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

8470+ 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 565

The Rhythm of Silence

Submitted to Contest #298

The mist clung to the hills like mud to a boot, ever persistent, never quite willing to go. Morning in the highlands arrived quietly every day, not in the manner of a whisper in the wind nor the melody of a sweet birdsong, but with a hush, as though the land itself knew the world of the deaf. Smoke curled lazily from the chimneys of the stone cottages, mingling with the low cloud that swirled across the glen. It was a place where silence was not only common, but expected this early in the day. And yet, for Owen MacLeod, silence had never bee...

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First Time for Everything

Submitted to Contest #298

First time for Everything by Amanda Stogsdill The woods are nearly silent. A soft light rain begins to fall. This isn't so bad, I smile. I'm gazing at two squirrels chasing one another up a tree. Examining a hollow log, I se ants crawling around inside. Fascinated, I squat on the soft ground and watch, enjoying the quiet. Glancing up, I realize I can't find the others. I yell for Jessica, Lannah, anyone, as loudly as I can; I hear only the sounds of the woods. Not wishing to become drenched, I start back along the path — or so I think. With ...

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Peonies and Fireflies

Shortlisted for Contest #298 ⭐️

To say that the chicken coop was in turmoil would be an understatement. It was in cacophony, at war, filled with the casualties of trauma. Feathers filled the air as if a down pillow had been hit with a shotgun. The terrified squawking of hens sounded like a siren’s choir. Shadows scattered every which way as the hanging lights swayed violently in the whirlwind of flapping wings. On the outside of the coop, a single fox observed the chaos, a dead chicken clamped in its jaws. The porch lights flicked on at the farm house, and the fox turned a...

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A Simple Misunderstanding

Submitted to Contest #298

The warehouse sat in a squalid corner of Sector 3 which is why the rooftop generator ran day and night. The ever-present hum of the engine permeated the building. Luther paused as he stepped inside, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. He knocked twice on the door at the far end of the dusty antechamber.A panel slid open at eye level. “Who’s there?” asked a gruff voice.“Hey, Jimbo, it’s Luther.”The panel closed with a snap then a deadbolt popped, and a chain rattled. Jimbo opened the door with a sawed-off shotgun propped on his s...

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Navigator

Submitted to Contest #298

“Navigator”“Geez, Charlie, when I told you to find us a car, I meant something that would get us there and back, not a piece of crap like this. Where’d you find it?”“I got it at the Circle K. The guy left it running when he went into the store and I was standing right there. I figured it was easier than trying to hot-wire another car. I’m not so good with wires. I was scared shitless but I just jumped in and beat it out of there fast.”“Geez, this thing looks like it’s older than you but I guess we’re stuck with it.” Sid looked directly at Ch...

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in full bloom

Submitted to Contest #298

In Full Bloom The petals had begun to fall, one by one, like soft-spoken secrets drifting to the earth. Each morning, Mira walked through the overgrown garden behind her grandmother’s cottage, brushing her fingers against the tall wildflowers that bowed with the breeze. The scent of lilac clung to the air, sweet and nostalgic, wrapping around her like a forgotten lullaby. It had been five years since anyone had tended the soil, yet somehow, life still pushed through the cracks. There was a wild sort of beauty in the chaos—sunflowers growing ...

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Two-Headed Lamb

Submitted to Contest #298

Peter skipped among dead leaves and rubbish. He hummed along to the static in the air.Carnival debris swirled, dust devil scrap in the wind. Torn ticket stubs, sweets wrappers, hand-drawn posters: Two-headed lamb! Rides! Dr. Zafieri the hypnotist! All the wonders of the great wide world, here, in Peter’s little nowhere town.And he’d missed it.He’d wanted to bring Annie. But they’d had a fight, and now the carnival was gone, kicking up dust on its way to the next little nowhere town.It’s alright, Peter thought, and he smiled. He swung his poc...

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God's Decree?

Submitted to Contest #298

Loriel knew what it was like to live outside of God's grace. She was hollow inside a nothing shell of a being. She was beautiful as were all of god's creatures, but the grand cosmic joke was that all beauty wasn’t created equal. She was ebony as a pool of liquid chocolate and as exotic as the most rare and delicate bird of paradise. She was the form that all women aspired to be. She started her fall from up high and planned to breach the first layer of hell if she had the conviction to do so. Her wings would more than likely burn in t...

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Whispers of Abuelo

Submitted to Contest #298

"What do you want to see most during this tour?" I asked my new flock of eighteen adventurers, most old enough to be my parents."The Pheasant cuckoo," came from Al at the back of the room."A live volcano," yelled Gregory, wearing a jungle hat."The cloud forest," whispered Alice, reminding me of an ex-librarian.As I went around the room, my phone recorded it all in preparation for the week. I've been a Costa Rican tour guide for twenty years and thought I'd seen it all. But this time, I discovered a secret that few have lived to talk about.Th...

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Fling

Submitted to Contest #298

Agnes went peacefully in her sleep. Her roommate at the Tate Senior Community Center, Rose called the front desk to inform the staff of Agnes’ passing. Even though Rose was not a close friend of Agnes since she had been admitted only three weeks before, the thought of having a deceased person in her room was distressing. “Rose, why don’t you go to breakfast in the cafeteria while we take care of Agnes.” Nurse Wendy suggested as she rested her hand on Rose’s arm.“Alright.” Rose closed her eyes and nodded compliantly. Rose made her way down ...

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Opening Up

Submitted to Contest #298

At twelve my father had offered me to a nearby abbey. The monks there worshipped a dragon they called Lumikal; warriors of the faith trained in isolation for years before being unleashed onto the world as sanctified bounty hunters. Seekers of vengeance. To give what little credit can be given to my father, my siblings got to stay home working the farm with the coin he made from my sale to the lumikalites. Who would I have been to deny my siblings a life of peace? Armored conditioning, weapon mastery, horsemanship, repair and upkeep of arms, ...

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Up from the Avalanche

Submitted to Contest #298

Six strangers queued up in the ski line at the top of Bluegrass Mountain, each waiting anxiously to take their turns conquering the challenging, steep slope and carving their names into alpine history. Carl Jensen led off. He had graduated at the top of his MIT engineering class but found himself unable to climb beyondthe first rung of the executive ladder. Waiting behind him, Jan Smithson, an internationally-renowned artist whose work populated the mansions and museums the world over, but who had suffered through three violent and uns...

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The Åströms' Chronicles: Trapped

Submitted to Contest #298

The last rays of light sank into the horizon, proclaiming the beginning of night.Varg Åström adjusted the shortbow slung across his back and the sword strapped to his hip, then walked through the village gates, followed by the rare, bewildered stares of those not sleeping—Varg was the only one who hunted at night.Varg hated hunting.While he realized the necessity of it—what grew from the soil wasn’t sufficient to feed the village—he still ducking hated it.He especially despised it when Syvel and his sycophants went into the woods while the s...

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11 Dream Avenue

Submitted to Contest #297

SHIVAI wake up at the same time every morning. No alarm clock, no one close to shake me. I’m just up. It doesn’t feel random, it feels planned. By someone, or something, other than me. I don’t even check the time anymore. I sleep with my phone in another room but I am sure that at 6:14, I’ll open my eyes. I won’t be tired and there’s no use in trying to get back to sleep. It’ll never work. So I just rise, poop and brush my teeth before heading to my desk to write. I dream in detail every night. My dreams are active, familiar and consistent. ...

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Transfer

Submitted to Contest #297

Yareij stared out looking towards the small planet below. It was smaller than her home planet had been, but it had an interesting type of atmosphere that drew her in; it wasn’t typical for the atmosphere to be absolutely crystal clear. She peered down studying the planet with its mountains jutting towards the sky, oceans casting their waves to the shores scattering their sands as if they were stars in the cosmos that surrounded her. She let a long sigh escape her, her silk-like skin drooping around her shoulders. The shining banister she w...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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