Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: The Familiar Stranger

Welcome to Fiction Friday, our weekly flash fiction challenge.

Here’s how it works:

Set a timer for five minutes and start writing

Keep going for as long as you can once the timer goes off

No editing allowed—raw writing only

When you’re finished, feel free to share in the comments (but there’s no pressure.) 

Today’s prompt – The Familiar Stranger.

Your character is at a crowded coffee shop, grocery store, or public place when someone stops and talks to them like they have known them for years.

They know details about your character’s life—their job, childhood pet, favourite book. However, your character has absolutely no idea who they are. When your character asks this person how they know each other, they look confused and hurt. “You really don’t remember?” they ask.

• Who is this person and how does your character know them?
• Why can’t your character remember them?
• What happens when your character has to decide whether to play along or admit the truth?

To make this prompt more challenging, you could consider the following – 

• The Unreliable Narrator: The reader gradually realises something is off about your character’s perception of reality
• No Dialogue: Tell the entire story through description and internal monologue only
• The Twist: The ending reveals the stranger’s true connection to your character
• Real Time: The story takes place during a single encounter with no time jumps

Have fun,

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.