Daily Flash Fiction Challenge

Author Name: PlushPlushPlus
Entry Date: 2/19/2025
Entry Name: “Stranger in the Woods”
Word Count: 295 (With title)
Age Rating: 13+


Stranger in the Woods:

“Where am I?” the stranger blurted out.

They had a body at least. That was some consolation. But was it really their own?

With slow trundling steps they walked on, the crunch of freshly fallen leaves and twigs snapping underneath accentuated their all-encompassing sense of heaviness.

All around them the stranger was enveloped by a dense fog which seemed to press itself into them and obscure their vision of what came next. All around them the stranger was enveloped by a heavy padding which seemed to press into their very bones and render their every step -their every movement really- its own tribulation.

It seemed they were in a never-ending wood holding out for clearing that never quite came. Every arduous step they took seemed to beget another hundred more. Every point of absolute exhaustion seemed to give way to another half-dozen more.

Their lungs were burning. Their thighs chaffed as their middle simultaneously quivered uncomfortably with every step. From what they could perceive of themselves and what they could feel of their body in motion the stranger felt like the most graceless and lumbersome creature known to man. Neither feminine nor masculine. A living parody.

At last collapsing in exhaustion, the stranger fell to the ground coming face to face with… themself.

At first literally, but once they pulled their face out of the puddle… they caught a lovely view of their own reflection.

They were… beautiful. And what was more… a woman?

Amy’s reflection smiled as all of her insecurities melted away.

Yes… Amy. That was a nice name. It suited her.

Now that she knew who she was, she didn’t feel so lost anymore.

She wasn’t a monster.
Her body wasn’t an unsightly burden.
She was Amy.

And that was okay.