The stranger. Just before the show was about to begin, the door swung open. A silhouette of a tall, dark stranger moved across the room and sat at the bar.

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Eloise Sear 11P

English coursework – creative writing

The Stranger

It was the last cabaret night of the holiday season in the town of Cold Springs in Nevada. All the children were back at school, so the only people in the theatre were a few couples taking their holidays outside of the main season. It was so quiet that the barman was leaning up against the mirrored wall behind him talking on his phone, not having to serve anyone.

        Just before the show was about to begin, the door swung open. A silhouette of a tall, dark stranger moved across the room and sat at the bar. He ordered a bourbon and asked “when does the show start?” at that moment the lights went dim and the stage lit up. The stranger turned around towards the sound of footsteps at the back of the theatre. Nathan Clark had come down the stairs from his office above the theatre and sat down in his usual seat in the corner near the emergency exit. The barman stopped what he was doing and poured Nathan his usual order of a scotch and took it over to him. Nathan was very smartly dressed; he was the most important person in Cold Springs, owning not only the theatre but the majority of businesses in town.

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        Just as the music started to play to open the show, the door swung open one last time. Bree walked in managing to trip over her own feet, sending her mobile phone flying across the room. Any other day the lateness and the clumsiness of Bree would have infuriated Nathan but today he barely noticed the entrance of his wife as his eyes were fixed upon the stranger sitting at the bar. He was completely certain that he knew the stranger from somewhere but he just could not work out where he knew him from.

 Backstage at the show, ...

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