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The Love of my Life <3

The Love of my Life <3

Friday, December 17, 2010

The Strangers Outside

Thank you so much to Vanessa Morgan for allowing me to read her short story The Strangers Outside!!


Can I just say that it was a wonderful thriller? Late last night when I was reading it, I totally began to get scared that I had to finish it this morning - and even in the bright hours of the day I was still scared.

It begins with two sisters, Jennifer and Louise, who are on their way to the beach resort. The resort is comprised of "independent structures connected to a large

parking lot by meandering pathways that shone white in the waning darkness. ‘Military

bunkers’ their grandmother used to call these brown houses with low flat ceilings. Even the

long, narrow gardens looked exactly alike." (Morgan p.9)


The girls begin to dance in excitement when suddenly Louise stops. There are strange men looking their way. Fear begins to make itself known, and Louise and Jennifer quickly go into the cottage. The strange men do not leave, and it is starting to get dark. When Jennifer goes to wash her face, a small problem arises - there is not any water! Louise quickly dashes out to the shed to turn on the water and has the prickly feeling of fear again. When she looks out into the falling darkness again she sees those strangers.

She runs back inside and tells Jennifer to hurry up. The strangers are getting closer to the house and Louise has no idea why. Suddenly they are knocking on her front door and peering in through the back sliding glass door. Louise has to decided then and there what to do. Does she fight or let herself be taken by these strangers from outside.

Even now, after reading the story, I cannot get the chill out of my spine!! When Ms. Morgan described their faces as being "lagers than they should be"(Morgan p.11) I could not help but picture these huge eyeless, noseless, mouthless blobs for faces. When they were at Louise's back door and the eyes started popping up I could not help but imagine them as RED CREEPY eyes! I'm glad it's still the day time!

I thoroughly enjoyed how she made the details vague enough to let your own imagination take over! I was slightly disappointed at the end. I got so caught up in the drama and suspense of the strangers and why there were there that the ending seemed to come too rapidly. It is probably my own taste. The story was wonderfully suspenseful and totally chilling!

The Strangers Outside by Vanessa Morgan. (c) 2010

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