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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

340+ Asian american Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. What happens when two different sides of the earth are brought together in a community, a family, or even a single person? Our collection of Asian American short stories can give you some ideas.

Asian american Short Stories – Page 7 of 23

What happened to this life??????

Submitted to Contest #196

DEE IS FREE NO DEE IS NOT FREE Well, that's the main question, and why not since that's the main question? The dee I know is really innocent and so full of energy not sure how this fullness became so many compromised characters. Maybe because there was so much to happen. The girl who was a free bird and knew no limits trying to part the world with surprises of yes “Girls can do it” to the notion of “There is nothing I cannot do” This character and daddy's girl never knew she will ever be afraid of people and relationship. The day she finis...

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The Third

Submitted to Contest #195

Ambushed by a horde of tears, Arsalan was struggling to pull the fuschia silk tent through her outstretched arms. This dress was, in his opinion, a monstrous creation: an offensively shiny frock with underside threads irritating his daughter’s tender, eczema-prone skin. Plus, the fact that they only had jeans as bottoms and not the traditional Pakistani chooridar pajama, wasn’t helping. It made her look like…like…well, like she had been dressed by a single dad with too much on his expanding plate. To add to her humiliation, all he ...

8 likes 1 comment 1
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Couture Dreams back to square one

Submitted to Contest #194

The multi-coloured apparel honing the entrance of my store, the tall mannequins displaying range of outfits that I had chosen for my humble clothing store were no more the point of contentment. They had been standing tall since months without any avail. Even the effigies were now irritable and talking to each other,” “We stand for hours together to display our master’s couture in the best possible way. But are these so-called stylish garments even sellable? My store is named after my daughter, “Asha”- meaning hope. Hope has been my constant ...

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Route 173

Submitted to Contest #193

“You know? Maybe this is a sign from the universe. Nowadays we live life so fast we’d hardly even notice if it ‘poofed’ into thin air! Think about how much we’ve missed trying to rush to the end instead of trying to enjoy things as they come. Maybe we all need to just slow down, take the easy route, you know?”“Rael you crashed the goddamn car.”“And?”“You blew up the engine, destroyed the hood, there’s a cylindrical dent in the roof…”“And?”“Because you were going so fast you somehow crashed into a cactus.”“Exactly! We were going too fast, the...

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The Owls

Submitted to Contest #193

The wallpaper was expensive, as were all the other upgrades in our three-bedroom apartment in a gated community in the midst of the city–wooden floors, intricate crown molding, baseboard trims, granite tops in the kitchen and bathrooms, tall windows that added drama to the rooms, a red brick wall in the family room, and white marble tiles in the large balcony, to name a few. Adding further character and depth to an already impressive ambiance,  were custom-made curtains, color coordinated with the pastel walls in every room, handmade Af...

7 likes 1 comment 1
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In a Lonely Place

Submitted to Contest #193

My roommate aggravates me. She makes me want to bang my head against a wall. I've known her since we were little. Our moms used to bring us to the only swing set between our houses. There were only two rusty swings with rubber seats that chafed our legs in the summer. We were always the last two to be picked up by the school bus because that was how the route went, so we always sat in the last two seats on the bus. Our parents were the only Chinese immigrants within miles of our middle-class suburb, so they liked to get together for long h...

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Wabi Sabi

Submitted to Contest #192

Wabi SabiCherry blossoms float  Carpeting the earth in pink    Spring is here again.桜A flash of distinctive bright plumage draws my attention to a robin. Landing lightly on a branch, he dislodges a shower of petals. Throws back his head. Warbles his set piece: Cheerily-cheer-up, cheer-up, cheerily-cheer-up! A dusky companion joins him, and they flutter down to the ground to pull worms together.Harbingers, I say to myself. Cherry blossoms, robins, even earthworms. Walt, up the hill, mowing the field. A subtle shi...

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A Search for Life’s Purpose

Submitted to Contest #191

A Search for Life’s Purpose By Sunil Varshneya I was born in America into a wealthy family, so I had never worked to earn a living and had yet to learn about the real world. My father was a successful businessman and was always successful in making more and more money. We lived in a mansion with lots of servants. I always took luxurious vacations with my parents all over the world. I always got what I wanted and was a member of all country clubs and had teachers and coaches to teach me whatever I wanted. When I went to college, I had a glim...

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Cherry Blossom On A Hill of Restless Hearts

Submitted to Contest #191

It was like I was trapped in a moment. Though she was warm against me, I felt like I was frozen in carbonite. Putting two things next two each other often highlights each others' personality traits, which explained why the beauty of Mount Pleasant High bloomed so brilliantly next to the Aaron Christopher, the reserved wallflower (aka me). She felt like a marshmallow with flesh, but somehow also felt like an anchor on my arm. It was like not wanting to move because a dog was sitting on my lap and I didn’t want to disturb the moment at perfect...

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Tokyo rain

Submitted to Contest #191

Kai Sato's life was in shambles. His girlfriend... well, ex-girlfriend now had just kicked him to the curb, all because she thought he was having an affair with a co-worker, when he was, in fact, not at all. Kai hated that co-worker if he was being completely honest. His mom was in the hospital with stage four lung cancer, and he could lose his job at the hardware shop at any moment."Get out! Get out, get out, get out!" She screamed so loud all of Japan probably heard and then grabbed him by the shoulders and attempted to push him out the fr...

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Killer Capuchin

Submitted to Contest #191

Wearing a fur collared kimono (which in Japanese refers to all traditional clothing), Shigeru braved the snow biting at his face. Fuka-gatsu, boots woven from barley straw kept his feet warm as they left deep imprints in the white powder. Looking up from the pristine ground before him rewarded Shigeru with a snowflake in the eye. He flinched, slipping on ice beneath the snow. His chestnut brown eyes blinked as he caught himself. Bone chilling cold snuck through his gloves in a heartbeat. Jumping back up, the hunter brushed the snow from his ...

22 likes 32 comments 32
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Hana and the Flower Rain - A rare blossom at the Sakura festival delivers a life-changing encounter.

Submitted to Contest #191

The streets were alive with the energy of a thousand joyful faces. People milled together, raising flower-adorned drinks, smiling at one another while knocking glasses together in toasts and good cheer.  The scents from the food vendors in their small street shacks mingled aromatics with the sounds of knives knocking swiftly against wooden blocks. The musical notes of percussion, wind, and stringed instruments resonated through the air.  It was Sakura, the annual Japanese celebration of the Cherry Blossoms.  Overhead, pink and...

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SOMEONE ENTERED A FLOWER SHOP

Submitted to Contest #191

The sign on the door read: Art of Bloom Florist, Sakura Sato Ito, Proprietor Word of mouth from satisfied customers made the small business very successful. Sakura was a petite young woman with jet hair and expressive dark eyes She was well-trained in the Ikebana style, an ancient Japanese art of flower arranging. It emphasizes harmony between the human and natural worlds. It was a Spring day that seldom occurred. The day was perfect, with a bright sun and a cloudless sky. The sweet fragrance of cherry blossoms perfumed the...

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Wildflower

Submitted to Contest #191

Jenny steadied herself with her left hand as she squatted among the rubble. With her right hand, she tried to push aside a slab of siding jammed against the remains of the patio table. She’d taken off her work gloves when the insurance agent stopped by, and then plunged back into the debris, forgetting where she’d set them. With shards of glass covering the ground, she moved cautiously. But she thought she’d seen a familiar bit of red ceramic among the jumble of splintered boards and branches. She kept pushing through bits and pieces. One ...

16 likes 7 comments 7
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The Fox and the Flower

Submitted to Contest #189

“What are you doing?” Hana jerked her trekking pole away from the wolf pup she had found, swinging it blindly in the direction of the voice. A strong hand closed around the shaft of the pole. A young man was attached to that hand, making no attempt to move other than to prevent it from hitting him.  He may have been her age, mid-twenties, with high cheekbones and narrow features. His hair was hidden under his dark hood, but the shaggy locks that framed his face were so blond they were practically white. He was talle...

21 likes 8 comments 8
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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