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

150+ 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 9 of 10

On Demon Time

Submitted to Contest #319

The ball bounced above the backboard and landed like a feather on the rim. It teased us for an eternity before going in. I jumped from my seat, and hugged the backup center and practice players with as much joy as I could muster. Then, I whirled my dry towel and tossed it in the air. We won another blowout game 90-64, but the buzzer beater meant there was more work to be done. My teammates and I rushed the court to shower our star guard with hugs, “yeaaaaahhhhhh booyyyyy”s, “you’re so tough”s or “that’s so tough.” Of course I played my ...

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Fire Chaser

Submitted to Contest #319

After dinner, Claire saw a distant glow and drove across town to see the fire. Charles, who was on a first date with her, was in the car. They were classmates at the community college but also worked together in a grocery store, and he asked her out. “Just as friends,” she said. They had gone out for pizza with other workers, some who were in college. But Claire and Charles found themselves working together in an aisle. “Do you often chase fires,” he asked as they stood together. “Every now and then.” Her eyes glistened, and she smiled. He s...

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Blame it on the foxes!

Submitted to Contest #319

Write a story from the point of view/ perspective of a non-human character- Blame it on the foxes ‘Reincarnation’……. is it a hopeful thought for some people, is it a laughable disbelief for others who think “not to believe in reincarnation will absolve me from any sins, OR is it a subject that leaves many in doubt……….. “until they near their deaths”? ————————————————— “We’ll take it from here……….. “because you had your go’- and your ‘version...

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The Unpicked Bloom

Submitted to Contest #319

They were beautiful, the others.They stood in the garden like a living chorus, radiant and upright, their petals glowing as though they carried the light of the sun within them. They wore soft shades as if spun from silk, and smelled of what I imagine heaven might.They twirled in the grass as the guests arrived, each tilt and bend a delicate performance. It's almost as though they had been born for admiration. The guests pointed, gesturing to loved ones to gaze at their beauty too. They all smiled. As if, somehow, just the sight of them rele...

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Cold Call

Submitted to Contest #319

Harry Mcliven hated gossip. It was one of the traits he admired most about himself. He wasn’t particularly smart. His looks would fit the comedic relief in a 2000s romcom. His lovelife was nonexistent; but at least he never gossiped. It felt wrong to him. Without much going right for him, he hated to think that people might be talking about him behind his back, and so he hated when it was done about other people. Now, Harry Mcliven worked as a salesperson for a massive insurance company. His office was a little gray cubicle in a room with 30...

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Under the Bed

Submitted to Contest #319

Bella anchored the sheets over her chest with a white-knuckle grip. The walls, ceiling and floor, and all her junk she hadn’t bothered picking up, were black and shapeless as spilled ink in the darkness. All she could see was the bedsheets and her own limbs, and the tips of her toes poking out at the end of her bed, and the face that rested between her feet.Eyes flickered like candlelight in the dark. The creature watched Bella with feline fascination, as if there was nothing more important to observe than a girl quivering in her bed.It didn...

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So Long, and Thanks for the Golf Lessons

Submitted to Contest #319

“Oh!” he screamed. “This is all my fault! Right? It’s always my fault, isn’t it?” He was screaming so close to my face I could smell onions and garlic he had for lunch. But there was something else on his breath, too. Something both smoky and sweet. I knew I needed to tread carefully when he came home smelling like that. I had to placate him. “No, honey,” I soothed. “Remember, I’ve asked you just to shoot me a text if you’re going to be late, so I know if I need to pick Max up from doggy daycare and when to start dinner.” It did...

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The Monsters Rebellion

Submitted to Contest #319

The first time the world saw Igor Melchoir, it was through a shaky and trembling cell phone lens. A pale silhouette hunched in an alley, feeding like a mosquito, its shadow stretched thin against a wall of graffiti. The footage spread before dawn, carried on the fevered wings of social media. Some laughed, cheap prosthetics, bad lighting, just another internet ghoul. Others swore the man’s body, limp and lifeless, was no social media stunt, and somewhere between ridicule and dread, Igor found his opening. For centuries, he had crouched in th...

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Finding the Light

Submitted to Contest #319

Whenever there’s a mass killing, like last week when a young guy entered a Catholic church where classes were going on, and started shooting, I get a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. It’s almost like envy, like I relate to the guy but so far have not had the guts to do something like that myself.I don’t fit in either. Like most of those mass shooters, I hate the people I have the misfortune to have to be around, at school for sure, definitely at home, when I go to the store for cigs, and just about everywhere. I’m not sure how I wou...

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La Chupacabra

Submitted to Contest #319

La Chupacabra I’ve been called the goatsucker. Or worse. That’s because people can’t explain historic reports of hundreds of goats left to bleed to death in Puerto Rico, Mexico and down into Central and South America in the 1990s. The goats on private farms had no slash wounds, no bodies ripped to shreds, nothing that looked like they were attacked by an animal with a mouth full of vicious teeth. Instead, the animals that were killed had two small holes on their necks, too regular to have been made by hand. Of course, then I became linked to...

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Sister, Staircase

Submitted to Contest #319

If I had a sister, I think she’d be a chimney. I don’t believe that a staircase’s sister should be another staircase. Why should that be the… Well, the case? Pardon me, I deplore repetition. My steps may look identical, but they’re each unique. I have names for all of them, but I change the names everyday just to keep things interesting. Houses can sit empty for years at a time. It’s vital to keep things interesting. One year I got so desperate I almost named the windows. Luckily, someone moved in the next week. That wasn’t the sisters. That...

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Oh, Oh, Guess What Popped Up {and what didn’t}

Submitted to Contest #319

Mild swearing, implied sexual content Everybody wanted toast this morning! I am worn out. Love these guys a lot really but, geez, my insides are still burning. Plus, Jason was so rambunctious about getting his English muffin out when it didn’t pop up he actually knocked me over. Wish I could see if I have a dent now. I do feel a bit bruised. And worst, nobody had time to clean my tray. How would you like to go all day with crumbs on your bottom??? At least now I can rest, hopefully till tomorrow morning. Nobody with bright ideas about eggs ...

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My Little Sister

Submitted to Contest #319

My Little Sister “This is all my fault. I'm sorry.” How many times have I heard that line in the past nine years? Six hundred? Seven hundred? No, probably more. Tracy Ann is my little sister. She's nine years old. Sometimes I swear though, she's at least a hundred years old She can be so sweet and so cute. And she can be as vicious as a 9.8 tornado. This afternoon, after band practice, my Mom invited the entire woodwind section home for cake. We had been featured as a section at the State Band Competition. And today, after our usual Saturd...

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The Dining Room Table’s Love Letter to the Dining Room

Submitted to Contest #319

Dear Dining Room,They were whispering over me last night. We provide catalogues, prices, and delivery windows. “A modern set,” they said. Cushioned chairs. Hidden leaf. Wipe-clean finish. They stroked my board like someone patting a pet before driving it out to the farm.You’ve heard this sort of talk before—big changes that arrive wearing excellent shoes. We’ve kept a family together on ordinary evenings and milestone days for twenty-two years. You and I know their elbows by weight and their tempers by the way glasses land. So let me speak w...

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un-SUCCESSFUL

Submitted to Contest #318

At precisely 4:30 a.m., the alarm shrieks loudly, piercing through the silence of the early morning. This has been a constant in Clay Veyron's life, a familiar sound that has greeted him each day. He consistently rises before the sun makes its ascent in the sky, maintaining this routine for an unyielding span of fifteen years. There is absolutely no hesitation involved, no room for indulgence, and certainly no space between the act of waking up and diving straight into his work. The coffee he pours is black, intensely bitter, and entirely un...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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