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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

8420+ 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 2 of 562

The Lost & Found

Submitted to Contest #295

The Lost & Found was nestled among hundreds of other stalls in the bustling marketplace, but something about it never failed to draw attention. It wasn’t bold or colorful like its neighbors, it didn’t waft delicious smells or boast a loud, exotic merchant. Instead, it was simple and elegant, made of old rotting wood and smelling faintly of something deliciously unnatural. The structure was sturdy, a deep awning stretching over the front, draped in newly bought creams and golds (these cloths were likely the only thing “new” about the p...

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Never go to a Pirate's funeral

Submitted to Contest #295

If I had to say anything about us, we were never known to be a scrupulous bunch. So, any number of us for any particular reason could have gutted ole captain Shitbottom, that being said we couldn’t be said not to be full of contradictions.After 2 weeks without hide nor hair of the captain we’ve all thought’em dead and figured we’d get together and pour one out for ole Shitbottom. Was it suspicious, oh absolutely, was it unusual, without a doubt, but their was 10,000 reasons why this ole pirates wake was called, and most of us figured at leas...

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Aurora

Submitted to Contest #295

Aurora pushed through the dense growth of trees and shrubs, her tears blinding her and making the trek even more difficult than expected. A while back, maybe a half mile, she had tripped on a tangle of roots and fallen limbs, launching herself into the base of a rather large pine tree. She had wanted to turn back so badly, but she kept moving. If she turned back now, everyone at home would know she was a failure. It would be just like her to fail at running away, too. She stopped momentarily to dry her eyes and noticed the sky was turning ...

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The Traveler

Submitted to Contest #295

The Traveler Synced at 2:13 PM 100% Joe was a dying breed. He knew it; his friends at the clubhouse knew it, and to drive his ego and masculinity further into the gutter, his wife would remind him of it after he received the divorce papers. He was a writer for a newspaper, The New York Times, to be exact. It was a beautiful Monday, but Joe didn't know it. At age forty-five, he was too young to appreciate the warmth that had finally arrived and too old to ignore his need to outperform and keep his job. Joe looked up at his five-story glass ...

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Coincidence Or Not At Hilltop Reach

Submitted to Contest #295

Walking down the lane with her best friend Minta, Maisy wonders about coincidence, particularly when she isn’t looking, but jumps over the mud puddle instinctually. “That’s handy, or my socks would have been full of slugs and mud if I hadn’t missed it.”Minta rolls her eyes. “You’re lucky, that’s all. Many witches are these days.” “I don’t think my dad dying while sneezing on a firework is lucky, actually quite the opposite. What about my mum getting her lower teeth wedged in her upper lip just because she ticked me after lunch last Saturday?...

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Thomas, Oakhaven, 1950

Submitted to Contest #295

The salt spray kissed Amelia’s face as she leaned against the railing of the ferry, the churning water a mesmerising turquoise beneath a sky the colour of faded denim. She was on her way to Oakhaven Island, a tiny speck of land off the coast of Maine, a place her grandmother had always spoken of with a wistful sigh and a faraway look in her eyes. Amelia had inherited her grandmother’s cottage, a charmingly dilapidated structure perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking the endless expanse of the Atlantic.She needed an escape. An escape from...

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The Door That Wasn’t There

Submitted to Contest #295

The Door That Wasn’t ThereIn a rambling, but creaky, old Victorian house that had more rooms than any sensible person could ever possibly need, lived a girl called Willow Strong. She was eleven years old, and had a mop of crazy red hair that refused to stay tamed, and a mind that was always halfway between reality and somewhere a lot more interesting. She was being looked after and raised by her eccentric grandmother, a sprightly old woman with a passion for knitting and an even bigger passion for bulk buying her groceries that she called he...

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Beautiful Dreamer

Submitted to Contest #295

Terry was full of smiles. He was so full of smiles, there seemed very little else that he could contain. The constancy and energy of his smiles was disconcerting. Even the happiest of people faltered in the lighthouse of his self-assured grin. This could have been a problem. By rights, it should have been a stumbling block. But in equal measure, Terry cared and he also did not care. His was a certainty that either borrowed from the elements and from nature itself, or was of those things. He was genuinely happy and the well of his happiness w...

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No Sense But Presence

Submitted to Contest #295

“I thought you said you knew a place!”“I do, lass, ya just need to keep up!”Chloe let out a breathy grumble as she raced behind her companion who seemed to have a better stride than her, despite the height difference. Upon meeting “Sean,” Chloe had begun throwing all logic out the window, and speed as a tribute of long legs was the most recent to go. Sean, as the only name he’d given, appeared in front of Chloe three days ago. Not on purpose, but by mere coincidence, he said. It’s not every day a person collides with a leprechaun as they are...

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My Grandfather's Profound Reflections

Submitted to Contest #295

I walked into the study and paused to take it all in. Looking around, I remembered growing up and entering this room countless times. My grandfather would usually be sitting at the desk, reading a book. Those books were often tales of sea adventures. He would have me sit in the chair on the other side of the desk and read some of the adventures to me. I loved listening to him because he read the story to me, acting out the different characters with various voices. It made me smile and laugh, which in turn encouraged him to do even more. ...

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The Teapot of Yesterday

Submitted to Contest #295

The Teapot of YesterdayBy Shakirah AyanloyeThe teapot's chip gave it an eerie look. It wasn't any crack. The jagged edges suggested that the teapot had seen something deep and painful. Even time couldn't heal it. The blue pattern had faded over time. The once delicate swirls now resembled shadows of ghosts on the ivory porcelain. I had found it at the Bodija market, where old things went to rest. The market buzzed with noise. Vendors called out, buyers chatted, and metal trays clattered as they stacked wares. Yet, in the chaos, the teapot st...

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Soul Light

Submitted to Contest #295

Henry sat on his Grandfathers favourite bench amid the central city park. The sun was warm on his back and the wind chill against his face. It was the freshest of spring days, the kind that would normally have boosted Henry’s mood after the long, grey winter. Activity blossomed all around. Life everywhere emerging from the same dull hibernation of a colder than usual season. Cascading laughter, thrown Frisbee's and the zipping by of bikes and dogs busied the parklands as far as he could see. Whilst chattering birds, scurrying squirrels and t...

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Is He Dead?

Submitted to Contest #295

THE FUNERAL…“Is he gone?” Elizabeth asks with hope and anger.“Well, he looks dead, he is in a casket and his hair looks terrible!” Becca replies, knowing Elizabeth knows too. “His hair, dear God, remember…the perm.” They both say, quietly laughing a little too long. A mix of relief from the past and sadness for what never will be. Becca looks at the casket one more time. “Where is he?” Elizabeth asks. ABOVE…“Where is he, purgatory?”“Yep, you want him?” “Uh, no, God.” He responds, “I mean, he is not bad enough for me and not quite good enough...

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Beer

Submitted to Contest #295

Life was a splinter filled helter-skelter. Monday morning slammed into the world with a brutal constancy and with it came the prospect of a thankless climb to a summit that would only send you crashing back down to the very bottom again. Bruised, dirtied and despondent at the bullying life dealt out on a cyclical basis. A bad automaton. Just doing its job. Just as you should do yours. Knowing your place was all very well. But that knowing could only ever be lip service. Detached words descriptive of something that felt as alien as a genuine,...

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The Hidden Portals of Love and the Crystals of Light

Submitted to Contest #295

As the wand circles and swirls overhead, a lightly held rose quartz crystal creates a trail of stardust and luminous patterns pervading the dawn as it illuminates tiny specs of magical creation, cleansing, clearing and purifying the energy body of negativity for the day ahead as its protection and gentleness is called forth with unconditional love. A small yet sacred task performed amongst the few and one which requires mindfulness and discernment at its foundation. A new way of life is not to be taken lightly, a privilege not afforded to ma...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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