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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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 664 of 741

The Great Luge Run On Shit Hill

Submitted to Contest #77

When my older brother, the Genius, came up with the idea, my next-door neighbor and I instinctively went along with him. It wasn't that I always agreed with his hair-brained schemes; that was rarely the case. I immediately recalled the times he set the woods, the lot next door, and the piano on fire as he "experimented with the pyrotechnic properties of flammable liquids." Those instances paled in comparison to the pumpkin catapult that he fired at the passing Tractor-trailer. That unfortunate incident drew the local Bethel Police out of the...

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Ladies retreat gone wrong

Submitted to Contest #77

Jackie woke on a beautiful sunny hot and humid August morning. Although the humidity was so thick she could have cut it with a knife the morning was glorious. She was waiting on her friends Emilia and Stephanie to pick her up and head to the airport for their long awaited beach trip. They started planning for this week long trip just after the Christmas holiday. Giving themselves plenty of time to have it paid off by the time they disembarked. For several years they have been planning a luxurious getaway, but life stopped them. During Christ...

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Philosophy of Time

Submitted to Contest #77

“Do you believe in God?” Maya asked. She blew out a frosty steam of air and laid her mittened palms on her narrow bright-red face to warm it. “What?” her sister asked. Her boots were much larger than Maya’s; the tops too wide, letting in clumps of snow onto her sockless feet. The boots, thick black rubber with heavy soles, sank through the crusty rim of snow and into the softer belly, almost to the frozen dirt six inches beneath.Maya repeated the question.Jane sat down in a pile of snow and leaned back to look at the sky, thinking hard....

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Weather, Stone, Heart.

Submitted to Contest #77

The sand burned my bare feet. I dashed across it's surface, slipping and sliding except for the few bits of hard, packed sand, chasing after the roaring wind and frothing ocean.The sun was glaring in my eyes, enough so that I pulled on a sun hat as I ran, holding the brim over my face until the shade was a cool relief. Something about the atmosphere made me laugh and smile from ear to ear, the sun almost burning hotter in answer.My childhood friend, Sammy, dashed after me until our feet hit the icy waters, sending tons of rough kisses across...

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The Worst.

Submitted to Contest #77

I ain’t afraid of snow. It ain’t done nothing to me, didn’t take my da or my ma, never trapped me nowhere. I just don’t like it, and don’t like how it’s coming down and covering my front yard.  It’s cold, for one. A seeping cold, gets into you and goes deeper and deeper until you realize how far it’s already in, like sadness. Depression. Those sorta things. They’re wintery. Snowy. Bitey, I guess. Don’t like that neither. Chilly’s okay. That crisp air in the fall when the leaves ain’t quite sure if they’re meant to be falling yet or n...

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Silver Love

Submitted to Contest #77

January 21, 2014 Poof. The beautiful, white, crystal gently lowered itself to the ground only to quickly be covered by hundreds more. I watched as they gently hit the ground outside my window. It was the first time that I had seen snow in twelve years. I had forgotten just how beautiful it was. Taradiddle The thought of, even the small freedom, of an uncovered window An outlet to the world I no longer belong in Riveted by the seductress Khione Alert to the beauty that is just outside my reach Delighted by the smallest freedom Imbued by ...

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Museum Piece

Submitted to Contest #77

It was just my luck.I hadn’t even been a week at my new job, and here I was, stuck inside the Museum because of bad weather. And I wasn’t even supposed to be there, in the first place.Bad weather, did I say? It turned out to be The Storm of The Century – The Grandmother of all Blizzards of March 14, 1973 – my birthday, incidentally.In my gap year, just for fun, I had been working as a waitress at Le Riche Oursin, an upmarket French Bistrot in the tourist area. Who should walk in but the curator of the Graffiti Plus Art Museum – only, I ...

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An Unexpected October Blizzard

Submitted to Contest #77

Located on a small, rural farm exactly forty minutes away from friends, towns, and resources, our surroundings consisted of lush, green cornfields in the summer and empty, barren fields of frozen dirt in the winter. In mid-October, 2002, winter came early, and it brought with it a vengeful blizzard of ice, wind, and bitter cold. The snow had begun falling in fat, beautifully intricate snowflakes on a Friday morning, and by the time we returned from school, delivered by school bus at the end of the longest lane a kid could ever walk, the sno...

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The Red Room

Submitted to Contest #77

Thandi was worried now, yes Mrs Shabangu, her employer was away on one of her numerous Conventions and she asked her to stay in her house since she was her domestic worker yet she didn't want to be here.Funny how she had all the luxury she usually dreams of, the state of the art security team and top notch safety systems yet she didn't feel safe or contend. Safety for her was her one roomed house which boasts of a couch which turns to her bed,ironing board, table and whatever use she can think of.Her prized possession being her parents' we...

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Blooming, Withering, and Reblooming in the Winter

Submitted to Contest #77

"Hurry up, man, what's taking you so long?" "Various reasons, one being I'm not as young as I'm used to be, and-" "Oh, come on, we are not that far apart in years!" Well, not all of us pertains their youthful spunk into their mid-40s. Though, I chose not to keep that thought to myself. Always had been a ball of limitless energy, this woman. I remember it as clear and white as the snowy landscape surrounding us. Her energy never seems to have dwindled over the years. "Boo! Slowwww!" she teased from the top of the wintry hill. I could on...

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Winter Solstice Rhyme and Riddle

Submitted to Contest #77

Believing that she was on her way to Geraldine's, the Summer warmth on Sheila's sixteen-year-old shoulder felt safe as she walked the half-block from house to house. Instead, Death pulled up in a very nice car. HandsomeBoy peered out her way, and spoke. Before she knew it, it was Winter.  THE SETUP HandsomeBoy was duly approved by this teen Sheila's elders, though they had never met him before. Sheila must have embellished how lovely of a boy he was. Sheila did this despite her being a mostly shy girl. Sheila's insecurities were sho...

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Supermarket

Submitted to Contest #76

Rose shifted her basket from one hand to the other as the grocery line shuffled forward. Over the intermittent beeps and muffled chatter, a cheerful Christmas tune played faintly. She hummed along as she went over a list in her head one last time. Eggs, cinnamon, fried onion crisps….Absently, she flipped up the collar of her wool coat. Ever since she’d cut her hair short, her neck always felt so bare and cold. It was just one thing she’d have to get used to.As she approached the register, she arranged her items on the belt, all of them reque...

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Questions You Might Ask

Submitted to Contest #76

Lavinia was having one of those days. A day where every step was a search of its own, a confusion, a stumble or trip-up that never quite happened. It was one of those days we all know are necessary, yet fear. One of those days we all have occasionally, when our thinking is invisible, when we feel just a bit invisible of body, yet are aware that we might be clunking through well-worn streets like an enslaved elephant. No elephant should be forced to live with chains around its feet, and no human is ever happy struggling to put one foot in fro...

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Walls Could Talk

Submitted to Contest #76

“Thank you all for your patience, staff, seniors, and of course our esteemed guests. Finally, I am proud to present our final speaker for our Career Day. An alumnus of this school, who went on to work as our librarian and, in a wonderful twist of events, became one of the world’s most coveted directors at just 30. Known for her directorial debut, Walls, may I present Jenna Dylan!” “WHOO!” “That was my best literature student!”  “Go on, Miss Jenna!” “Stop yelling, Kennedy!” “We’re all yelling! It’s free real esta...

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Complications

Submitted to Contest #76

The words of the doctor lingered in the space between the booths, dusting the air around them and settling amongst the cooling coffee mug and bread plate in Phil’s Diner. Johnny Cash sang through the jukebox in the far corner. The lexis of Ring of Fire played out of tune with the doctor’s. “Your uterus is expanding and causing your cramps. There is no reason to worry. The baby is fine.” No reason to worry, no reason to worry. Annie repeated the lines in her head, letting them spin in rhythm with the straw she was twirling in her milksha...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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