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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

18660+ Drama Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Being one of the most popular genres among the submissions to our weekly contest, the drama short stories collected below include riveting works you won’t want to miss.

Drama Short Stories – Page 10 of 1244

The Tiger's End

M B

Submitted to Contest #296

Captain Sphinx had found himself in dangerous environments before: both in the skies above and down on the ground. Once he’d had a dogfight in the middle of a thunderstorm and landed with part of a wing gone, and the cockpit full of water up to his waist. And like many of his least favorite situations, he now found himself outnumbered... and very likely outgunned. He gripped his pistol tightly as he sprinted back to the building on the docks. Mai, the elusive ‘Tiger’ the smuggler queen of Shanghai had to still be there. His cover was blown:...

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The speed date

Submitted to Contest #297

‘’So, you’re an architect?’’‘’Well, you’ve certainly found a way to romanticize it.’’‘’Come on. We’ve only got five minutes.’’‘’Exactly. No time to make stuff up.’’‘’I’m only laughing because I was afraid this might happen. My mother always says I romanticize the ordinary.’’‘’So now I’m ordinary?’’‘’Oh God, no. I didn’t mean it like that.’’‘’You’re easily provoked.’’‘’I hope not. It’s just my mom. She has a way of—’’‘’Are you a mama’s boy?’’‘’What?’’‘’You’ve mentioned her twice, and—as you said—we only have five minutes. I suppose she matter...

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Soul Mates Through Time

Submitted to Contest #296

Soul Mates Through Time Germany, 1940 “You were all I ever wanted,” he spoke, his lips so close to hers he felt them quiver. “You know I’ve felt the same, from the moment I saw you,” she replied, her breath unsteady, her heart pounding. Tamara studied the stiff, new uniform he wore. Why all the sudden excitement about joining the Reich’s army? Now they were risking their lives meeting, even in secrecy behind the park, since Berlin’s nightly curfew had gone into effect. “But… but it is getting too dangerous to...

4 likes 2 comments 2
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Winter's battle

Submitted to Contest #296

The stench of gunpowder and blood filled the air. Bodies loitered the snowy ground as a stream of white snowflakes covered them. I looked across the battlefield, knowing the enemy is there beyond, but my vision blocked by the for of explosives. I look to the right, I see my brothers in arms, resting, preparing and weeping for the friends they’ve already lost, wishing to be home to their families and some crying for their mothers.I look to the left, I see my real brother. My younger brother Jack and I ‘volunteered’ for the army, truth be told...

3 likes 0 comments 0
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Sun Rise

Submitted to Contest #297

The bedroom is the dressing up room. The changing room. The chrysalis state at the end of each day. An end, blissful, restful or otherwise. The illusory promise of a new beginning. The prelude of an awakening that never quite delivers. Not when you want it to. Not when you pin your hopes to its flag and expect those winds of hope to raise it to a fertile erection with life as its only objective. But there is nowhere else. This is the only cave of refuge. It is not safe. It is as safe as it gets. Of all the rooms in my house and my home, this...

6 likes 5 comments 5
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The 13th Amendment

Submitted to Contest #296

Before reading: Note that this story takes place on a plantation in Kentucky in the 1800's. It will be difficult to sympathize with the main character and dated terms are used in the story which are offensive in our present day.Jonathan William Smith sat on the swing beneath the cover of the porch at the entrance to his home. He watched the members of his household scuttle around as they went about their chores. Marcus, clad only in a pair of britches several inches too short, struggled with an ornery mule. The beast was refusing to pull the...

7 likes 6 comments 6
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Truth is a liar

Submitted to Contest #296

They say the truth will set you free. In my case, that turned out to not be true. Looking back, I can see the irony, but unfortunately no one else in the room did. I guess I should have expected that, but I had other things on my mind at the time. So, here we are, ME with my hands restrained, John standing in the hall as we go by, smirking. If I could have understood what was going on I probably would have said that I’ve never hated anyone so much in my life before today. I used to think of myself as easy-going, calm and likeable but tod...

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Grave Secrets

Submitted to Contest #296

(Contains themes of dying) She lies on her left side, the skin of her right hip stretched over the protruding hip bone. Her legs are smaller than my 8-year-old’s. I touch her pale, clammy skin, feel the coolness, the lifelessness. I speak gently, just out of habit. The cloying antiseptic smell, with its undertones of earthiness, raw and slightly acidic, reveals the early stages of decay. “Hi, Annie. It’s Kerri. Another night together.” I brush her hair with my hand, away from her forehead, and tuck it behind her ears. When I finish, a clump ...

11 likes 3 comments 3
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I Was Only Following Orders

Submitted to Contest #296

DISCLAIMER: The characters and event in this story are fictional. Any similiarity to real persons is purely coincidental.My grandmother warned me. I should have listened.“That sounds like a bad situation to be walking into, Ellen, sounds like trouble to me,” she said.“Hmmm…. you have a good point; I’ll think about it…”And I did, think about it, I mean, but decided the opportunity was just too good to turn down. It was flattering to be sought out for a job, and besides, my grandmother hadn’t been in the workforce since her twenties, and sh...

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Two men, two suits and a fox

Submitted to Contest #296

A woman sits in a London train. It is Friday night, and the frenetic energy, the chaotic distillation of a world that has been waiting for the weekend rages around her. Somehow, she is sitting with no one near her in a cluster of four seats. She, like so many others around her, is dressed exquisitely - normally, the narrative eye would need not dwell on such aesthetic triviality, but in this case, it is relevant. She wears a tight black dress that stands out against her blonde hair and red lips. Everything about her is manicured, from her na...

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The Dinner

Submitted to Contest #296

George walked through the front door of the restored, three story mansion. He looked around in satisfaction, the entryway was open and airy, finished with deep red oak, not just the floors, the walls and the staircase as well. He’d spent over a million dollars refurbishing and modernizing Fiona’s great-grandfather's masterpiece. He hung his knee length overcoat in the closet and slipped his shoes off and slid them to the side. The house was quiet. He frowned, Fiona wasn’t home. George growled under his breath, he had told her that she sh...

8 likes 4 comments 4
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A Tale of Twisted Minds and Warped Realities

Submitted to Contest #296

If I hadn’t killed her, maybe I’d still be alive too. Not brain dead. Not fighting the thoughts that trap me in an insane asylum with no hope of escape but death itself. It’s like hell, but a whole lot worse. The fire is hotter. The pain is deeper. The chains are tighter. It’s worse when hell is in your mind. Tormenting. Whispering all the possibilities you could’ve taken and should’ve taken. Haunting you with the memories of failure upon failure upon failure and the life you could’ve been living. It’s worse when hell relentlessly targets th...

4 likes 0 comments 0
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Trouble Comes In Threes

Submitted to Contest #296

Trouble Comes in ThreesBy Lee Kendrick It started off as a joke. There were four of them around the table in the local pub all drinking pints of beer and eating the traditional English Sunday roast. As middle-aged traders trading for over ten years in the Stock Exchange in London, each of them had made quite a bit of money, having their pulse on the right stocks and shares to buy and others to stear clear of.Besides being traders they were also trained in survival techniques and had skills in… Climbing, sailing, scuba diving and cave explori...

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The Secrets We Keep

Submitted to Contest #296

No one ever questioned Hannah’s perfect life, and she intended to keep it that way—no matter the cost. Every carefully curated detail, from her perfectly manicured lawn to the impeccable family photos on the wall, painted a picture of success and happiness. She had the job, the house, the husband, and the two kids who always smiled in every photo. No one knew about the cracks that lurked beneath the surface, not even her closest friends. But today… Today, everything was about to change.Hannah sat at her kitchen table, staring at her phone, h...

6 likes 1 comment 1
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Stone me as the sinner that I am

Submitted to Contest #296

Helen tilted her head back, the sea mist tender as a lover’s kiss on her flushed skin. She gasped for air, the distant rumble of the tidal flow echoing her own labored breaths as the waves surged at the beat of her heart. Shh-shh, thump thump. Shh-shh, thump thump.A tremor passed over her, and she wrapped her shawl tightly around herself. She sensed warmth leaving her body, oozing from her wet clothes like vapor from a saturated fire log. Her own feelings tugged at her, throwing her off balance, and she shifted her weight.Coming here was a m...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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