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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.

11160+ 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 686 of 745

A Change to Pursue

Submitted to Contest #74

“Must I always do this?”“Can’t I just have them in there?”“Wherever. My head or my mind.” These were the thoughts filtering through Jason’s mind.“Well, it’s better to have them written down. I can always go back to update myself and make a review.”Jason Page is having a hard time deciding on whether to have a to do-list written down. He has been in and out on this. Precisely, he hasn’t done it for a while in the reason that he hasn’t found it effective. It’s been the same old story. It’s been the same unaccomplished tasks. It’s been the same...

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War and War

Submitted to Contest #74

It was the war everyone did prepared to loose. They can’t give up their kingdom as long as they are alive. Their patriotic souls couldn’t allow them give up their motherland while they are still breathing. So yes. They decided to give up their lives while fighting. It’s a mass suicide. Suicide? Yes Suicide. What are the odds of winning of 400 soldiers army against a ten thousand soldiers. This is the truth the Prince remembered just before he got stabbed from behind.  The prince on his horse made his face look like no lesser than a lion...

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Seconds Before Death

Submitted to Contest #74

Death is a scary thing. We spend our whole lives avoiding it, even though we are on a constant timer, getting closer to death every second. It's inevitable. Some people live healthily and live longer while some don't, and live shorter. Most people fear it, while some look forward to it, like me. I had lived a painful life, tortured by everyone around me. Turns out I would die painfully too, with a knife sticking out of my chest. I laid down in the side alley, awaiting death. I had about ten seconds left in my life. I looked back upon l...

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Journey to Angel's core

Submitted to Contest #74

'Noooo' "Nooooooooo" Ariana screamed in utter shock as her heart sank in disbelief. "It can't be" voice shaking, she ran her hands over the wall as though in search of a hidden window.  "Jack" turning abruptly her huge belly bounced off him "did...did you do this?"Ariana asked with tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Cupping her cheeks in his hands he answered "I would never...something is at play here, I don't think we are the only survivors. We have to stay alert" Swallowing she said "But how...how will we know when its time Jac...

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Having an IQ of 110-120

Submitted to Contest #74

Anthony Bourdain says that a Russian will always drink you under the table. Well, pace that genius, Joseph T. Easter is not Russian, and it is only because of his deficit of drinking buddies that he hasn't proved Bourdain wrong on this score.Hear this: Joseph can drink a fortified Brewmeister Snake Venom (67% ABV) like it is a 4.5% VB, swilling it down in two or three gulps. And lest you think he becomes sorely crapulous, spewing it up or sweating it out as he sits limp and dazed and semi-conscious, Joseph in fact can be seen digging up a pe...

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Rose’s flowers

Submitted to Contest #74

She stepped to the door, her hands heaped with freshly cut roses in all hues of pink, from the softest baby pink to the brightest cerise.   The fragrance of Mother Earth permeated the room. With her face buried into the tips of the velvety petals she sniffed in the therapeutic aroma which usually never failed to make her feel better.  She didn’t bother to iron her dress. It was one of her own creations. An A-line cut in a floral chiffon, with petit sloppy sleeves and a satin belt, which accentuated her lean waistline. ...

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The Fall

Submitted to Contest #74

Trigger warning: suicide   It’s fine really.   The wind is buffeting my body and it is so chill, but it won’t take long. I can’t help remembering how it was only yesterday; images flicker across my mind’s eye, the celluloid trail of a movie that charts my journey to the now, and to here.   My world was warm yesterday, full of life and promise, and pathways untrodden and un-numbered, stretching away to horizons brimming with hope. What fools we are. Believing our own stories, the narratives we spin around ourselves to give us m...

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Things My Mother Collected

Submitted to Contest #74

Things My Mother CollectedA list by Dr. Alex Caldwell1. PerfumeSome women have their signature scent. I thought my mom did, but it turns out that maybe her signature was her variety. There they were, three glass bottles, three little jewels sparkling on a polished silver tray on her worn white dresser. I thought I knew my mom. I thought the perfume in the short, fluted bottle, golden flowers and Swarovski crystals adorning the dome of its lid, was her scent—an ephemeral, flowery sillage, light and inoffensive. Whispers of Truth. I sprayed it...

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The Top Ten Moments That Changed My Life

Submitted to Contest #74

Ten. September 14, 2019. The first day we met you were wearing the crushed army green velvet dress, with a matching necklace and earring set, faux sapphires, a gift from your grandma. You wear that for every special occasion. Henry was on his phone in between picking at his cuticles. He had on a wrinkled collared shirt and oil-stained jeans. Your voice, soft but crisp, asking what exactly he did at the glass museum. My brother’s voice was waning in and out as I couldn’t help but gawk, memorizing your every feature, each breath you took. I’v...

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Top Ten Things About Ben (That Make Jessie Maybe Love Him)

Submitted to Contest #74

10. He's a talented musician (in a band … and they aren’t that great) There is something truly unique to see a talented musician in a band that can't quite put a melody together. She would watch them rehearsing, and she honestly couldn't understand what kept them together. But what bliss she could see on Ben's face when he was playing the bass guitar. He didn't need to be on the Top 40, and quite frankly, that wasn't the point. What he wanted was to create. To create something with his friends, if only just for themselves.  The dedic...

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The New Order

Submitted to Contest #74

“My name is Amelia Whitby. I’m twenty-six years old, and I live in England. I’ve been here for fourteen days…” another shaky mark on the wall, and Amelia completed her ritual. She paid her usual attention to thoughts of her family: A mother named Jasmine, a father named Peter, a sister named Iris and two brothers named Sam and Tom. She paid attention to her friend Jamie, and her friend Lucy, and then to her cat Whiskers. And then she opened her eyes, and checked the level of the sun through the small chink in the rocks. Amelia lived in what...

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Secrets in the Attic

Submitted to Contest #74

 Maryann’s footprints across the attic floor are the only sign that someone was up here.   Maryann’s fingernails trace the grooves of each tally mark that now litter the crumbling cement wall. Every single line etched symbolizes her story—a story when one day Maryann will be release from the ghost that haunted her past. As Maryann’s eighteenth birthday is only a few days away, she anticipates a new adventure around the corner. She’s the youngest child, with an older brother, Bobby, the more sensible one. Maryann is a whir...

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First Day of University

Submitted to Contest #74

Here it is. Room 204.Just breathe.As I step through the corridor and into my future, I clutch the straps of my backpack for dear life. This knapsack has piggybacked since, high school. Sophomore year to be exact. My grasp on it, a hiraeth. It seems to return my embrace. Its tattered arms have been stitched to its body, after detaching, more than once. More than twice. Yet, it hangs on to me. Steady. Its hug, intense. I can't tell whether its nostalgia is comforting or hindering. Is this what love feels like?-It brings my mind to wander,...

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K9P

Submitted to Contest #74

A woman clad in a black suit and tie walked along the sidewalk. With her left hand, she lifted a cup of coffee to her unusually bulbous lips. In her right hand, she held a brown briefcase. Her asymmetrical eyes looked ahead and saw two men in similar clothes looking towards a grey building on the opposite side of the sidewalk. One pointed a device towards the building while the other fiddled with one of the numerous piercings on his face. The device looked like an elegant combination of a telescope, a satellite dish, and a 1999 Toyota Camry....

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One last time

Submitted to Contest #74

It was not my aim to break it off with him. I just felt suffocated and needed. At first, I was flattered that he needed me. I later realized that he needed me to get over his father's death. They were very close. I knew them well. I grew up in the same neighborhood where he was raised. It was a well-known secret that we would end up together, how and for how long, it wasn't clear to us and to our friends. We shared phone calls and visits to the mall just like all other teenage couples. Occasionally our parents would chaperone us to high scho...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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