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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

150+ Bedtime Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Everybody loves a story before bed, and our collection of bedtime short stories has got you covered.

Bedtime Short Stories – Page 6 of 10

Clock or Cake

Submitted to Contest #284

Hoo! Hoo!Brandon looked out his bedroom window. The setting sun radiated pink through the leafless trees as it crashed into the horizon. It was pinker than usual, or maybe Brandon hadn't caught the sunset in a while. He always meant to watch it, everyday, but it slipped by.Brandon rolled away from the nuclear explosion of pink. The clock his mom got him for his twenty-third birthday projected the time onto the ceiling. His eyes adjusted to the dim blue numbers: five PM exactly.It was handy, Brandon thought, but is this what his mom envisione...

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Jeopardy

Submitted to Contest #284

“C’mon Hon, show’s about to start.” Milton knew his wife hated missing a second of Jeopardy, she enjoyed the opening spiels, she rooted for the contestant she related to the best. Given the choice between a local from Pensacola or a black woman from Alaska, she’d choose the black woman every time.Milton’s own cousin had been on the game show eight years past and did Velma root for him? No. She cheered for the elderly black woman in the floral mu mu.He had said, “Really Vel? Have you ever seen a parade float win?”Velma had scowled and growled...

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Passing Time in Silence

Submitted to Contest #284

The distant sound of a closing door and its metal locks woke me. Blurry eyed and dazed I grasped at my blanket as I slowly removed it from me, body shivering as winter chill ran its hands over me. With a grumble I let my feet hang over the bed's edge, reaching for my slippers that I had haphazardly kicked off last night before I had settled in.  “Of course.” I placed my feet down on the cold wooden floors and leapt to my slippers, sliding my feet into them as fast as I could. As I grabbed my padded hoodie from the bottom of the bed fram...

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Back to the Start

Submitted to Contest #284

“Mom!” I called into the vacant house, “I’m home!”  I must’ve called it a thousand times, but this time as the word left my lips it didn’t feel quite as right. Home was a foreign concept, so lost within my mind that even as my mother embraced me, warm and loving as ever, it didn’t sit right in the air. Some deep tugging sensation to my core told me that home was no longer the word used to describe this place.  Dad came up from the basement, smiling warmly at me. He leaned against the counter as mom cooked and asked me his million-l...

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Stranger for a day

Submitted to Contest #283

This story contains profanity and minor sexual content. 1. Write a story about two characters who surprisingly end up spending a holiday or event together.Strangers No MoreThere was little I could do to avoid the big event of the next day, my birthday. I’m suddenly realizing that I have less years to live than I have already lived, and I may be destined to live those days alone. I needed something or someone to take my mind off this day. I didn’t want to leave my home, because I’ve already changed into my after-work worn-out sweats, but...

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What Really Happened

Submitted to Contest #283

I woke to the most delicious warmth so I kept my eyes closed at first. And the smell of, what was it? Oh, cinnamon, the best spice of all.I almost fell asleep again, but the cheery jangle of a bell woke me up. I opened my eyes as a draught of air came across me and the warmth ebbed away in a blur of movement and brightness.Then I was lifted up and put down again on a cool surface, as a woman said, “I’ll have that one, he looks jolly.”Fingers reached for me and the face of a young lass loomed over me, smiling and saying, “Yes, ...

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Season's Greetings.

Submitted to Contest #283

I don't know about you, but I used to really enjoy sending and receiving Christmas cards. When I was in college, I got dozens. Then at work, I always had ten or so. Now, not so much. Slowly, but steadily, over time the number dwindled to all but a handful.December 22 of this year was slightly different.I arrived home around 6, excited, and shamelessly optimistic to see who, if anyone, had me on the nice list this year.Three Charity begging letters, a card from my Dentist,one from my sister in Ohio, and one more.It was a local postmark, so I ...

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The Black Rose A Christmas Sea Tale

Submitted to Contest #283

This happened to me when I was a little one and I only knew the whole story when I met an old sea captain who explained how it came about. And this is how he told it to me. It was like he was there. I know I was. The storm had slowed its pace and finally broke into easy winds and slowly mounting swells. The skies were streaked with grey clouds over grey seas and all around under that was deep blue with white crests breaking but with little force. The sea was becoming a kitten once more and it was just in the nick of time. The crew were exhau...

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The Sun's Grand Journey

Submitted to Contest #282

Once upon a time, living high above the sleeping planet in her preferred corner of a golden cloud palace was Sol, the young sun. Every morning, she would get out of her comfortable bed of warm light, a perfect circular nest of golden rays, that had been hers since she was born, and start her trip across the heavens just as her mother and grandmother had been doing, before her, since the beginning of times.But this particular morning something felt different. Sol peeped over the eastern horizon and saw shadows darker than usual and areas of t...

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A Sniff on Christmas Night

Submitted to Contest #281

We were known to like cold weather. Our coats were made for it. The snow falls right off of us. I could be a statue in this weather, unmoving as it falls, for hours, days even, and I would be alright. I'm built for this. I know this. She knows this. But regardless, she wants me to come inside. She's stopped yelling my name and only watches me from the door. But I'm not budging. If I fight my impulses a little longer, I might get away with it this time. I stare up at her from the spot I made on the ground. My frigid blue eyes almost blending ...

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Life And Times.

Submitted to Contest #282

It just will notvgo away all those years on nearly half a centuary aho. How vivid ones mind is from babe to adult. I can relive it and picture as if it where yesterday.My first car green a little 11,00 car with the cream leather seats and clocks inside on the dash board. It was a sheer joy at twenty one to polish that car.Oh, why did it have to happen to me ? The event stays always in the back of my mind. Imagining the terror. Seeing the people six of them drunk in a four seater Cortina. Said "They were out celebrating their engagement. Wher...

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The Sun Warrior Reborn

Submitted to Contest #281

“He came! He came!” yelled Alice.Steve smiled as he walked into their living room that was awash in Christmas and saw Alice already pulling the first present out of her stocking.Steve said, “Wait for the rest of us sweet girl.”Alice rolled her bright blue eyes and said, “Come on guys! You got presents too.”“We’re coming,” said Annika as she shuffled, sleepily into the living room. “You know we’re not as fast as you.”After Annika settled next to Steve on the couch their large frames making it look more like a love seat, Alice said, “Where’s G...

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The Cat with a Bowler Hat

Submitted to Contest #281

The idea of becoming a butler had appealed to me for some time. After all, I had the name for it—Jeeves—a fine and respectable moniker, even if I say so myself. My natural attire was perfectly suited to the role: a sleek black all-in-one suit complete with a white bib in the front. I practically looked the part already. Add to that the fact that I lived in a sprawling, posh English castle—and well, you could say I was born for the job. More than anything else, though, it was the allure of carrying a polished walking cane and wearing a smart ...

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The Uninvited Guest

Submitted to Contest #281

The temperature plummeted to record lows on Christmas Eve as the quaint New England town of Havenwood was preparing for its annual celebration. Frost crept across windowpanes in delicate patterns, and breath emerged in visible puffs as townspeople hurried through the streets, arms laden with last-minute party preparations. The town hall's warm lights beckoned like a beacon through the gathering dusk.Inside, twelve-year-old Lily Morgan helped her mother arrange cookie platters, sneaking a snickerdoodle when she thought no one was looking. "Mo...

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Ms. Elto the Christmas mouse

Submitted to Contest #281

My name is Ms. Elto and this is the story of how I saved a family Christmas. It was the day of Christmas Eve. I went around and gathered the last of the cheese to give my kids. As I finished grabbing the cheese and other gifts I went towards the home I was living in. The house was well decorated. The humans that owned the house loved Christmas very much. They didn’t mind having mice live in the wall as long as we didn’t damage anything, make a mess, and help keep the bugs away. The humans would also leave little blocks of cheese for myself a...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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