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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.

18720+ 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 1195 of 1248

Ace of Spades

Submitted to Contest #54

I gazed over the landscape, my heart collapsing as the destruction all around me smothered it. Why was I the only survivor? The only spot of life amid this plain of smoke and ash and dying fires? I knew the answer to my question. I was a coward. It was as simple as that. I knelt to the ground and scooped a handful of pale gray ashes into my hand, the same ashes that blanketed the ground four inches deep. My knuckles scraped against rough earth beneath the dust. There was no sign that a flourishing city had been here, full of life and bu...

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Patricia

Submitted to Contest #54

This isn't exactly as ordered but I hope you like it anyway. It was the first day of the first grade for Patty. She was an outgoing little girl who desperately wanted to make new friends. But her family was considered off limits. She did not have any friends going through kindergarten.It was the first day of the first grade for Dave. His family had moved from a big city of over one hundred thousand to this small rural town of less than five hundred. He was a new kid in a new school and looking to make new friends.It was lunch time and e...

13 likes 3 comments 3
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A Repentant Heart

Submitted to Contest #54

The screen lights up on his 65” plasma TV as he hops on his old ratty couch. Everything around him is falling apart and rotting with age, except the new TV. Huberus refuses to look at his dismal surroundings and focuses on the screen; a new series is starting today. A drop of dirty sludge lands on his cheek from the hole in the ceiling.“Ugh!” he snarls and drags the couch out from under the hole.Satisfied that he’ll now be dry, He crawls up unto the couch and finds a comfortable spot between the poking coils. Now finally ...

25 likes 6 comments 6
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Here’s to Old Sweethearts and New Mysterious White Voids

Submitted to Contest #54

“Benjamin? How have you been?” Luciana squeaked as she clicked her way over in heels to her former high school sweetheart and held out her hand for a shake. He hugged Luciana to her surprise. “I go by Ben, actually. More fun.” His old southern accent from their hometown hung in the air, but Luciana had lost hers long ago. Ben glanced around. “And I’d be a lot better if we weren’t trapped in a white void.” Luciana undid the hug and sighed. “You can see it too, huh? I thought I just forgot to take my antipsychotic meds again.” She clicked h...

25 likes 15 comments 15
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Apologies for a Job Poorly Done

Submitted to Contest #54

“Gwynnie, is that you?” Gwyneth hated when she called her Gwynnie. No matter how many times Gwyneth had asked Cambree to NOT call her that, she still insisted on using that childish nickname. But Gwyneth bit her tongue. After today, she would never have to hear Cambree call her Gwynnie again.     “It is me.” Gwyneth took off her dark oversized glasses and smiled at Cambree.      “I barely recognized you! Your sunglasses and large straw hat covered your face. I was like, who’s that strange woman heading up m...

16 likes 11 comments 11
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To Kiss The Lips Of A Past Lover

Submitted to Contest #54

The storm outside had only gained more aggression as the day went on. What was supposed to be a quiet summers day turned into a thunder storm with lightning stabbing soil. Amber had spent the morning grooming the horses at the stable to prepare them for an evening trot over the stream. She had arrived back at the farm a week ago, surprising herself by finding time amid her busy London schedule. Amber hadn’t visited home since the day she left school, her internship stealing her from the family house. To say her parents were happy to have her...

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Desert Mistakes (part two to Ash Called Oscar, Lina, Beba Maria)

Submitted to Contest #54

The sun was back with a vendetta, only it held rays like fire over the earth instead of a machete. It wore a mask of radiating, pulsating heat and Beba Maria felt like she was going to pass out.  The day had been long, the road hard, and the undertaking of their task was proving more difficult than they had expected. They’d missed the boat because Oscar had fallen down, scraped a knee, chipped a tooth, cried for ages.  There was now a stretch of desert between them and the spaceships that would shoot them towards a literal new ...

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Am I...? (Part 1)

Submitted to Contest #54

I inhaled deeply and looked up at the starlit night.I was running away from home.The deep sky, the shivering wind, the vast, empty forest welcomed me as if I was one of them. Well, I really was one of them.Hi, I am Iris, the daughter of the leader of the most influential werewolf clan in the city. The forests are our home during the nights. All nights are dangerous for the common humans, because we tend to turn occasionally into werewolves, although it is mostly at our own will. But we have to tuck ourselves away from sight into the deep woo...

73 likes 30 comments 30
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Only Human (takes place about sixteen months after "A Parting of the Ways")

Submitted to Contest #54

Standing on the boardwalk, one hand in my pants pocket and the other resting on top of the wooden railing, I watched boats arriving at and leaving from the marina. It was after midnight and the wakes left behind by the boats were covered with little sparkles and speckles of moonlight.I was reminded of another night. When we'd stood right here, holding hands. Then we lowered our medical masks and kissed. Two unforgettable kisses. The future seemed bright and almost anything seemed possible.Sixteen months had passed since that night. The quara...

20 likes 15 comments 15
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The Boarding Pass

Submitted to Contest #54

Embedded under your fingernails and staining your fingertips was black ink. Carefully placing your hands behind your back, you plastered a smile on your face, and scanned the room full of people.  A woman walked up. She looked about fifty, and she was holding out her copy of your book. You attempted to make your smile reach your eyes, but failed. Taking a Sharpie from one of the cups, you scribbled a signature. It was not your own. You wondered absentmindedly what made up a signature. Could someone’s whole life story and personality be...

47 likes 11 comments 11
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Through The Eyes Of A Changed Man

Submitted to Contest #54

He was back. Jon surveyed the school that he had not seen in two years. Everything looked the same. The chipped paint near the front entrance that had never been fixed, the bench with students’ names etched on it, and the ever-familiar rush of students all heading somewhere. Everything was the same, and yet, everything was different. This did not feel like the school he had been in two years ago. The atmosphere seemed different, more carefree and happier. He wondered if this atmosphere was caused by his absence, or maybe it had always been ...

11 likes 2 comments 2
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Good Friends Are Important

Submitted to Contest #54

Present day. I messed up. I messed up so badly.Alexandra Maffindale was locked in her room. She was sitting on her bed, desperately trying to figure out her life. I can’t go back. She thought. I’ve made too many mistakes. A knock on her door made her start up quickly.“Alex?” A voice asked. “You there?” There was silence for a moment.“Yeah.” Alex whispered. Then she said louder. “Yeah. I’m here.”“Olivia is on the phone. You wanna talk to her?”“No!” Alex yelled.“Whoa, okay. Dinner’s in 10 minutes.”Alex heard footsteps walking down the stairs. ...

93 likes 71 comments 71
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On the Outside

Submitted to Contest #54

Trigger warning: suicide   It was so hard for Shawn not to feel the atmosphere of the room – it was cold and calculating and deliberately dispelling. She was in the throws of finishing her final student work term and was nervously excited to do so. It was a hard journey to get to this last work term – between taking “time off” to recover from an illness and then rebuilding a brand-new work term to return to, was mentally exhausting!     Not to mention being a mature student.   The morning meeting ...

12 likes 3 comments 3
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The Queen Of Seldon College

Submitted to Contest #54

Maggie failed to be startled at the news of her redundancy, the premonition had kept her awake many nights, but the call for a change of lifestyle had her feeling utterly lost. Searching the web night and day for a new career path seemed useless with her lack of work experience. From the age of fourteen she had worked in the same local coffee shop, even meeting her wife at one of the many tables she religiously tidied, keeping her bills paid until a couple weeks after her thirty third birthday. Maggie’s wife, Penelope, supported her during h...

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Grandma in the Classroom

Submitted to Contest #54

“Welcome to Arkansas State University,” smiled the Dean, an attractive young blonde woman, giving new students at Orientation a short and inspiring speech.  Everyone in the room clapped, even the Dean, but of course she was applauding us, the students. I looked around the large, crowded room and saw one or two who looked like me, at least they had grey hair. For all I knew I would be the only student over the age of sixty in the whole place, but I hoped not. I was so very nervous, but excited at the same time. This was my first day of c...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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