Five Total Strangers

by Natalie D. Richards

I don’t think I’ll ever breathe right again.

this line perfectly encapsulates the feeling of grief

We’d just pick up at whatever random place we’d left off the last time we talked.

I don’t think anyone could walk into this room and not worry about a serial killer lurking in one of the stalls.

me whenever i am in a rest stop bathroom

He’s cute, but he’s nowhere near cute enough to be this big of an ass.

I take a sharp breath and look at my fellow travelers with new wariness. Someone in this car is lying.

i have SO many theories rn

I’m always fine. Because I can’t let myself be anything else.

“I’m fine,” I say. I learned after Phoebe that if you say it enough, people believe you. Say it even more, and you’ll believe it yourself.

These people are just like me, I tell myself. We’re all trying to get home. Unless we’re not.

I didn’t even have my wallet, and a stranger in line bought me coffee.

“Because sometimes it is easier to force strength for others than to allow ourselves to feel weak and hurt.”