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

3890+ American Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Looking for great American short stories you can read for free? Whether they’re written by American authors, set in the USA, or just have that ever-elusive quality of Americana, this is the page you’re looking for.

American Short Stories – Page 7 of 260

Devil's Food Cake

Submitted to Contest #299

“You know you wanna …”“Shut up, Horace,” I mutter, out of the side of my mouth.The typical red, horned little monster shifts on my shoulder, cooking up a new tactic.Typical? Like, how many people have an Imp of the Perverse riding around with them, Kayla? I think.“It’s every priest’s dream to receive an Ordination Cake as perfect as this one,” the imp states.Wicked grin from Horace.I look wearily around the small Southern bakery, wipe my sweaty brow with my gloved, free hand, and proceed to get icing all over my straight, brown hair. Which s...

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The Toupee

Submitted to Contest #299

The day my mom left for the fat farm, dad wore his new toupee. I now see that the two events were related, but back then i didn't see it that way. The way I saw it, fat farms and toupees didn't have much in common. They were totally separate things. But I was wrong. The fat farm was located in Canada somewhere. My mom weighed 250 pounds and, according to the doctor, if she didn't lose the weight, her organs might start to fail. She didn't want to go, but she had no choice. She needed those organs.One night, while I was lying in the lower bu...

8 likes 2 comments 2
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Hot August Day

Submitted to Contest #299

Not so long ago (in old guy language that ranges from last week to ten years ago) I wandered to the Humane Society rugby field to watch the State Games Rugby Sevens matches. Notice I said watch. I wore sandals, a tee shirt, ordinary shorts. Okay the shorts were quasi-rugbyish being constructed of durable twill fabric. But I was not togged out for a game. I was going to watch.As a bit of background, I started playing rugby in college and just never quit. I had an instant liking for the game because it was as free-wheeling as basketball, my f...

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Whodathunkit

Submitted to Contest #299

It’s not easy making friends when you move from state to state, school to school so many times it makes your head spin. That was my life until we moved to Philly halfway through second grade. By this time I’d grown into a rebellious, stubborn little brat. Things changed a bit when my folks decided to enroll my brother and me in St. Matthias Catholic school for the upcoming school year. We weren’t necessarily a religious family, and I certainly came off as the devil’s incarnate when it came to forcing my young self into changes in which I had...

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Elaine from Philadelphia

Submitted to Contest #299

Elaine from Philadelphia Francisco’s invitations to the fund-raiser luncheon at the Cuban Club sat on his dresser like a trio of flashing yellow lights. He’d purchased the tickets in an impulsive wave of nostalgia with no idea of whom to invite. Miguel worked on Saturdays, and Jose and Maria were sipping umbrella drinks on a cruise ship. Who else? Since his wife’s death from cancer a year ago, Francisco had lost their friends and maybe his mind. He’d quit his job, sold his house, and moved into a retirement community redolent of air freshene...

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Revenge of the Toms

Submitted to Contest #299

This short story is based on an animation screenplay I’ve registered and written.Taylor and her fiancé Travis had decided to rent a cabin for November to enjoy a good old fashioned traditional Thanksgiving. Family would be arriving soon and, before they did, she still had time to experience a thing she hadn’t had in years; quiet, peaceful solitude. Taylor decided to go for a brisk autumn walk in the woods. No prying eyes of paparazzi or meddlesome media asking ridiculous questions. On this day, nature will provide the concert. Chipmunks ch...

4 likes 3 comments 3
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Community Service from a High School Perspective

Submitted to Contest #299

Feeling overwhelmed as a freshman at C.E. Byrd High School, I made a decision that would end up changing the course of my high school experience—I joined YoungLife. At the time, I didn’t really know what I was getting into, but I was desperate for a sense of belonging, for a place where I could be myself without fear or judgment. I found that community in YoungLife, a group that gave me something I didn’t realize I was desperately lacking: time and space to feel my feelings, speak my mind, and, most importantly, show my love and appreciation...

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True Colors

Submitted to Contest #299

“Hi, my name is Richard, but everyone calls me Ricky—I’m six and a half.”“Hi Ricky! I’m Jimmy. I’m six, too.”“I’m six and a half! I’ll be seven in September.”“My mom says I’ll be six and a half next month.”“Hey, we’re practically the same age.””That means we’ll be in the same grade. Are you gonna go to Faulkner Ridge Elementary?””I think so. Do you go there?”“Uh-huh. It’s close enough we can walk there. Do you want to be friends?”“Sure, I don’t have any friends here. That means you can be my best friend.”“Okay!”“Whatcha doin’?”“I’m catching ...

30 likes 18 comments 18
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YELLOW TIRES

Submitted to Contest #299

I dreaded going outside my apartment. I was embarrassed by the clothes I wore, which always included hand-me-downs from one of my two brothers. My brothers were much bigger than I was, and so were their clothes. Giant sweaters, jeans, and Mom would cut the necks out of old turtlenecks for us to stick in our sweaters. The class I was in at school had a lot of rich kids in it, but it seemed like even the poor kids dressed better than me.Christmas was the one time we’d get new stuff to wear. One Christmas, I was surprised with a bicycle. The fi...

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Uncle Hank's Headache

Submitted to Contest #299

Uncle Hank’s Headache One hot afternoon in 1967, Aunt Beverly parked the elementary school bus at our house and started checking under the seats for stray kids. She drove for Uncle Hank when he had a headache. As I helped my three-year-old cousin down the steps, Uncle Hank strolled out of the house. I was amazed to see him. He usually kept to himself in the garage. “Hey girls, come see my baby boa constrictor.” He held up a shiny gray snake about two feet long. Terry Ann ran to him. “Lemme hold the worm, Daddy.” Aunt Beverly ru...

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Silent Treatment

Submitted to Contest #299

Dr. Bream’s new client, Alfred, entered the office. The psychiatrist sensed his nervous energy. He seemed to vibrate like a wind-up doll. His eyes darted.They shook hands and sat.Alfred didn’t wait. Words poured out like from an open floodgate. “Doctor, I don’t know, can you do anything for me? Does this happen all the time? Only to me? Never happened to me before. Stuff always happens to me. But never… My life… My wife. My job… Agnes, nagging Agnes… and Smiley… Spinning out of control. I mean my marriage… Wife’s not spinning. She doesn’t ev...

6 likes 2 comments 2
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Coffee and Catastrophes

Submitted to Contest #299

This is the story of how one woman—unshowered, underslept, and emotionally unstable—nearly committed a felony over a cup of coffee.It all began like most mornings in postpartum life: with a loud scream. Not hers, though hers was absolutely on the way. No, this was her baby daughter—who, from the moment she entered the world, had been less “perfect little angel” and more “siren of the underworld.”The delivering doctor had blinked, half-startled, as her newborn daughter let out a cry that rattled the window panes and said flatly: “Well. She’s ...

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Green Juice and Egos: A Farmer’s Market Fable

Submitted to Contest #299

Green Juice and Egos: A Farmer’s Market Fable(Because sometimes the biggest drama isn’t on reality TV—it’s in front of a juice booth.)One of my more unforgettable experiences at the farmer’s market happened on a sunny afternoon that started off just like any other. I was manning a booth, selling healthy snacks and drinks to the wellness-obsessed weekend warriors—samples of flaxseed crackers, bottles of cold-pressed juices, and the star of our show—the green drink with a cult following and a reputation.It was thick, slightly menacing in color...

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the Gauntlet of Luv

Submitted to Contest #299

Contains sexual situations and naughty wordsIf you aspire to be a Hot, you must first possess a swinish amount of good looks and an abundance of well-endowed body parts. Any 'Average' person attempting the 'Gauntlet of Luv.' is like a gerbil trying to scale Mt. Everest. But, if you are deemed a potential Hot, you must step out into the world with one goal; Locate, make contact, and engage with as many Hots as your twisted ego can withstand. Knowing full well you will be utterly destroyed. Humiliated to the very core of your being. This one s...

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The Peacemaker

Submitted to Contest #299

CW: Strong language, sexual harassment, violenceIt’s High Noon in Doomstone, embedded deep in the southern Bible Belt like a crapulous cancer coagulated in the country’s colon, where the only discernible difference between the local Pastor and a radical Mad Mullah is the colour of the robes and the shape of the headgear: in the former’s case, conical. Even the hardware is the same - lethal rifles festoon the shoulders of their respective followers like garlands on a Christmas tree - or dates from a palm tree, depending on the adherents’ part...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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