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

11100+ Contemporary Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. All the newest modern day stories to thrill and inspire, all in one place.

Contemporary Short Stories – Page 663 of 741

Retreat

Submitted to Contest #77

I needed time off technology and, consequently, human society. I needed to stay away from people but, I cannot remember why. It’s winter now and I am alone. I hear the wolves, or maybe it’s just one, but I am alone in this cabin. Did I mention that it’s winter and it’s cold? I cannot remember; I get confused sometimes. I came here in autumn. I was meant to stay for a couple of weeks. I don’t know why I am still here. Alone. I can hear the wolves sometimes. I think they are wolves. Or maybe it’s just one. I came here, away from everyone a...

7 likes 1 comment 1
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Two Of Us

A J

Submitted to Contest #77

The falling of white snow on the ashen ground, like silver glitter being sprinkled on paper, giving the winter life and making familiar streets a canvas for dreams. Quiet poetry forms in my soul, the warmth within bringing crystalline joy. Every tiny, sculpted snowflake, unique and worth a thousand smiles, a billion more uniting over the earth. It is the season when puddles turn to icy rinks, sparkling brightly upon the falling of rays of the brightest star in the sky, the season where one can see their breath rise as neat and pure vapor, th...

30 likes 8 comments 8
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The Weekend Getaway

Submitted to Contest #77

As she was packing, nervousness and excitement stirred her stomach and made a growling noise. She wanted a chocolate to calm her nerves but refrained from the temptation. It had been many years since she took a break. She was looking forward to this time with Ranger. They had booked a cabin in the woods. The company had given them a sweet deal. A getaway but committed with all the amenities of the modern world. She was almost packed when her phone rang. "That must be the cab." She thought almost diving for the phone, not wanting to miss the ...

12 likes 0 comments 0
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What I Found in My Manager's Office During the Blizzard

Submitted to Contest #77

To Whoever Finds This Letter, Hello from Death. Or the Beyond. Or the Great Beyond. Whatever or Whomever you choose to believe in. I am not entirely sure I’m dead, but being alive would be a long-shot, since I am about to trek out into the snow after spending four long hours trapped in this bank. What, you may ask, were you doing trapped in a bank while the largest blizzard since the Tuscaloosa Torpedo sent frozen frogs and snowflakes flying around back in 1987? Well, it’s funny you should theoretically ask that, because as it ...

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The Retreat

Submitted to Contest #77

It’s the nightmares again. Leela woke up with a pounding heart, and for a moment, she could hardly remember where she even was. She got up from her bed, rather speedily and uttered some prayers. As she continued with her prayers, louder each time, every dead cell in her seemed to come to live in the sheer moment of spiritual awakening. She shuddered in a wave of calmness that seem to fill her entire being. She had her eyes gently closed, her mind millions of miles away, far away from the chaos of the mundane world.Leela always felt that some...

6 likes 0 comments 0
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Proof Positive

Submitted to Contest #77

Deep in the wilderness of northern Alaska, a float plane descended toward a barely visible snow-covered field. It landed, leaving twin tracks behind it that were already being covered by new snow. On either side of them stood stretches of evergreen forest. Above, the dark sky was filled with stars and the green curtain of the Aurora Borealis. “Welcome to the Northern Slope,” the pilot told their two bundled-up passengers. “If you get lost,” he added, pointing upward, “that brightest star is the North Star.” “Where is the cabin?” one pass...

24 likes 51 comments 51
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Stuck in the Middle With You

Submitted to Contest #77

“Do you remember when we used to do this all the time?” “Yeh, don’t remember why we stopped.” “We got old. We started to act the way we believed we were supposed to. Our dreams became a reality, and I think we just got scared.” She’s probably right. We used to do a lot of things we don’t do anymore. I don’t know if its that we got old, or that we got old, because we stopped doing things we used to do.  We have a tendency I think to believe our own stories, our own lies, our own expectations, and if we do this or that...

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Alone in the Silence

Submitted to Contest #77

Wake up. Start a fire. Heat water for tea. Sit. Write. Wake up. Start a fire. Heat water for tea. Sit. Write. Wake up. Start a fire. Heat water for tea. Sit. Write.  There’s a rhythm to the routine. A stillness with the days now. The days seem to blend into one another. I thought about bringing a dog up here with me. I thought about the possibility of a dog. I thought that this might be the right time. But stopped myself. I realized that solitude meant just that— solitude. No people, no contact, no animals— just my own self absolutely a...

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Stuck in the Middle

Submitted to Contest #77

I can’t get out. I debated coming to the cabin, the weather forecast looked compromising, but then, it was a weather forecast. It was snowing lightly when I left. When I got to Atlas, the last harbinger of civilization near the cabin, the snow turned to rain. The temperatures have been erratic, and the rain is freezing as it hits the road.  I slid several times, losing temporary control, and then I slipped off the road and into the ditch. There is no escaping. I am trapped in the snow. I decide, being close...

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THE SUCCUBUS

Submitted to Contest #77

(SUCCUBUS: Is a supernatural entity in female form that appears in dreams to seduce men usually through sexual activity.)The clubhouse for skiing was on top of a hill in the Himalayas. I’m the skiing expert and needing to be here, I sent Arnold and Bernard who were my lieutenants to town downhill to get supplies. I was alone in the club house. From the chair where I was seated I could see a long way and it was all full of snow. I had muted the TV as I didn’t like the program and I could see the pictures of hospitals with Covid patients being...

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Brad’s Cold Secret

Submitted to Contest #77

“Why don't you go up to the cabin this weekend and get some decent rest. Just you alone. Your mother and I can take care of the kids. What do you think? I should have said no to my dad at that moment but here I am, forced into isolation. Although, I can’t deny that I’m rather enchanted by the silence. No phone, no internet, no electricity, just me and nature. Thankfully dad stored enough firewood two weeks ago for just in case otherwise I would be forced to chop wood in this unbearable cold and to be honest all I want to do is curl up with m...

10 likes 3 comments 3
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Mr. Tickle Bones

Submitted to Contest #77

I traced a heart on the moisture condensed on the window and wrote the two words and eleven letters enmeshed in my heart: T.I.C.K.L.E B.O.N.E.S  The weather wasn’t getting any better and I was afraid I won’t be able to take Timothy to the Cemetery as promised. I sighed leaning on the window panel, head next to the heart I drew, I looked out at the snow drifts and ice caps covering the neighborhood, I must remind Mrs. Magnolia to notify the community to start digging out the snow once the storm passes. Things have never been ...

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THE GREAT SNOW DUMP OF 2008

Submitted to Contest #77

"So how is your new job going? Hard to believe you've been in Spokane for 2 months now. I miss you so much! Can't wait to see you for Thanksgiving," Marie said, a smile heard through the phone coupled with romantic anxiety that she and Sean will be able to meet up and reconnect. Yes, it has been hard to believe that Sean left home to get started in his new position, yet anticipated the day when he could move his beautiful wife Marie and their youngest daughter Amanda to Spokane to join him. Sadly, that wouldn't be for several months,...

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Icy History

Submitted to Contest #77

I go over to the window, and rub the mist off, relishing the cold warmth of it.Looking out of the window, I’m immediately hit with how white and grey everything looks.The trees have ice falling off their leaves, looking half green and half white like that sweater I wear sometimes.The houses are covered almost completely, and the windows have icicles creeping on the glass like branches of a tree.The cars in the driveways are capped with snow, the windows having obscene words written on them by obscene people.The ground is untouched, smooth by...

78 likes 27 comments 27
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Spring in Winter

Submitted to Contest #77

Gods it was hot. Sweaty; humid; panting; hot. She huffed a breath in the dense air, surveying her surroundings briefly. There were trees, trees, and some more trees, with the added addition of moss, rocks, rotten and fallen trees, and shrubbery that would've scratched at her ankles if she weren't wearing her favorite hiking shoes. It had rained recently, which made every step squelching and the air chilled enough that she seemed to breath like a dragon.The world wasn't the Winter wonderland that it usually was in December, but if it had snow...

29 likes 3 comments 3
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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