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Looking for a steady supply of adventure short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.

8590+ Adventure Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. From riding the high sea to climbing behemoth mountains, there isn’t any action that’s out of reach when it comes to adventure stories.

Adventure Short Stories – Page 128 of 573

School

Submitted to Contest #220

One more dune before I succumb…a lie told by thousands of doomed souls before me. I crest the hill, speak the lie again; crest another hill, speak the lie again. Finally, the lie is supplanted by a pulsing, undeniable truth expanding in my chest: there are worse things than death. Many things. Worse by far. Another truth: death is absolute. So why not now? I accept. My lower lip bursts, bleeds as my smile widens; the viscous liquid, greedily gathered by my tongue, swallowed, soothes my throat. It is a parting gift from a benevolent God, or ...

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Meta-Verse

Submitted to Contest #220

Kal tugged his sodden patched cloak over Esmae's shivering shoulders and rubbed her back. Little good it would do in this weather, but what's a brother to do? He felt the fool, promising so much he couldn't give. Reckoned mother was right - he truly was less than nothing. Although she was as much his mother as he was the Emperor of Everywhere.Thunder rumbled and lightning exploded, like the gods were moving furniture around, then thought divine redecorating was a bust and burnt the armoire instead. Kal couldn't help but think that the d...

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Take Me To The Bridge

Submitted to Contest #220

The cymbal crash echoed across the sky and told me all I needed to know about my near future. It was cold enough as it was. The wind driving that cold into and through me. Pushing against me and finding its way through gaps and seams. I huddled up, feeling like a little washer woman. Humiliated by the persistent elemental force.  Upping my step I bent further into that cruel wind and drove myself forward. A single player against the scrumming team, but making ground all the same. A crack of light illuminated the gloom and heralded the...

16 likes 2 comments 2
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The Devil's in the Retail

Submitted to Contest #220

All it takes is one slip. Gaps are to be avoided. Gaps are where important things fall. That’s why Mind The Gap resonates like a cattle prod to the temple. There are gaps everywhere and the devil uses details to his advantage and what is to his advantage is to our disadvantage. He’s pretty tricksy like that. It was a buggered detail that led to Thruk struggling his way across a dessert. There was something utterly wrong about this from the get-go, but Thruk was not a thinker, he was a doer and so he trudged and splotched across...

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Rude Awakenings

Submitted to Contest #220

"Fuck! I can't believe this junk! " Sam's old Tesla kept breaking down for no reason and the weather wasn't helping. Even a blind man could have seen this storm coming, bringing with it strong wind and aggressive thunder.  "Hello Triple A?"  "Hello this is Triple A. How can we be of service?"  "Thank God!" said Sam as his uncontrolled thoughts of dim scenarios quickly came to a halt.  "My car broke down. I'm about 200 meters away from Newport. Between  old Billy's gas station and Peter's Pinecone forest. I'm stuck in...

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Howler

Submitted to Contest #220

Coffee skin and almond eyes, Rae had the most ferociously infectious laugh. I was in awe of her ability to stir up humor in the most dire of predicaments, her head often rearing back exposing a mouthful of cackling teeth. It never mattered what we did, I knew it would always be a deep dive into something that would fill my otherwise dreary little life with wonder and surprise. Once we found ourselves abandoned in the city, the bus leaving our seventh grade field trip without us. I had begun my meltdown, while Rae crafted us an unadulterat...

14 likes 2 comments 2
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The Legacy of Sand and Stars

Submitted to Contest #220

Chapter 1: A Chance Encounter The relentless sun cast its fiery glow over the vast desert, scorching the earth beneath Rich's feet as he embarked on an ordinary walk that would soon become the catalyst for an extraordinary journey. It was a day of searing heat, with a cloudless sky stretching infinitely above him. He had ventured into the desert to escape the relentless chaos of his daily life, seeking solace among the dunes. The arid landscape stretched before him, and the sound of the desert wind filled the air. As Rich trudged along t...

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The Flood

Submitted to Contest #220

A serpent slithers through the desert. It drags its colossal body over the crunching bones of ancient victims, swishing torrents of sand in its wake.The earth trembles. Above, a dark cloud appears in the blue sky.The serpent pauses, swivels its head. It fixes a yellow eye on the cloud, watches it darken, broiling with fury, as if dragging in a long-winded breath, readying to strike.The snake doesn’t hesitate, moves fast through the desert, positions itself at the edge of the cloud’s lightning rage. There is nothing but dry, hungry sand stret...

32 likes 15 comments 15
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The Oasis of Eternal Serenity: A Place of Refuge.

Submitted to Contest #220

Alex was a curious traveler, always seeking new adventures in the most unlikely places. On this particular day, as Alex wandered through the scorching desert, the heat waves dancing on the horizon, something caught his eye. As Alex trudged through the seemingly endless sand dunes, he stumbled upon a lush oasis nestled in the heart of the barren desert. Trees swayed gently, their leaves whispering secrets to the wind, while a crystal-clear pool sparkled invitingly in the sunlight. Birds chirped melodiously, creating a symphony of life in an o...

11 likes 2 comments 2
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2099

Submitted to Contest #220

2099          There was an eerie silence enveloping the unknown, decrepit building that had likely been ravaged by Millennial forces.  It didn’t show on surface or satellite maps and shouldn’t be here.  The aura remained, like the still before a storm, or the final moment as one waits to die. I can’t fathom being 150 years old.  I feel better now than when I was 80.  Science and technology have come a long way but it is exactly that technology, manipulate...

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Kin Cage

Submitted to Contest #219

“Surely, riding a cat is certain death,” Dante thought. The little guy's mind was whirling after the unnerving conversation he'd had with his father. “These zealots,” he said to himself, “going wherever the pack tells them without a thought as to why, or what consequences might await."The sky over the abandoned farm was churning with cold, gray clouds. Withered, brown leaves fluttered across his four feet as Dante skittered across the old homestead. He was never one to walk in the old and dried footprints of others simply beca...

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Eye Can See You

Submitted to Contest #219

Tw: Gore and Language My lawyer and I sat patiently across from each other, trying to find a way for me to get out of my legal bind. I was in deep water now due to the fact that my past was riddled with horrible things. I was a part of one of the most notorious gangs in New York City for most of my adolescence and early twenties. I had been a part of drive-bys, drug deals and everything in between. But In the years following my departure had cleaned my act up, I had gotten out of the projects, and began to put my effort into a local commu...

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Wine, Coffee, and Fire

M B

Submitted to Contest #219

He was in some sort of prison cell, though something in the air told him it was not originally meant to be a prison cell.  The scent made him think of grapes or alcohol... perhaps both.  The drugged food and beverages they fed him kept him from using his full strength, at least between bouts in the arena - but it did not take away his keen senses.  The prisoner growled as he thought about how he’d ended up in this current state. He thought about his life before he was a gladiator for his captor's amusement.  He us...

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What Glitters

Submitted to Contest #219

“I feel like I’m living in a goldfish bowl,” said Sharky, the goldfish. He looked anxiously about. “You are living in a goldfish bowl.” Marina, the mermaid, suppressed her cute smile. They’d had this conversation before. She was Sharky’s beautiful best friend. He always found her lolling on the rock in the shipwreck’s shadow. Sharky gave her a look. “I don’t get it… What is a goldfish bowl, anyway? I thought it was a figure of speech.” “It’s like… well, you know…” She shrugged her bare shoulders and smoothed her hair. She thought she knew ...

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The Doppelgangers

Submitted to Contest #220

The Doppelgangers The hot desert air is stifling. The temperature is triple-digits. Megan hurries across the twisted landscape as best she can. Her mouth feels like she just licked the top of a pool table. But, she is unexpectedly free, and must keep going. Moonlight will show her the way. Finding her bedroom door ajar, the keys to the outside door on a table, and nobody awake, is a godsend. She stumbles along through a desert landscape, just wanting to put distance between her and the institution. Slowing down to catch her breath, Meg...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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