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

150+ Coming of age Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. No matter how old you are, there’s just something inherently relatable about coming-of-age tales. Discover the best new coming-of-age stories right here!

Coming of age Short Stories – Page 9 of 10

Oh The Places You'll Go OR How the Dead Helped Me Ace High School

Submitted to Contest #306

Classmates, Parents and Family, Teachers and Honored Guests, I have been asked to deliver this speech on this day of our graduation. I have the highest GPA, so I get to speak. This speech will be more like a confession. (pause) I am number one in our class for a reason. (a longer pause with a dry cough cough) I cheated.(murmurs and mumbles with a hint of rage and disbelief)I cheated all of you for the past four years, and I did it with the help of my family. My dead family(the crowd buzzes and hums and snickers into silence.) (After the long...

13 likes 3 comments 3
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MOVING ON

Submitted to Contest #305

MOVING ON This happened back in the 80’s when I was only about 18. My girlfriend at the time was a fiesty redhead named Gille. Petite at 5’3” and 120 lbs but believe me, what she lacked in stature she made up for in attitude! She had piercing hazel eyes and long copper hair, more Auburn than ginger. She took pride in her appearance, athletic yet feminine. She had a fashion sense you could immediately recognize as ‘high end’ but kept it unpretentious enough to know nothing from Prada or Gucci would serve her. When she was good, she ...

1 like 2 comments 2
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the Bitter Side of Left.

Submitted to Contest #305

The Bitter Side of LeftBy Jennie Kissane Battaglia Metaphorically they say taking the “right turn” would have led me to remain home and I do think it would have. But taking a “left turn” would lead me away to the unknown- a place where I could be whatever I wanted. A left turn might free me to make choices.The right turn would have taken me to the same house that I had always known, the one that I grew up in, the only home I ever really knew. The familiar smell of my mother cooking in the kitchen, I had a habit of peek...

6 likes 2 comments 2
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The Nobel Prize Speech

Submitted to Contest #306

The following is an official transcript of the Nobel acceptance speech given on Dec. 10, 20--: Ladies and gentlemen, members of the press: I must say that I still feel as though I have been having a long and beautiful dream these last few months. Nothing can prepare the writer for the moment – a vivid point of realization - when he discovers that his chosen profession was not a mistake or a whim that would have been best left to adolescence. For that, I thank the academy. I thank you all.If you will permit me, I will spend some time discussi...

15 likes 8 comments 8
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Track 1: For the Road

Submitted to Contest #305

Every Saturday, I sort the same stack of CDs that no one listens to anymore. The plastic bins squeak ever so loudly, as if trying to disrupt the sharp silence that fills the store, excluding the constant, slow hum of the AC. Most of the covers are faded or cracked. Someone once wedged a chewed-up piece of gum between two cases in the corner. I left it there to see if anybody would notice, and, unsurprisingly, nobody did. Nobody notices anything anymore. Sometimes people come in to kill time. They say nothing, look at nothing, and buy nothing...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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The Loneliest Island

Submitted to Contest #305

I stared at the crowd and told the biggest lie of my life. “I wasn’t there.” The “there” I was talking about was a lake. Ferring Lake, to be exact. Ferring Lake is a 200 square-mile dynamic body of water, with strong central currents, pockets of picturesque clear-water beaches, and areas so full of thick mud that even the most durable wading boots don’t stand a chance. The beautiful clearings were once home to secret hammocks hung between shady trees and a plethora of old furniture dropped off by high school students. In one area, there was ...

19 likes 2 comments 2
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Graduation Speech '03

Submitted to Contest #305

Hundreds of blinking eyes surrounded me, and to my contempt, were now entirely focused on me. I had never seen our gymnasium this full before, except for a basketball game, maybe. But the cheer and clamor from the games was now replaced by a polite golf clap. I never really wanted the spotlight and my heart was beating heavy, but my legs kept moving toward the podium. The polite clapping ended and a nervous silence entered the room. What the hell was I doing here? Doesn’t matter. The only way out of this is through it. I take a deep breath, ...

3 likes 1 comment 1
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Up a Tree

Submitted to Contest #305

“What!”Charlie awoke feeling small clawed feet on his back. Though not painful, he felt the tentative steps travel up his spine toward his head. He opened his eyes. Seeing he was twenty feet off the ground, he tensed. Somehow, he’d slept straddling the tree limb he was clinging to. How…! Did I sleep up here?A squirrel bounded off his head and up the branch. It turned and scolded him. Its chatter didn’t need translation. His panic subsiding, Charlie told the creature, “It’s okay, buddy. I thought you were lost.”Its tail twitching, the squirre...

17 likes 6 comments 6
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Therapy Session

Submitted to Contest #305

I stared at the screen and wondered what time it was. My mind slowly drifted away from the screen and to the clock on the wall. Exhaling a sigh, I tried not to express the frustration of wasting my time—one hour, once a week—to be here. With a shaking leg, I realized that only fifteen minutes passed. I felt her stare through the screen as I continued to think. Think of what? I don’t know. What did she even ask me again? Oh yeah, right. What do you want to do with your emotions? There was a moment where I wanted to give her the right answer...

5 likes 0 comments 0
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You know what? I quit.

Submitted to Contest #305

I told myself I quit. It was two years ago. I said first to myself then to the others - I quit. What if meant? Easy. Exactly what it says- I quit. On what you ask? On life! I wish I could say smoking. Feels too easy somehow. Like it's truly possible. People do quit smoking. But also people do quit their lives. One is healthy and admirable. And the other. A taboo no one talks about. Why so? Why are we afraid of the word Death and death itself. Because it is the end of the story. There is no more continuation. We don't know if there is - so te...

3 likes 3 comments 3
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LEMONS

Submitted to Contest #305

'When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.' But life always gives you lemons, but not a chance for you to make lemonade out of it.Such was the mindset of Prakash as he woke up in the middle of the day. Feeling a sense of dread and unease. He looked around in his crammed room, and not a soul was in his vicinity. Craving for some kind of warmth, as he tried to find the courage to move along with his day. But like every other person grinding through life in the world, his family was too far away for him to reach, so he had to make do with what...

6 likes 5 comments 5
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Baldwin Hills

Submitted to Contest #305

This story contains a frightening incident of a man exposing himself to the protagonist when he was a child. However, I survived the situation and I'm glad that I could write about it. Baldwin HillsGary Grissom At the intersection, I could go right and head home – but turning left would take me all the way to Baldwin Hills. Yes, Baldwin Hills, which I had viewed longingly from my school yard at Palms Elementary for the past school year. In that year, 1957, Baldwin Hills beckoned to me like an enchanted land where there were trees, deer, r...

4 likes 1 comment 1
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Lola

Submitted to Contest #305

LolaTW: Includes sexual innuendo. “T'was the third of June another early summer typical Tuesday in Dullsville. Mom and Dad were off to work already but I hadn't lined up a summer job yet so I decided to take a run.Clad in my slick Nike's from gym days, knee-high striped athletic socks, short silky running shorts and a happy face t-shirt I'm the height of jogging fashion. I take a well-worn path but when I come to the intersection where I could turn right and head home or left and end up ...where ever, I get a second wind and turn left.Hey, I...

31 likes 39 comments 39
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Lost

Submitted to Contest #305

This story contains sexual abuse that is implied but not described. The worst thing about being lost is worrying about the people who are worrying about you being lost. If I'm lost, I still have me. My small circle of family (my mother and her brother) don't know where I am when I am lost, but I am pretty sure I know where they are. They'll find me or I'll find them.. They are missing something that I'm not missing. They are missing me. And that's why I worry. Each one will react differently to the news, and that makes my palms sweat. I hav...

6 likes 2 comments 2
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Completely and Utterly Lost

Submitted to Contest #305

In high school I was voted most likely to succeed. I was in all the AP classes. I was valedictorian. I was a cheerleader, who dated the star quarterback. I was voted Prom Queen. I hung out with everyone. Really, though. I hung out with the jocks and the nerds and punks and the potheads and the skaters and techies. I liked everyone in my class, and I enjoyed getting to know what everyone liked, what everyone was passionate about. In high school I knew that I wanted to be a nurse. My mom was a nurse. My abuela was a nurse. My tías. were nurses...

8 likes 6 comments 6
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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