The Stranger

16 | she/her | trapped in the belly of the earth

640

Writings

406

Followers

822

Following

The Stranger

16 | she/her | trapped in the belly of the earth

640

Writings

406

Followers

822

Following

The Space We Conquer

The Stranger

7 min read

Right then, even with my heart pounding and my body feeling heavier than two cement trucks, there were three things I knew for certain:

1. I was alive.

2. I was real.

3. I was breathing.

And when your body feels as heavy as it did in that moment—when your heart feels like a ticking bomb just waiting to go off—there was only one thing I could do.

I repeated my dad’s words in my head, exactly how...

YA fiction

Drama

Tree

The Stranger

1 min read

One time, there was a man

who was meant to be a man,

but God accidentally made him a tree.

And because he was afraid to complain—

not because God was God,

but because he was himself—

he stayed a tree.

And he grew used to it.

Used to the bark,

the leaves, the sap

spilling out of what-should-have-been his mouth.

The hands that climbed his branches,

broke his branches,

and hugged him.

The s...

Poetry

August 19th

The Stranger

3 min read

The room smelled faintly of bleach and cigarettes, the kind of odor that clung stubbornly no matter how hard you tried to remove it. The wallpaper was old and peeling at the corners, while the carpet was stained in various dark patches, obscuring its original pattern, and the flickering neon from the motel sign outside cast an eerie green glow through the window. Andy hadn’t even unpacked yet when...

Thriller

Mystery

Imposter

The Stranger

4 min read

The river roared so loudly it drowned out every other sound. Water thrashed at our knees, little drops stinging my face. Above, the clouds foamed white and angry. That’s when I looked up, and saw my brother on the far shore.

For a moment, I thought my mind was playing tricks. I blinked, rubbed my eyes, but his face only sharpened into focus—golden-brown eyes, sandy-blonde hair. I turned to my lef...

Thriller

Mystery

Guilt

The Stranger

1 min read

As a leading scientist who has just achieved a breakthrough in artificial intelligence, you’ve developed a humanoid machine that can learn and express real emotions. However, there is one emotion it has not grasped yet: guilt. What kind of situation do you create to help it understand what it means to feel guilty?...

The Older I Get, the Younger I Am

Top 10

The Stranger

1 min read

One time, on vacation in Mexico,

the birds spoke to me.

I was twelve then—

all bones, Pepsi, and rebellion.

I didn’t understand their words.

I didn’t understand

the glowing feeling in my chest.

I didn’t know joy was better than getting high.

Because the first time I smoked,

it tasted like that lake

where my friends and I swam on summer break.

Like the lips of the girl

I was never supposed to kiss...

Poetry

Death Is The Final Color

The Stranger

1 min read

The clouds are running in the sky,

Trailing an icy white,

Clothed in the skin of the dead.

Folded in the cobalt blue,

Lord they see rising through,

Golden as heaven,

Real as gold.

Dropping to their knees,

They cry,

Falling to their chests,

They await their wings to fly.

Death is the final color

In a sunrise.

Some mix of terracotta and peach.

Some burning palette of

let it be over, please....

Poetry

The One Light That Doesn’t Flicker

Top 10

The Stranger

4 min read

Somewhere in every army, there is a godless soldier—if not two, if not three, if not many more.

Most soldiers turn to God the second they realise the bullets they’re firing aren’t just piercing a dot on cardboard but flesh just like theirs. It’s not like hunting deer in the woods behind your house. No, you’re killing something that looks just like you. And when you realise that, you need God. ...

Drama

Grief Drowns Fish

The Stranger

1 min read

I scraped the throat of heaven,

clawing my way out;

I scraped the dirt

from the shower’s grout.

I saw God on my way,

a cigarette hanging from his mouth,

like his son from the cross.

I saw two women drinking liquor and

stealing underwear from Ross.

I dared to look him in his golden,

all-forgiving eyes;

I dared to watch YouTube on my phone

and let it slowly die.

“And oh, to all, to peace…”

“Give...

Poetry

Cherry-Flavoured Fish Bait

Winner - 3rd

The Stranger

5 min read

When you’re reading this, you might laugh, might call me crazy. Say I’m lying. But no—this ain’t something you can make up. I’m cursed. Not blessed, not lucky. Cursed.

Just hear me out.

I live by the water, as far from people as I can get. I do what I know—fishin’. Now, I wouldn’t call myself a fisherman, not exactly. That’d be a stretch. But you can call me Lou. That’s my name. That’s who I am...