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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

790+ Black Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Discover the best new stories by Black authors, written to themed prompts and curated by our judges.

Black Short Stories – Page 46 of 53

No Room to Thrive

Submitted to Contest #74

Trigger Warning: stillbirthThe voice on the outside spoke to Mama like we weren’t even real.“The twins have no room to thrive. If you don’t go into labor over the weekend, we’ll look into taking them out in ten days.”“No room to thri-?” The voice interrupted Mama, dismissing the fear we could feel pulsating around the tiny space my twin brother and I shared. I didn’t like how it felt, much worse than the daily kicks I received from Teddy, who slept above me. He grew quite larger than I and I overheard the people on the outside refer to me as...

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Love at first sight

Submitted to Contest #73

Stella threw a stone in the river and got a rebuke."Don't do that! It may disrupt my wish."They were the only ones at the river bank, which was strange at this time of the year but was expected, due to the pandemic. The three girls had figured it would be a nice time to visit the much talked about Ile-Ife especially since the tour guides had no customers and could give them all the attention.Two girls looked back at Tina in confusion.Tina sighed, hoping her wish would still be valid as she explained."This, is the Osun River" she spread out h...

10 likes 1 comment 1
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Trapped In Heaven

Submitted to Contest #73

In the small city of Entofield, A black woman named Ski who's around 24 years old works at the hospital as the top surgeon. She's around 5'7, not slim nor phat, wears glasses, and always has a smile on her face even when she's stressed. It's the start of December where the hospital has been decorated with Christmas items, Ski hasn't celebrated Xmas since she was 16. It wasn't a personal issue she just didn't feel the spirit of it anymore, Xmas was just another busy day for her. Ski had a best friend who worked with her named Kiara, they've b...

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The cat's out of the back.

Submitted to Contest #72

I sitting on my bed replaying the whole night over in my head, I was pretty sure Lola had suspected she was a very observant person and it was one of the things I loved about her but right now this quality I admired so much in her might have finally gotten me in trouble, I thought maybe I should call her and if she noticed anything she would say something and if she didn’t I had nothing to worry about but before I could make a decision about it I got a text from Lola asking me if I could go shopping with her tomorrow, I thought about declini...

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The Clickity Clangingest Pulsator (Dedicated to Richie Johnson)

Submitted to Contest #73

You know how I get when live music is blaring through the room? I am on an emotional level and nothing can compare to it.I know everything is going to be alright when the band starts playing and so I felt as if being invited to share music on Christmas Eve for a party for the symphony orchestra of Harlem, was like a bridge to better days. I knew that I would be feeling magic moments in each and every song; especially with Richie banging out some forceful cries on his drums. He stands out from all the other drummers because he is not wit...

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A MAN WAS LYNCHED YESTERDAY

Submitted to Contest #72

I could have seen the entire New York, standing on the top floor of ‘one police plaza’ headquarters. New York was my first love from the beginning, as whenever I saw it sensed an even more affection. But that day my heart was not feeling that fondness. The events from the last few weeks had shaken my head completely. Why did they do it? And mostly who are they? These questions made me crazy from that morning.“They are a community, I believe.” Detective Smith said.“maybe, a gang.” Detective Rhonda said.“no, not a gang, if it would, then they ...

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Astoria and revenge

Submitted to Contest #72

Tom kept running and running, fearing the devices of Astoria that detect and predict human actions, and knowing that the machine had spotted his desire to be able to control the human body.  In Revenge of his father's killer, however, he decided to escape from her and not allow him to be caught by her Micro Devices, The Machine had an army of flying ants where each flying robot Ant injects his criminal idea with the blade of innocent thinking . In this time of 8027, no one had the right to be angry or retaliate. Even the simplest hostil...

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I Love Me

Submitted to Contest #72

Content warning: body image issues Months passed since he packed his bags and left her, yet the walls of the house they once shared were still dull and lifeless, reflecting how Arya felt inside. Their relationship started in the ninth grade and ended at the age of twenty two. Arya only knew who she was within that relationship and now that it was over, her sense of who she was vanished.  Her tears stopped falling long ago, but the ghost of their streams left permanent marks on her cheeks. Across from her bed, propped up against the wall...

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Red eye

Submitted to Contest #72

The stench of blood is everywhere. I hold a handkerchief closer to my nose as I walk deeper into the room. I freeze as the scene in front of me unfolds. There’s a head on the dresser, the body is neatly dressed on the bed with the blood still slowly oozing out of the neck. I feel the bile rising in my throat. I gulp to swallow it back down. I can’t throw up here. I can’t throw up now. I take some pictures. ‘’No sign of forced entry’’ My partner, Zero says to me. ‘’Looks like whoever did this knew this lady.’’ ‘’Ajoke’’ I say her name, as I l...

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A STEP FORWARD

Submitted to Contest #72

Zenachi woke up really tired. Checking her time, it was past 8am in the morning.  Oh my God! She exclaimed, jumping up from the bed and running towards the bathroom like someone who has seen a threat.  She rushed her bath, got dressed immediately and headed for the road to the office.  As she drove out of light estate, her phone began to ring. What is it Rachel? She asked.  The representatives of Sonas company are here ma.  OK, I will be there in 30minutes she said and hang up.   Driving really quietly on t...

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A change of season

Submitted to Contest #72

She was caught off guard. The waves of emotion rushed through her like an electric current. "This cannot be." she thought to herself. Perhaps she was feverish. Winter was, after all, clutching its ugly claws; ready to kick the autumn blues away. The change was imminent. Nature had always been changing. It perplexed her why human nature seemed to be afraid of change even though it was needed for survival. "If we don't change we die", she recalls reading in one of her psychology books. Perhaps it was the reason why she felt dead inside; he...

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Empress Hatinu

Submitted to Contest #72

My name is Hassan mai wurno pronounced wuruno, I'm 42, am about 5’8,in height, hair was black curled as if jerry curl was applied. I tell you truth, I have never touched any oil on my head since my secondary school days. I'm a fulani man, that is why my hair is like that. I weigh about 68kg. My profession changes every season, somethings, it doubles per season but I am staff of local government in record,others are side kicks. I came from sokoto northern nigeria. I passed through schools, primary to university level where I studies agr...

9 likes 3 comments 3
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My Anne.

Submitted to Contest #71

“Dad! Hey, dad!” my son Michael comes barging into my room. This automatically sends me into panic mode because he never does that. “What’s wrong Michael?” I spring off my bed. “Nothing serious,” he walks over and sits on the edge of the bed. “Just that, it’s been long since you told me a bedtime story. I miss them,” he grins. Is this boy drunk? I squint my eyes at him for a second before sitting next to him. “Michael, you’re nineteen. It’s been almost ten years since I last read you a bedtime story.” “I may be nineteen, but the age gap betw...

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Bean cakes

Submitted to Contest #71

It was the first time in seven years I was going to see my grandma. I could remember the last time I saw her vividly, it was almost like yesterday. I could still see her move over the kitchen with that treacherous spoon of hers. Oh that spoon! It was the disciplinary spoon. Make one wrong move and then you have a spank on your head, your hands, your back, even your buttocks; basically whatever part was available was where the spoon landed. It was terrible to break one of her precious dishes. I had broken one a number of times, but ...

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Sweet and Sour

Submitted to Contest #71

Once, there was these two rival bakeries. One was ran by a woman, and the other by a man. They were middle-aged people with great taste in treats. The woman's name was Betsy Miracle and the man's name was Greg Harmony. They both lived in Fairbanks, Alaska. Their bakeries were just three blocks away from each other. One day, all the bakeries in Fairbanks got an invitation to an annual holiday festival. They both thought they would bake treats for the festival, since Christmas day was only four days away. The invitation stated that the annual ...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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