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

8580+ 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 139 of 573

Lost in the Mail: Just in Time

Submitted to Contest #212

The doorbell’s sudden ring jolted John from an article he’d been reading on electrodynamics. Nestled comfortably in his study, it was Saturday morning, and the Berkeley professor was alone and undisturbed until that moment. A sigh of annoyance escaped him as he glanced at his watch; it read eleven fifteen. His daughter, Amanda, was at work, and his wife was out with friends for brunch. John set his magazine aside, then heaved himself up and lumbered out of his study. Ahead, down the hallway, he could see their mailman, Terrance, through th...

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Inked in History-Letters between a wife and husband caught in the tides of change.

Submitted to Contest #212

The First Letter. Lyon France, July 15, 1989.  Thaddeus, you're going to divorce me. I'm not on the train to Lyon. I'm in Barcelona. Now, before you call the lawyers and have the papers drawn up—I know I deserve it, and I swore the last time was the last time, but let me explain—I saw my father. I can feel you rolling your eyes, and I get it, but I know it was him this time. It was him! I was getting on the train to Lyon, and I was early at the Milan Porta Garibaldi terminal, so early that I had time to p...

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Signed, Sealed, Delivered...and Destroyed(?!)

Submitted to Contest #212

D​ear Hal,Y​our message in the space bottle was received. We here on the planet Kabangers are overjoyed. We have speculated for centuries the existence of other life in the cosmos, and now we are holding in our hands the proof that we have always longed for and desired.  I​n our great wisdom, we have decided to communicate with you in the same way you have reached out to us. Therefore, we are sending this message back to you in the same space bottle that you so graciously sent our way. We hope that is to your li...

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Distort 3000

Submitted to Contest #212

Hey. Testing testing. If you get this can you reply and tell me what time it is? -19.45Hi. Sorry, who is this, I don’t have your number saved? It’s 6.45. Your message is time-stamped 7.45, your phone time’s wrong. -18.45Holy shit.No way.I don’t believe this actually works. Sorry, just to be sure, is this Dave?-19.46Yeah, it’s Dave, who’s this?-18.46My phone time’s not wrong. It’s 7.45. This is so weird, your messages are popping into the chat up before mine, chronologically.I have to keep scrolling back up ...

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Fated Delivery

Submitted to Contest #212

Fated DeliveryAnd in the front door of Efferty Drasso’s house, a letter is being dropped by the postman. Addressed to someone that Efferty doesn’t even know exist, but soon, he is going to find out more than he would bargain for.“Oh man, what a day…how dare he even say those things to me?! All the things I did for the company the whole month went down the river just like that! That asshole!”. These are his thoughts as he steps on his front door. “But the bills and letters keep coming no matter the crappy day you had to endure” he scoffed. An...

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The Immigrant

Submitted to Contest #212

Dear Zawhea,            What a voyage I had! I cannot begin to relate the entire story in writing. Yet I will give you some details, so you might have an idea of what I experienced. My cabin was clean, small with a porthole, and I was able to sleep comfortably. A few days after we left Marseilles, I heard that the head chef needed extra help. I met with him and soon I was working. The job kept me busy and gave me extra liras, or, as they say here, dollars. I worked side by side with...

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A letter from the marked one.

Submitted to Contest #212

Coast of Finland. 1798.   My sunshine, my Tilda, My sincerest wish is that this letter finds you safe and well at Whitefire Isle. The risk of returning to Engberg's orphanage is one I might never take, even though it fills me with regret. I still wanted you to know what happened to me and that at least for now I am safe. I have yet to figure out who in the orphanage knew what I was and how the Witchhammer had heard about me residing there. And why now? The main intention of this letter is to thank you, Tilda. On the night,...

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Bridges of Ink: A Transcontinental Friendship

Submitted to Contest #212

Chapter 1: The World in an Envelope The vast expanse of the sky slowly transitioned from the fiery hues of the setting sun to a deep twilight blue. Lila McKenzie settled comfortably beneath the sprawling mango tree that had become her sacred spot for introspection. Each letter she penned to Cindy was not merely ink on paper. It was like dispatching a piece of her very essence, a vivid fragment of Jamaica, across vast oceans and landscapes. And today's letter held the promise of something new, something special. Meanwhile, thousands of miles ...

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Hopeless Gimmering

Submitted to Contest #212

August 3rd, 1849 Reached this lonesome valley today, a real marvel under God's sky. The land stretches endlessly, its only partners being distant mountains and a beckoning stream's song. The journey was a trial, boots laden with mud, spirits weighed by tales of men who came and departed with empty pockets. In my pocket, though, is this curious shiny stone. Not yet gold, but whispering of its presence nearby. Camp's set, the daunting task ahead clear as day. Many a man ventured, few struck gold. Yet, tales of fortunes and the promise of a...

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The Book Of The Dead Letter Office

Submitted to Contest #212

“To whom it may concern,” the letter started. “Within the enclosed book lies a treasure trove of adventures beyond your wildest imagination. Its spells within hold the key to many locked doors in time. Use it wisely and be warned: Not all outcomes are favourable.” “What on Earth is this nonsense,” Captain Richard Lyle muttered. “I say, Jonty,” he called across the small room. “I’ve just opened one of the dead letter packages that came in this morning and discovered this extraordinary letter inside.” “Who is it addressed to, Dickie?” Hi...

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of branches and fire extinguishers

Submitted to Contest #212

Ruth taps a sticker onto the top of a brown box, one practically identical to the thousands she's stickered before and completely unassuming.It's important work, work that keeps a whole country moving. Grandmas sending strange trinkets to grandkids a thousand miles away, letters sent by dramatic lovers, the occasional small business owner pretending they aren't selling those candles they're shipping to avoid paying extra. Ruth has seen all kinds of people ship all kinds of things in her forty-some-odd years at her sleepy little post off...

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Post Office

Submitted to Contest #212

Post Office “Where am I?” Frankie Lewis asked as he opened his eyes only to feel a wave of dizziness hit him like a hammer causing his stomach contents to lurch. He squeezed them shut again hoping everything would stay where it should be. “Well, you're here Frankie.” A familiar man said that caused him to slowly open his eyes to see who it was. “Gary, what the hell is happening?”  He said as he looked up at the other man, a thick bearded white haired fella that he knew from the Post Office that dressed up as Santa Clause every year...

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Base A: The Post Office at the End of the World

Submitted to Contest #212

The icy waters crackle as the cruise ship enters the harbor off the notched and ragged coast of Port Lockroy. There is a hectic roo, roo, roo from the calling Gentoo penguins, and there is a fussy cow, cow, cow from the snowy sheathbills as they tap the windows of the Post Office. It is ironic that we are located out on the polar shelf—literally set apart from the whole world, and yet, the world comes to us daily. I rise from my bunk drenched in sweat. My veins ache as if tensed by electric current. My head is burnin...

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The Christmas Truce: Letters from the Western Front

Submitted to Contest #212

The Christmas Truce[Christmas Truce of 1914 (World War I)]“The thing started last night – a bitter cold night, with white frost – soon after dusk when the Germans started shouting 'Merry Christmas, Englishmen' to us. Of course our fellows shouted back and presently large numbers of both sides had left their trenches, unarmed, and met in the debatable, shot-riddled, no man's land between the lines. Here the agreement – all on their own – came to be made that we should not fire at each other until after midnight tonight. The men were all frate...

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Sarah and the Ferris Wheel

Submitted to Contest #212

Sarah Sarsaparilla has been going around in circles. She calls it the merry go round but her mother calls it the Ferris wheel, because she always seems to go up before coming down to earth and crashing. You’ve been working the same job at Bill’s Aquarium for 7 years her mother whines, over another plate of sour potatoes and sour peas. What ingredient makes them sour? Sarah thinks that her mother bottles up all the whining and puts it in a special bottle, then dumps it in every dish she makes. That can only explain the sour taste she adds to ...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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