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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.

8550+ 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 51 of 571

The stone

Submitted to Contest #269

He lay there, his fear crippling him much more than his mangled legs that were currently soaking the dirt with his blood.His life was seeping out of him by the second; his fall was too great to survive without assistance, and that assistance was what he feared.The person closest to him when he had been attacked was a man who lived to destroy him.Ignatius knew that if the man found him, he would spend his last days praying for death.The irony was that it would be the first time he prayed in years.Ignatius founded a church some twenty years ag...

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A Kaper of Kobolds

Submitted to Contest #269

Strix and Squirt stood at the entrance of their cavern at the base of the Tengar Hills, the misshapen clay jugs they used as an alarm hanging a foot over their heads. The once narrow forest trail, now beaten by armored feet and burned by torches, stretched wide before them. Their red scales glinted in the morning light. Kobolds, as everyone knew, weren’t the most imposing of creatures. These scaly dragon-kin stood about the height of a ten-year-old child and had twice the squishiness with beady eyes and brains that kept them alive but little...

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Searching for Sasquatch

Submitted to Contest #269

  Living just outside of Portland, Oregon, Connor Deschutes and his family had always enjoyed the great outdoors.  Connor had spent three years in the Boy Scouts earning a dozen merit badges in that time.  His father, Oliver, was an avid fisherman, spending the weekends in his motorboat out on Lost or Bull Run Lake hoping to snag trout or bass that populate most of the lakes throughout the state.   On the weekend that would make Connor famous, he was out camping with his Boy Scout troop near Mount Hood.  His sco...

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The Sailor & The Sea

Submitted to Contest #269

The woman in the mist, will sing your name to thee,you’ll follow and be gone,if you find the Mirror-Sea.Her voice will call you in, but home, you’ll never be,if you follow the Siren’s Song,into the Mirror-Sea.If you go with her below,you will never be free,because you were already lost,when you found the Mirror-Sea.So listen to this well,it’s the last I can say to thee,beware the Siren’s Song,if you find the Mirror-Sea.Sea Shanty, circa 1793.I held it in my hand, reverently.A compass.A simple, thing, really. For a sailor, especially. I must ...

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The Black Cat and His Book

Submitted to Contest #269

The cat, with fur black as the night sky wandered aimlessly down an overgrown path. His lean body winding like a river through the brightly coloured moss and shrubbery, his eyes alight with purpose, and behind him was a girl. Her bottom lip sticking out in the most displeasing way as she used a stick to abuse the shrubbery around her. At first glance one might simply think she is a bad egg, but if an individual were to really look at her they would see she was rather disheveled; much like someone who had recently fallen. She was covered in d...

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The Fetch Quest: A Tale of Three Dogs

Submitted to Contest #269

The Great Fetch Quest: A Tale of Three DogsThe afternoon sun hung high in the sky, casting a golden hue over the sprawling backyard. It was the kind of day that felt endless, where the air buzzed with possibility, and the smell of freshly cut grass beckoned adventure. For three determined dogs, this day would be one of legend. Their beloved toy—a tennis ball, worn and muddied from countless games of fetch—had just been thrown into the great unknown by their human. What was once a simple, playful toss had now transformed into something far mo...

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The Pit

Submitted to Contest #269

Port placed his foot down on the narrow stone ridge, expecting it to hold firm. The scattering of grit beneath it had the opposite idea, shifting viciously under his weight. His sturdy boot shot away, his leg following as if they had both conspired to abandon him. His heart raced, and every muscle in his body screamed to drag his wayward limb back into alignment. They failed. It was the rope around his waist that saved him, snapping tight and preventing a deadly plunge into the abyss below. He hung there for a moment, suspended at an unnatur...

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The Ruby

Submitted to Contest #269

The Congolian jungle: Untouched by civilization for millions of years. One of the most dangerous places in the world. And dead in the center of it, lie the most dangerous creatures of them all.   poisonous lizards and exotic birds scamper through the larger-than-life trees. Giant spiders the size of dinner plates set their webs along small clearings in the brush. On the jungle floor, a massive colony of giant ants make their home, millions scurrying along the wooded ground. For 10,000 different species, this was home. Suddenly, bre...

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The Repeat

Submitted to Contest #268

The rain was falling harder now as the sheep went about their business. He was no sheep he was a wolf, a soulless killer. One on whom time had no effect nor would it bring forgiveness. Kane lent back on the rough exterior of the bank. A tall grey colossus which matched his view on the world. Rain dribbled from his worn and wide brimmed hat, running freely down his long duster coat he looked like something from a forgotten time. Kane scarcely registered the wet, along with most feelings. They had left him long ago. He looked out of place, out...

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Saved by a Laughing Parrot on the Ship Destiny's Dreams

Submitted to Contest #268

The books waited on their shelves to tell their stories to the next person.They were in the Biblioteca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Guanabara Bay, the western coast of South America, in the 1800s.Ten year old Marco walked the aisles and set the returned books back on their home shelves. It was another serene day with his family of books, who were alive with adventures, mysteries, and wisdom.The words from the story he was reading last night floated through Marco’s mind.“Square white sails filled with wind, the ship flew over the waves,...

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Payback in the Zamborini Desert

Submitted to Contest #268

Payback in the Zamborini Desert “We have all the supplies we need,” said Jonas. “Let’s get going.” He zipped up his spacesuit. “Let’s see the inventories,” said Dr. Grant. Dr. Evelyn Grant led the group. She was a renowned archaeologist known for her unending pursuit of historical truths, and she took her responsibilities seriously. She inspected the readout on her visor. “We should bring extra oxygen, just in case,” said Dr. Samuel North, the project engineer. He pointed to the endless sands of the Zamborini Desert and the rock format...

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Splish, Splash, Crash

Submitted to Contest #268

Splish, splash. Splish, splash, crash. Splish, splash. Splish, splash, crash….The continuous rhythm and roar of the ocean waves, the tropical light burning through the morning clouds, and the seagulls’ lonely cry, awakened Sandy Harris lying on a desolate beach. Her fingers grasped the wet sand, her feet and legs soaked up the waves, and her eyes opened to the burning sun. She shielded them with her left hand and sat up with her right. The dry sand cascaded from her arms and fingers.“Where am I? Is this the Caribbean?”Sandy scanned...

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A Rusty Summer.

Submitted to Contest #269

In the quaint town of Willowbrook, where the rhythm of life was as predictable as the changing of the seasons, there was an object so common it was overlooked by nearly everyone—a battered old bicycle named Rusty. Rusty had been left to lean against an oak tree in the backyard of the Alden family for as long as anyone could remember. Its paint was chipped, its chain rusty, and its seat worn, yet it held a silent dignity as if it remembered better days. The Alden family had long since forgotten about Rusty, their lives too busy with the hustl...

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For the rest of my life

Submitted to Contest #268

As Vipsanius opened the locket, the voice from inside rang loud and clear.  „Please, please, remember me when I’m gone“ The feminine voice sounded breathless, teary, and almost desperate. After a second came a response. „Of course I will. For the rest of my life“ This one was well known to everyone gathered around Vipsanius in witnessing this decisive moment. The voice was his own, gruff but always level. Only, in these words it had a tone they had never heard before – frail, choked up, almost sobbing. Falling apart....

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The Owl's Nest

Submitted to Contest #268

Doctor Antigone ‘Alti’ Foxglove had left the last package delivered to her small but well-appointed manor for last. On the walls hung long-lost antiquities and pieces of puzzles and long-lost languages that she was currently deciphering. She had received several relics from her last trip to Iran wrapped specially for her but the last box was from an address she didn’t recognize.The Dean of Varunkirk University’s Archeology and Antiquities department had set the ancient tablets on one of her many desks next to a few of her reference books on ...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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