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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.

1100+ 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 7 of 74

Little Red Riding Hood (as Told by the Wolf)

Submitted to Contest #277

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD (AS TOLD BY THE WOLF)ALICE WOOTEN           Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ve all heard of the story “Little Red Riding Hood”…cute little girl with a red cape. Sounds pretty innocent, right? Well, all that shines is not gold is what I say. You’ve heard it said that there are two sides to every story, well here is my take on this precocious, little cutie.           So let me start by setting the stage. My name is Lone Wol...

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Snowman

Submitted to Contest #277

SNOWMANED WOOTEN     Hello, my name’s Burt, but my friends call me Burr. You’ve seen my image on numerous Christmas cards. You know, the one’s with glistening snow in front of a cabin with smoke coming from its chimney, a celestial sphere in the night sky, and of course, me…a snowman. That’s me to the right in this nostalgic Christmas card that you can find in most Hallmark Stores.      Please pause now and “oohhh and aahhh” about the card’s picturesque image before I bust your nostalgic...

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The Concept of Time

Submitted to Contest #277

By definition, the concept of time is a long explanation as to why and more importantly how time works. Filled with formulas, and theorems and theories, that are not visible to a plain person's eye at first at least. In its definition, we can see that the concept of time is based on the fact that every single second is irreversible. Nothing can go back to what it had been before, nothing will be the same in a way. Not that it will hurt your mind if you misplace your piece of bread on the table, and forget to place it in the right order. But ...

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The Three Little Pigs Incident: A Building Inspector’s Report

Winner of Contest #277 🏆

The Three Little Pigs Incident: A Building Inspector’s ReportBy B.B. Wolf, Senior Building Inspector, Woodland District Code Enforcement DivisionLet me set the record straight. After twenty-seven years with the Woodland Building Department (WBD), I’ve seen every construction shortcut and code violation imaginable. But nothing—and I mean nothing—compares to the infamous Three Pigs incident of 2023. The media had a field day with it, of course. “Big Bad Wolf Terrorizes Innocent Homeowners!” Please. I enforced the International Building Code, 2...

4 likes 132 comments 132
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Letter of resignation

Submitted to Contest #277

A Letter of ResignationTo His Royal Highness, King Cole. Let me begin my correspondence by congratulating you on the recent marriage of your son, Prince Charming, to the very amiable Princess Cinderella; I am so very glad that the assistance of every officer in our council in the inspection of the feet of every young woman in the council, proved to in the end be worthwhile. With no one to enforce the law, the crime rate for that day was perhaps the highest recorded in the last five years, but all that is no matter, as long as the young coup...

16 likes 8 comments 8
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The Veiled Tavern

Submitted to Contest #275

Evan stood in the dark kitchen, watching the pub-goers file out, waiting for the landlord to dim the rest of the lights and lock up. He gave it five minutes before emerging from his aromatic (he judged burgers and chips had been on special that day) hiding place. Jeremy, the aforementioned landlord, was always paranoid that he had forgotten something, and was usually right. A side effect from sampling the produce during the day and indeed dabbling throughout the evening. Evan moved to the window and saw Jeremy driving away. He made sure Jer...

5 likes 3 comments 3
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Ariadne's Plight

Submitted to Contest #275

Tucked into bed with the blinds closed tight and the night light on, Ariadne Lou Caliver was trying to sleep.  On all accounts sleep should have come easily, as the door was opened just the right amount to let in the warm hallway light, a glowing runway to her parent’s room next door. The closet was closed, the windows locked tight, and the night light was set at the exact angle needed on the corner of her dresser so that it could light up the entirety of her bed. The room was quiet except for the sound of the crickets chirping outside ...

3 likes 1 comment 1
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pleading with the moon

Submitted to Contest #275

I once wrote a love letter to the moon.and when I say love letter, I mean a plea."If I could just receive a sign... thats all im asking for.a sign that youre listening, a sign that im on the right path, a sign that truly prances its self right onto my path and walks me to what my calling is suppose to be...""MEOwwwww...."meow? meow?!I turned my head and the absolutely most angelic cat pranced across my lawn and in the filter of the evening I almost missed her.Ive actually never heard a stray speak...and I thought to myself.... " now moon... ...

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A Realm of Struggle

Submitted to Contest #275

The screaming scratch at the window startled Reedem awake. A sound otherworldly. Half past 3 the high pitch sound contorted into a deep cleaving. Reedem’s eyes widened at the sight of his window turning into a portal where a nimble four-legged creature bounded through. The black feline’s eyes hypnotized him to push himself off the bed and stare. Shadowless, the cat jumped on his bed, tail swirling. Reedem blinked and glanced at his alarm clock, which now read 3:31. At least it wasn’t staying still, he thought, otherwise it’d be a dream. ...

7 likes 2 comments 2
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The Old Well

Submitted to Contest #275

It’s a late summer day, now. Spiders die and are carried off, and the sun is stirred by breezes from the south, and the oak leaves begin to look downward, tired and bleached. The squirrels know no statelier or longer days than these here, and run through the afternoon accompanied by mournful robins whose feathers are always a little duller each passing year.  And yet the window does not change; it never does. Through it she can see the old well, the rounded limestones flaked with age and the ever-present steam rising from wherein the wa...

47 likes 21 comments 21
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An assignment for a night

Submitted to Contest #275

Here I am hovering over my assignment for the night of October 31, 2024. My assignment was to make sure Tom makes it through the night. Sometimes I wonder, how are these assignments passed out? What spirit is assigned to who and why? Or is it just a random drawing? This is something that will never be revealed to the spirit army.  From my orders I see that Tom is a male over eighty years old. He was in his mother's womb when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Tom is living a typical American life. He was never famous or...

5 likes 1 comment 1
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Buried Secrets

Submitted to Contest #275

Gabriela had known ever since she’d moved into the house a week earlier she wasn’t alone. The home she had purchased was an old one and one she was sure was packed with memories of many. This fact, among many, only added sustenance to her being an empath and a bit of a conduit for spirits. Gabriela could not only sense the emotions of living humans but was also able to receive an understanding of feelings emitted by souls on the other side. It was nothing new and something she’d experienced early in her life since the age of five, a gif...

17 likes 5 comments 5
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Root Beer

Submitted to Contest #274

cw: drowning I drowned in a paper cup once. One of those free ones that fast food places give you when you ask for a cup of water but then secretly fill with root beer, or whichever drink you like best.Only this cup was filled with water. Just plain tasteless tap water and nothing else.In my previous form, as well as every other form before that one, I had never been the type to fill my free water cup with soda. For one, I wasn’t a thief. Apparently I wasn’t a good swimmer either. I learned this as soon as I hit the water and my many spider ...

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The Old Hag

Submitted to Contest #274

I have always been inclined to fear the unknown which is found in the darkness, both as a child and then later in my years as a grown adult. Such an inclination was most likely the direct result of my mother’s dabbling in the supernatural and paranormal while I was a very young child. I can easily recall my nights spent in bed when I was a child, lying with eyes wide open as I surveyed the room to be sure no other was there with me and praying for sleep to overcome my restless body and come quickly. The real creature of fear, however, with a...

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The Fog

Submitted to Contest #274

Grandma said the Fog wasn’t there when she was a little girl, but appeared suddenly in her young adulthood. No matter the time of day or year, the coast that our town sits on always has a thick line of fog. So much so that to enter our village requires taking a long indirect route on or over the land, even though a direct cross of the water by boat or plane would make a much shorter travel. Legend says that the Fog appeared after the pearl was stolen from the great Sea Dragon. Every morning my grandmother goes out to the shore line as if to ...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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