but the outer tribes are a very…eccentric bunch. They prefer to be closer to the Earth and that includes forsaking all forms of modern civilisation.” That would make sense why their entire tribes depended on mining as a source of their income. It took two hours to get to the edge of their borders. By then, the potholed roads had transformed into a dirt road, filled with sand. Derek slowed to a halt in front of what looked like a gate made out of bamboo. I got out of the car first, entranced. It looked like I was in a movie about the Native Americans. Even the air smelled different. “How do we–”

The neighborhood was vibrant, with a diverse mix of people, including folks from Darlene. At one of those events, a man named Charles Caldwell approached me with a friendly smile. "Hello! You're looking especially radiant today. There's a glow about you." I smiled shyly. "Really? Thank you. That's kind of you to say." He continued, "I've noticed you a few times before, but you seem even more beautiful than usual today." As we spoke, I learned that Charles was about my age and had moved to Aurelia through a skilled migration program. He shared that he had always hoped to settle down with someone from Darlene.