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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

5380+ Creative nonfiction Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. The creative nonfiction stories on this page deliver exactly what it says on the tin: true stories told in weird and wonderful ways.

Creative nonfiction Short Stories – Page 26 of 359

Where the Cranes Fly

Submitted to Contest #284

TWs: Terminal illness, Abuse, Depression, Language The sky wept, restless. Stadium bulbs clunked on, hospital eyes in the black. Daron and I stood at center field, rolling ankles, necks, sleeking water from our faces, hair – readying for kickoff. We shouldn’t have ever met – the age between us too great. But Daron was a prodigy, the only freshman to make the varsity soccer team. I shivered, turning in the dying light as we waited for the ref. For the briefest moment I saw Daron in my periphery as if catching my pale shape in a mirror: narrow...

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Ave Maria

Submitted to Contest #284

I stared at the picture. My mind was racing. One would expect a gift card on Christmas day, I think. From an outsider's perspective, it wasn't that crazy. A man, a woman, and in between them, a baby. The man was my father, the woman was his girlfriend, and the baby was now my half sister.  "Oh." "You have a half sister," my father grinned in front of me, expectant.  "Yeah I can see that," I muttered, unable to help myself. I was shocked that whatever filter that I had in my brain was short-circuiting.  Maybe that's why he inv...

12 likes 4 comments 4
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Dirty Lens

Submitted to Contest #284

“GET UP.” My eyes slammed open to the hulking silhouette of my father looming over me, my big brother’s hand in his vice grip. I held my breath as he recklessly dragged us from my room, tripping down the stairs, skidding on the foyer. With sleep in my eyes I searched for my mother, craning my neck, desperately seeking her out as the pale morning light threatened to escape through the kitchen blinds. He whipped us around to the second set of stairs, the tops of my feet burning against the berber carpeting as they scraped the steps, our bodies...

7 likes 3 comments 3
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I'm Dreaming of a White House Christmas

Submitted to Contest #283

Imagine the White House during Christmas 1789: George Washington and his wife sitting around a Christmas tree in the Oval Office, a newspaper artist sketching the festive scene, and Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas" over the phonograph. If you can picture this, I would say, "Wow, you have a wonderful imagination." Unfortunately, that's where this scene will have to stay—in our imaginations. That's correct. I made the whole scene up, except for Christmas, 1789, George, and Martha. The rest are complete fabrications. The first fabrication ...

38 likes 37 comments 37
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Wigilia

Submitted to Contest #283

Wigilia In the 1950’s and 60’s, Christmas for us was not focused on Santa Claus.  Every ethnicity had their own particular traditions, as well as their own languages.  Our family celebrated in revered Polish customs and traditions. We did hang red felt stockings on a fake cardboard fireplace and exchange presents on Christmas morning, but there was more of a focus on the aspects of gathering and sharing with family.   The Christmas Eve meal was the most significant part of the season.  Bread baking started days befor...

3 likes 2 comments 2
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The Long Holiday Nights

Submitted to Contest #283

I had a thought: say, hypothetically, I die one day. In such a case, this would be my hell. I would be at work, wearing a red polo shirt and tight khaki pants, fulfilling someone’s never-ending online grocery order, while Christmas carols play over the loudspeakers. And moments before I pass out from exhaustion, my second to last thought would be if my ass still looks tone despite all the weight I lost over the past eight hours.  This thought warmed me, like a plush-loft blanket cocooning my body at two a.m. after walking five minutes f...

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From Santa

Submitted to Contest #283

I’m just not really sure what else you want from me. Haven’t you taken enough now? Haven’t I given enough–more than enough–to satisfy your urges? To appease the way your moods swing like blizzard winds blow through Christmas lights on the rooftop of childhood innocence and goodwill towards all? I couldn’t touch a present for years, always afraid of what attached ribbons and hidden clauses might be wrapped up and called love. Care. Cherishment. The saintly nature of those around me ever since taints all their plates of goodies, their stamped...

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Christmas Trees

Submitted to Contest #283

For all the worry, our cobbled together family started well. Every weekend, my sons and I went out to Cindy's house, with its creek, hillside of brambles, a massive hemlock tree, and across the county road, woods, and a maze of abandoned Christmas trees smothered in honeysuckle. The boys, Peter, 13, Ian, 12, and Brendan, 9, built forts in the woods, dammed up the creek, and chased our dog, Marley, through the house. Steven, Cindy's son 5, wanted to be in their mayhem, but they weren't sure about Steven. He cried a lot. Cindy's cat, Cody, hid...

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The Couriers of Magic

Submitted to Contest #283

The disadvantage to delivering miracles is that the collection of gasps, the breathless wonder at apex, the brilliant convergence of tiny simultaneous serendipitous coincidences goes unwitnessed by the person who actually delivers the magic. I know this because I’ve borne witness to the delivery of miracles before. It's true. One year, my family gathered--for the first time--at Alan Number Two’s house to celebrate Christmas. He welcomed us through dual front doors of beveled glass and led us through rooms with soaring white ceilings and m...

6 likes 2 comments 2
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Snap Crackle Pop

Submitted to Contest #283

Snap crackle pop This story mentions mental and physical health problems Snap, crackle, pop, went the Rice Krispies, snap crackle, pop, went her bones, especially her knees. She wondered if there was a connection? Those old adverts did used to make the statement, ‘Rice Krispies, full of snap crackle and pop’. Maybe she’d eaten far too many of them over the years? After all you are meant to be what you eat, Aren’t you?She coughed, spluttering and wheezing from laughing over her own little joke. Her health wasn’t what it used to be...

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Welcome To Florida Young Man

Submitted to Contest #283

Welcome To Florida Young ManBy Jim Plante Lake Worth, Florida, sits just west of Boca Ratan and right next door to West Palm Beach. My cousin’s condo was about two or three miles inland from the ocean, but you could still smell the beach everywhere. It was also pretty warm there compared to New England, where I lived and just flown in from. There was hardly a job to be found in the northeast in the late 1980s. Wintertime made the job market even worse, so I decided to take up my cousin’s job offer to work with him at the construction company...

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And Then There Were Three

Submitted to Contest #283

That tragic November morning changed everything. The storm that struck was unimaginable. Eight-year-old Brandon was killed while walking to school, hit by a speeding car driven by an underage driver. The loss was devastating and unforeseen.The loss left a huge hole in their hearts, making the idea of celebrating Christmas without him unbearable. When Ward Cunningham, Brandon’s father, saw only three stockings hung by the fireplace instead of four, it painfully reminded him of the missing family member. Where there was laughter from four voic...

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Lenore

Submitted to Contest #283

Another Christmas came, and she was feeling different. A good kind of different, for the first time. Probably because this time, he didn't honour her with his presence. He left for one of his many business trips, which she had stopped questioning. Lately, they had been happening more and more often. This time, conveniently, it just so happened that he had to leave on Christmas. Her first Christmas alone in six years of their marriage. Alone, left to talk to the walls that didn't talk back, not even once. However, she didn't mind. She didn't ...

5 likes 6 comments 6
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Season's Greetings.

Submitted to Contest #283

I don't know about you, but I used to really enjoy sending and receiving Christmas cards. When I was in college, I got dozens. Then at work, I always had ten or so. Now, not so much. Slowly, but steadily, over time the number dwindled to all but a handful.December 22 of this year was slightly different.I arrived home around 6, excited, and shamelessly optimistic to see who, if anyone, had me on the nice list this year.Three Charity begging letters, a card from my Dentist,one from my sister in Ohio, and one more.It was a local postmark, so I ...

4 likes 1 comment 1
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A Profound Effect

Submitted to Contest #283

He was 91 and healthy as a horse. Despite his advanced age, his mind and body were in excellent condition. He lived with his wife of 35 years, whom he could no longer stand or tolerate. His great-granddaughter, her friend, and their two children lived with him. They were supposed to make his meals and take care of whatever he needed while they were at home from work. Nobody understood the stress that Frances lived under daily. His wife told him that if he truly loved her, he would stay home and help her get out of bed to go to the washroom a...

11 likes 15 comments 15
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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