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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 718 of 745

Simplicity

Submitted to Contest #66

“You’re on in five. Ready?”I stare at Alyssa. She jerks her head to the stage, giving me the all-too-familiar “what the hell are you doing?” look.“Um...”“Well? What the hell are you doing? This is it! Go!”“Right. Yeah.”My body moves on its own accord. I look down, rather surprised to see my legs moving forward, robotic and stiff, toward the stage. I glance up. I’m at the edge of the curtain. My eyes drift around the material, and I swallow.Hundreds––no, thousands––of fans are spread before the stage. They’re one massive, unintelligible ...

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Binding

Shortlisted for Contest #66 ⭐️

The road stretches out in front of me as far as I can see, all the way to the horizon, straight and flat with empty fields on both sides like enormous blank pages. Nebraska, almost halfway to San Francisco, I am alone on this endless stretch of interstate 80.The audible book supply is depleted. For a change, I'm riding in silence.In the rear view mirror, a patrol car with flashing lights screams toward me. I slow the car and pull to the side to let him pass. But the lights slow too.The state trooper is at my window, sunglasses, wide fla...

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Letting go

Submitted to Contest #66

“Babe, where is the cinnamon?” I sighed and let my head flop to my desk, “I already told you it’s in the cupboard with the broken handle!” Baxter came storming in and I inwardly groaned. We’d been dating for three years now, almost everything provoked a fight. He usually pinned it against me. “Kayla, how many times do I have to tell you, I don’t like it when you move stuff around without telling me!” He leaned against the doorway and ran his hand through his brown hair before crossing his arms. I sighed and rubbed my temples, “Ba...

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Always Improving

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.” “I’m not assuming that I’ll win, but that’s a very different thing from ‘planning my defeat’. Geez, Aya, why do you have to be so melodramatic about everything?” Tyler tried to laugh it off, but Aya wasn’t buying it. “Because you do this all the time. You’re a really good artist, why can’t you see that?” “Can we not get into this discussion again? Fine, I’ll enter the stupid competition. Maybe I’ll win, but the odds are against me. I’m not going to go pinning my dreams on somet...

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Forty, Love

Submitted to Contest #66

Three games in and both teams were sweating bullets. The Magicians’ Association of Tennis, the MAT, wrote the rules, but frankly, college tournaments didn’t teach players professionalism. With all the chaotic volleys and explosive shots, it seemed as if anything went in amateur matches. Not so for the United States’ Mage Nationals. The USM Open was nothing like those matches back in school. Gerald Hayes learned the hard way. He wished he knew before reaching the semifinals. Since his university days, Gerald could hardly believe magic ten...

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Our Segregated Table

Submitted to Contest #66

Trigger warnings: fat phobia, bullying    Our Segregated Table   By Zoey F.     We had been best friends for five years. We were so close that even our parents were good friends, and because of that our sleepovers seemed to be endless. We always hung out during and after school- never void of each other’s company. We were both loners; both social outcasts as we shared the burden of being labeled “ the ugly chubby girls” within our school. Perhaps if we were funnier, perhaps if we were more outgoing and cool, we could...

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Missing Clues

Submitted to Contest #66

Raymond was dead. So are Becky, Josh, and Melissa. Sylvie may or may not be. I only have a few heartbeats left. We decided to have a Friday Fun Night after being cooped up for the last seven months. Six friends at a puzzle room, masked for our own protection and in compliance with the pandemic rules of life. Three boys and three girls together since kindergarten. A clique, a company, a troop, a gang. Friends without benefits. At least, that’s what I always thought, but apparently, we have been lying to one another. We arrived at six. Since...

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Zero Hour Nine AM

Submitted to Contest #66

Dorothy and I sold our business, downsized, and settled for a quiet life of keeping bees in the country. We were unloading removal boxes when our new neighbour, Mitch Wallace, introduced himself and welcomed us to Platteville. We had no idea that 48 hours later we’d be in hospital after watching him pursue his life’s ambition. Heaven only knows what Mitch would have witnessed if everything had gone according to plan.   In his former life, Mitch had been an engineer, a police officer and ladies’ hairdresser. However, after his ...

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Key To Happiness

Submitted to Contest #66

Sheri stepped into the foyer of her house, the front door making a muted click as she pulled it closed. Well, that’s that, she said almost aloud. Thirty years of marriage dissolved with the swipe of a pen. Not that she really could call what they had a marriage. At least not for the last dozen years or so. She dropped her keys in the crystal bowl on the entry table, a wedding gift all those years ago. But now her keys would sit alone in a spot that once overflowed. Not just Len’s keys, but the kids’ too. Each one, in turn, getting their...

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Janet and Miguel

Submitted to Contest #66

After the accident, naturally things had to change.  Janet said goodbye to Nathan, her husband of 27 years, at Barksdale Funeral Home in Milford.  Janet survived but barely and most days she wished she hadn’t.  They gave her therapy for her survivor’s guilt and grief as well as her injuries. She longed to return to the home she treasured, so she stopped telling them she wished she hadn’t survived.  When Kacey, her social worker, brought her back home, she had no choice but to face the fallen remnants, Nathan’s scent ling...

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Recovery is a Temptation

Submitted to Contest #66

"It doesn't count if you're already planning your defeat, Manderz. I know you have it in you." This is a phrase that my mom uttered to me when I began my journey to recovery, and as a recovering addict, I can now appreciate it. "Hi, my name is Amanda, and I'm an addict. I was addicted to painkillers and crack cocaine for over ten years. Over a decade of my life, destroyed by thoughts of where my next fix would come from, how would I get the money for another dub, another percocet for morning so I won't be sick, and the constant struggle to h...

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A Glimmer of Death

Submitted to Contest #66

The torrential rain furiously hit the tiles of the roof, causing an echo throughout the barn. An ominous mist seeped through the cracks of the wall, adding to the already frigid atmosphere. The only source of warmth and comfort was the small campfire in the middle of the room. Two shadows were cast by its flames, one of which seemed significantly more subdued than the other. The middle aged man was laying on his back, both hands shielding his face from the ill intentioned individual who stood before him. “Please… please don’t do this! ...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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Funny Kid

Submitted to Contest #66

I was a funny kid. I think my mother hated how funny I was.  I almost had her once, her lips split open like a ripe watermelon, she almost laughed. Funny.  ⧫ Dead light in a dead room with dead people, a swarming fugue of blank eyes—they dart into small crevices of computer screens; hidden from sight. White shirts, white tiles, white between the eyes— reverberating in unison; our bodies filled with tepid water. Managers and employees, all consuming cheap, burnt, ancient coffee out of unwashed mugs. For the rest of the day, days, ...

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The Untrackable Path

Submitted to Contest #66

The marathon was almost halfway over and Ron had been closing in on the leaders for the last several miles. The people in front of him had won this race, and similar races, a few times before, but he knew that today was his chance. Ron had heard, from a not-so-reliable source, that halfway through the race there was a spot where their trackers weren’t able to connect to the system, so they couldn’t be tracked by the racing officials. This wouldn’t matter, though, if two things weren’t also happening at the same time. The first being that no ...

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Lemonade

Submitted to Contest #66

"It doesn't count if you're already planning your defeat." Reema from the kitchen shouted over Vidhya.Vidhya was all ready to quit the hearing. She had decided to sign off the petition she filed to save her home. The day was of the final court hearing. Whereas in intense surrounding Vidhya forgot her diet, life and smile. While sitting in the dining. Reema stood inside the kitchen. While preparing Lemonade, she was blubbering her thoughts to make Vidhya realised her faults. But in last she stooped at the only question she wants to ask- ...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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