Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Featured stories
Activity feed

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.

11200+ 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 695 of 747

Top Ten Pandemic Emotions

Submitted to Contest #74

10. Excitement. Be suspicious of anyone who denies that the onset of Covid-19 triggered a primal thrill. This does not mean it was welcomed, or that it didn't give way to horror, despair, loneliness, among other feelings that will be covered. When I first learned Covid reached America, it was personal. I knew Patient Zero. It was exciting to know Patient Zero. Am I awful? I prayed for his recovery and his family. But still, you know what I mean? You could see that glint in the eyes of reporters and of friends you met, when you could still se...

20 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

The Crow of Spirit and Longing

Submitted to Contest #73

I force the laugh out of my lips, clinging to the hope of it changing everything. It sounds harsh. Cold. Simply wrong. But no. It has to be right. I don’t allow the thought of it being incorrect to reach my brain. Because if it reaches, it will never leave. Like lice amongst hair. I will have to comb through it and even then I may have to cut it all off. No, it's too dangerous. I can’t risk it. I can’t I unwillingly force my head up and out of the hollow of my neck. My eyes meet my own in the mirror. They pierce back at me, black, cold....

21 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

The Greatest Christmas Gift

Submitted to Contest #73

“Good morning.” Abrielle’s boyfriend’s face was inches away from hers. “Morning,” Abrielle yawned. “You’re too close, Niall.” “Oops. Sorry.” Niall backed away as Abrielle sat up. “I was just too excited.” “Oh, right. It’s Christmas Eve.” Abrielle loved this time of year, mainly because Niall loved this time of year.  “I got this for you.” He handed her a small silver box tied with a wide periwinkle blue ribbon and bow. “Are we doing presents this early?”  “Yes. And spoiler alert, there’s going to be more presents for you to o...

7 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Citius, Altius, Fortius: Faster, Higher, Stronger

Submitted to Contest #73

Write about a young nobleman whose greatest wish is to become an Olympic long jumper Citius, Altius, Fortius: Faster, Higher, Stronger  Being a nobleman’s son has its benefits. You enjoy many advantages and you realise from an early age that your Christmas stocking will always be full of goodies. George was born in Norfolk and he lived in a stately home which could have been the setting for Downton Abbey. He used to get spooked with the portraits that were peering out at him in the hall and and on the landings. His father would ofte...

7 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

A Partridge In A Box

Submitted to Contest #73

Tonya is lying on her couch; snuggle up in her favorite blanket, and watching one of her favorite holiday movies. In her one bedroom apartment its smells like Christmas time all through the small, but cozy apartment. The scent of her seasonal candle, “Hint of Christmas” burning the holly jolly in the room as her little Christmas tree stands illuminating by the window of the fire escape. Lying on the couch with the sound of “Roman Holiday” and the crunching sound of popcorn to mouth, Tonya’s night is all set. A large knock on the door...

5 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

What's Love Got to Do With It

Submitted to Contest #74

What’s Love Got to Do With It? “You made it. I had my doubts. What with everything going on I wasn’t sure you’d be able to get here. Any trouble?” “No. I am fortunate. Working for the airlines gives me a certain amount of flexibility others don’t have. I do not apologize for that. Everyone has advantages others can’t utilize. It is the way the world works.” Jean believes in a world that exists because it has too. We are born by circumstance into a life, inherit the tools provided, and when old enough...

12 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Uncle Rudy's Last Gift

Submitted to Contest #74

Uncle Rudy’s Last GiftBy George Key A chill came over Sticks as he prepared to make the short journey to the annual “Break Bread and Jam Til’ the Rooster Crows Christmas Party”. Taking that last glance at the broken mirror just to make sure he was sportin’ his lady killer best. Sticks knew that every musician in Tucson that was anybody was going to be there. Christmas gigs were few and far between on the average Christmas, however, Christmas 2020 was beyond bleak. COVID-19 shut down most venues and the city placed an early curfew on its...

9 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Game Over

Submitted to Contest #74

Trigger warning: Death They took off my ventilator. Ten seconds left. Before I lose. Ten. I stayed at home. I washed my hands. I wore a mask the rare times I went outside. I adapted to the online classes, the Zoom birthday parties and the occasional awkward family group call. I texted till my thumbs were sore and watched television till my eyes were red. Nine.I did it all. I tried. But it wasn’t enough. Clearly. The people who did nothing to save themselves were saved. I did everything to save myself. But it caught up to me. I ran until my l...

119 likes 195 comments 195
Read story

Nuts To You, Jennifer

Submitted to Contest #73

     On the evening of December 14, Greg rang Jennifer’s doorbell.      “The company is transferring me north and I can’t take Cyril with me,” he said, thrusting a rather large cage with a sea-green cover topped with a big red bow into Jennifer’s reluctant arms. “I’d like you to have him.”      He had taken off his mask and had the hangdog expression that made it hard for Jennifer to say “no” to him. He replaced his mask, shut the door, and walked away witho...

10 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Cocky

Submitted to Contest #73

I was enjoying my smoothest bowel movement in months when the doorbell rang. “Focus” I coached my intestines as they threatened to concertina in fright. “Aahhh” I breathed out, sighing loudly to drown out the continued buzzing. I surveyed the log that symbolised all the unwanted baggage of the year for a moment before pushing the flush. Feeling considerably lighter, I swung the front door briskly open. No-one. I was congratulating myself on having avoided some unwanted encounter when a loud screech startled me nearly out of my skin. Settling...

10 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

An Unexpected Gift

Submitted to Contest #73

The late afternoon sky was quickly getting dark, which created a gray pallor in the dim kitchen. Frank turned on the overhead light above the sink and stared at the pile of dirty dishes that needed to soak. In the houses across the street the lights were popping on one by one as people came home. Soon the neighborhood would be filled with the friendly lights casting out the darkness. Frank always liked that homey feeling as the day settled into evening.            His...

13 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

Pleasant Company

Submitted to Contest #73

Aunt Rowena’s stooped but ever-imposing shadow lingered at Tessa’s back. The elderly woman’s weak vision followed her niece’s every motion: adding another plop of golden mashed potatoes to her plate, taking a sip of champagne, then tilting her head to smile through the previous spiteful commentary. Rowena slammed the end of her cane against the pink quartz floor. Having purposely missed the immaculate runner rug, the resulting crack reverberated off the high ceiling and bounced between the walls and tall, pristine windows. The twel...

7 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

Workin’ on The ‘Bird

Submitted to Contest #73

 “It’s inside the distributor, there.” Leaning under the hood, De’Veon used a long brown finger to point at the back of the air filter housing. All his fingers were long and brown, dark on the tops and a kind of coffee brown on the undersides with darker lines at the creases. They extended out from giant palms on the ends of his long arms, yet everything about the man was in proportion. He was just very tall, and lean with it. I remember when we brought the ‘bird home this time last year, the week before Christmas. From the passenger se...

7 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

Forthy's Burden

Submitted to Contest #73

The bird's voice, amazingly human-like, but way too loud, filled the studio apartment with a cacophony of words that Jim Forthy did not understand but whose volume had sent him to the edge of a severe headache. The creature, an African gray parrot, was screaming words in Swahili and French and would not stop. Forthy, a young man of mild, but unambitious disposition, had begun seriously entertaining bird recipe thoughts. The parrot, with the packet of literature that came with it, was described as “an unsurpassed talker.” That was manifest...

9 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

The Adventures of Bella Easterbrook

Submitted to Contest #73

It was still early, the feeble wintry rays barely penetrating through the grimy windows, when I shivered out of my troubled sleep. The pet shop was shadowy and cold, the silence interspersed with soft hisses and murmurs as the animals were waking up. Pericles and Artemisia, the pair of tortoises who lived in the terrarium, were still slumbering inside their carapaces, immobile and inert, and Aaz, the giant boa constrictor, was already in hibernation mode. Ara, the giant Amazon, was coughing and hawking, his feathers ruffled, his mien bleak. ...

5 likes 1 comment 1
Read story
RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

Bring your short stories to life

Fuse character, story, and conflict with tools in Reedsy Studio. All for free.