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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.

1110+ 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 65 of 74

Convincing Death

Submitted to Contest #75

I watch her sleep.And I watch her sleep some more. And she continues to sleep. Holy mackerel! Well, mackerels aren’t holy, but, wowzers! Is this girl gonna sleep all night? Hurry it up lady, you may be mortal, but it’s not like you need eight hours of sleep.Wait a second. I look it up, only to find that indeed, mortal humans need around eight hours of sleep.***So, four hours later, why is this girl still asleep? She stirs.Then she starts snoring again.Call me impatient, but I got other peeps to take, so clearly I need to asser...

24 likes 4 comments 4
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All For A Book

Submitted to Contest #75

Mavery Aston sighed weakly as the door pushed open. It had always been a New Years' Resolution, and yet, she hadn't finished it yet. Today though, she was going to skip the party and complete her book.Her husband, Adryan leant against the wall, staring at Mavery with raised eyebrows. "Aren't you pushing yourself too much, dear?"Mavery glared at Adryan. "No, no! I'm not! My goal was to publish a book. It was my resolution ten months ago! We're almost finished with a year, and I'm not done yet!" she yelled, hysterically, her face, flushed, and...

29 likes 10 comments 10
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Afraid Together

Submitted to Contest #75

     Fear is the most natural state for any creature subsisting on this planet. Since the days when man’s ancestors first unsheathed themselves from the world’s oceans fear has been a part of us. One day two scientists had hypothesized that if fear could be programmed into a computer, then the computer would be able to organize itself and determine the best route to deal with fear. However artificial the fear may be, to the machine it would be crippling. Both scientists decided to program separate computers and assim...

5 likes 0 comments 0
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Miracles

Submitted to Contest #75

Author's note- This is a story about a new beginning, leaving behind resentment, loneliness and fear of losing someone. I stood there silently as a young couple passed me.They stopped. The girl pulled the boy back, standing right in front of me. She said something to him. The boy just smiled and pulled out a coin from his pocket handing it to her. The girl quickly closed her eyes and tossed the coin toward my direction. It splashed in the water around me, not in the basket that I held. I could hear the girl groan. The boy pulled out another ...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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Leaving an old life behind...

Submitted to Contest #75

 I remember a time when people used to come to this house just to see me, to take a look, even without a real invitation, and that’s when I’d change a moment of their lives – not dramatically, and not permanently, but changing some of their tired stands to the more welcomely accepted and appreciated sit downs, and always just enough to see a smile arise, or at least to feel one coming. I wasn’t paid for this, but I was certainly bought for it.  Some of the other things told me to stop trying to force my own place into there, and to...

5 likes 1 comment 1
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I like my old life but I probably should have a new one.

Submitted to Contest #75

"No, no you weren't an alcoholic. You sometimes drank too much."said the therapist to his patient that he had helped for over 15 years and realizing that he had to unload his patient. Can you imagine paying off your mortgage as a result of helping someone cope with the pain of unresolved issues in their lives? There is something called a guilty conscience, ladies and gentlemen! In this case it struck Scot, Mr. Scott Zwingli when he realized that he looked forward to some of his patients more than he did his wife sometimes!Agnes had been his ...

17 likes 2 comments 2
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"A Price To Pay"

Submitted to Contest #74

Simon could feel the rough bark of the massive tree biting into the bare skin of his back as he pushed with all his might against it. He wasn't foolish enough to believe his piddling efforts had any hope of toppling it. The enormous oak had supposedly been there for over a thousand years. It's gnarled and unyielding branches had easily borne the weight of all the many supposed witches, dissidents and pickpockets who had been most unceremoniously hung from them. Their piteous fates had been doled out by a long lineage of tyrants who had ruled...

11 likes 0 comments 0
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Into the woods

Submitted to Contest #74

1.Patience, I tell you. You know already, but I remind you, for I have seen far too often the way fear short circuits the frontal lobe and paralyses human decision making; I tell you, the woods are alive. The trees, of course, grow and reproduce and respire, but I am talking of the spaces in between, of the essence of the woods. The lone birch tree that the nosy woman - you know the one - hangs her washing line on is not frightening as it stands silently in her garden, though the bleached bark peels like ribbons of flayed skin. It was dug up...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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Rose’s flowers

Submitted to Contest #74

She stepped to the door, her hands heaped with freshly cut roses in all hues of pink, from the softest baby pink to the brightest cerise.   The fragrance of Mother Earth permeated the room. With her face buried into the tips of the velvety petals she sniffed in the therapeutic aroma which usually never failed to make her feel better.  She didn’t bother to iron her dress. It was one of her own creations. An A-line cut in a floral chiffon, with petit sloppy sleeves and a satin belt, which accentuated her lean waistline.&nbsp...

12 likes 1 comment 1
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Farewell the Crickets Sang

Submitted to Contest #74

Five years ago the despondent, grim-faced prisoner was found guilty of treason, contesting a corrupt law that only favoured the rich, the greedy and the malicious. In his mind, the concept of power should have been divided equally amongst the town, to the joyous people, and dispensed like a wheel of cheese, for all the mouths in the village to feast upon uniformly, but it wasn’t meant to be. “You call yourself a king!? The people are starving, and you sit on your pompous throne fattened like a rotten boar! You’re a no good rat!” Cauldro...

24 likes 8 comments 8
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"An opening in the male butterfly's house"

Submitted to Contest #74

There was once a male butterfly who decided to make a house. He made it and finished it after a while, but he didn't leave a single opening on it, and the light couldn't get inside. The house was filled with soft flowers and as such was very comfortable and fragrant, but that butterfly felt neither comfort nor smell. He lived like that in that house, in complete darkness and discomfort. One day, while flying around a flowery area with his friend, he sees a small female butterfly. He went back to the same place for a few days and always notic...

12 likes 0 comments 0
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Procrastination!

Submitted to Contest #74

Hey, now you may be reading this short story thinking it’s something exhilarating, important! Or at least interesting. But... Nah! This book is about my sad last day of winter break. So, I would ask you to reconsider wasting your time reading this...Still there? Ok, But I'm warning you- you better go off and watch Mickey Mouse or something.So, this story starts with Isabell, (me) waking up on December 31st. Ever since December 23rd, my school has been on winter break, and I treated it as a great treasure. I was so productive during the time!...

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Christmas, Cookies, and Cleaning

Submitted to Contest #74

Alice Denning sat against the wall behind the sandbox in her kindergarten classroom, hugging her knees. It was getting dark outside, and she couldn’t reach the light switch. Just like the past two nights, there would be no light at all once the sun set. Would she ever get home? She looked up at the tick marks she had made on the bottom of the chalkboard. She could barely reach the board at all, so she had put them right at the bottom. She had been marking the days she’d been trapped inside the school. Three gone, countle...

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Tracking It

Submitted to Contest #74

Teeshoe was walking up the corridor and then down it. ‘ I must be imagining things’ he said to himself. His mind was racing fast. He took a sharp turn at the corner when he bumped into a side wall. ‘ Holy shit, what ever has happened to me’ he muttered under his breath. He didn’t bother and continued walking. A few minutes later, he decided to settle into a cozy couch with a book. He took a quick shower and changed into comfortable clothing. Fixed a few items to eat and ran his fingers through the mini library he had at home. There...

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Inheritance

Submitted to Contest #73

A sudden turn in my grandmother’s health had signaled the imminence of an inheritance, and I was quick to seize on the opportunity to be the favoured grandchild. I would see to her personal care, and the care of her property, which would’ve come at a cost her miserly attitude would’ve loathed. The task, though unattractive, was to my mind certain to result in becoming her primary beneficiary. Her vile temperament had managed to alienate the majority of our clan. Those whose greed may have tempted them to maintain some illusion of loyalty wer...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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