18790+ Best Drama Short Stories to Read Online for Free - Reedsy Prompts

Rallume Ta Lumière –Relight Your Light

Submitted to Contest #298

They say time heals all wounds, but no one talks about the scars you give yourself trying to survive the people who hurt you. Spending years learning to smile through the silence, to love only the parts of yourself you thought others could tolerate. But healing, you were learning, didn’t always come in solitude. Sometimes, it arrived in the shape of an apology you never asked for—from the last person you’d ever expect. Ava always thought the worst thing about high school was how it followed you like a bad perfume, even years later. She was 2...

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The Walk That Never Ends

Aliefia Ayu

Submitted to Contest #298

Nobody knows what’s inside the crazy man’s head.The crazy man wanders. Always wandering. From one village to the next, barefoot or wearing shoes too big or too small, talking to himself or to no one at all. He asks for food, a little water, maybe a cigarette. Sometimes, he hums a tune no one recognizes. Sometimes, he stares at the sky like he's waiting for it to speak.He talks to children when they’re brave enough to come close. Not always in words they understand. Half-sentences, questions without answers, memories tangled like old string. ...

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Reset

Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #298

The Spring sun lights the world beyond the window, and she sees it afresh. Where there were drab greys there is now the promise of vibrancy that will be fulfilled as the day itself progresses. There are no empty words here. There is a pending reality to the sun’s commitment to the Spring and Mother Nature is eagerly underwriting this union.She looks upon this scene and there is fear in her. There is no discerning the cause of that fear, only the source. She has been afraid all her life but became adept at drowning out the sounds of her fear ...

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Ilkbahar - Spring

John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #298

Neptune was proven right about the blind spot, but how long would the oversight, the lack of perception last? The attacks on Pluto and his dysfunctional family had ceased for now. Kubbeli Evler as predicted became a safe haven, and the new home for the nomadic tribe of stray cats. The sightless eyes of the mountain – les yeux de la montagne, had servants to hunt and find, and it was only a matter of time before Pluto and the seven cats of Kubbeli Evler would be discovered. The group arrived during the zenith of summer, as the burning furnace...

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Honest Truth

Nancy Ball

Submitted to Contest #298

Glenda sat down with her parents and said, "This will be a long discussion, and I need your full attention to hear everything I have to say. I will be grateful if you find it in your heart to forgive me in the end. If not, I will accept that. Regardless of how you perceive what I'm about to share, I know you have your ways of thinking. I am twenty-three years old, and you raised me to be an honest adult. What I'm about to tell you may be hard to believe, but I assure you, it is the God's Honest Truth.”Glenda's mother, Bonnie, asked, "Since t...

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The Blood of the Oaks

Barrel Coops

Submitted to Contest #298

Margaret had always believed in the healing power of the words of kindness and in the quiet, steady art when it came to mending things, whether they were broken bones or that of the broken mind. Her small cottage sitting on the edge of the village had once glowed with warmth, the hearth always lit and inviting, a kettle always hot, her fresh herbs drying slowly above, hung from the rafters. The laughter that drifted lazily through the open windows like summer smoke in the air. She had been the beating heart of the area once upon a time; she ...

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The regrets of a life lived in shadows

Rutvi Devgan

Submitted to Contest #298

Science confirms that life flashes before your eyes, as you open your mouth to take your final breath, a flash that lasts for mere seconds but has your heart heavy for what feels like hours, a flash that took me back to my high school cafeteria.In a bustling school cafeteria, full of teenagers seemingly belong there and among them there is a girl, sitting alone, hungry. Her lunch was untouched, because like her, a home-packed lunch of rice, infused with flavours and mother's love, did not belong to the world of lunch money and sandwiches.Tho...

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Dear Owen,

Molly O'Brien

Submitted to Contest #298

Trigger Warning - Violence, Language, and Suicide Dear Owen As I stand here now, I wonder if this is the right thing to do. You see, I’ve tried everything. Nothing can help me with the pain that I have been suffering ever since last month. I've felt hopeless, like there is a big empty hole in me, that can never be filled. I’ve started sleeping more, eating less, worrying about everything at once but yet, nothing. I lost 20 pounds in 3 weeks, causing my body to give out at any random time. Damn, it’s cold here. I’m not used to the weather be...

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The Weight of Consent

Fletcher Fox

Submitted to Contest #298

This story contains themes of incestuous sexual abuse, coercion, and disability being used to excuse nonconsensual acts. It also explores the victim’s inaccurate view of consent, fear of criminalization, passive suicidal ideation, and dissociation. Please take care while reading. "Hey, you alright?" Alana could see exhaustion in her friend's face, his tired eyes, tensed shoulders almost to his ears as he stared in wide-eyed embarrassment at being questioned about his emotional state."Yeah, just... no, I'm not alright. Do you ever feel like e...

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A Bridge Over Broken Waters

ErikAnne Davis

Submitted to Contest #298

**A Bridge Over Broken Waters** The storm had battered Everspring for hours, leaving the river swollen and angry. Caleb Greene stood at the window of his modest home on the edge of town, watching the water rise and feeling the familiar weight of guilt pressing against his chest. Seven years ago, he had designed a bridge—a bridge that collapsed during a flood like this one, taking lives with it, including that of a young boy named Daniel. Caleb had never forgiven himself, retreating to the outskirts of town to live quietly and anonymously, pa...

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And for one night, the SOC ran this company. Not the boardroom.

Richard De Vries

Submitted to Contest #298

The hum of workstations and servers sounded like a low rumble in the brightly lit Security Operation Center. Screens lit the room with shifting shades of red and blue, each flash another potential threat. In the center of it all was Samir Khan, SOC Manager for AeroLink Global, his jaw clenched, heart pounding, gaze locked on an alert that had just breached every layer of defense.A zero-day exploit—surgically precise and terrifyingly intelligent—slithered through their systems like a venomous serpent in the dark. It hadn’t just bypassed firew...

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The Ink Remembers

Teacher Mom

Submitted to Contest #298

Rain tapped gently against the dusty windowpanes, a patient reminder of the world outside. Inside the cramped shop, Elias hunched over his oak writing desk, the tip of his quill poised above ivory parchment. The scent of ink, earthy and sharp, mingled with the faint sweetness of dried lavender tucked into a clay jar nearby. His gnarled fingers trembled slightly as he dipped the quill into the vial, the ink inside shimmering with a dark violet hue that never quite dried the same way twice.He whispered the name aloud, as was his custom. “For M...

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The Final Stage

Tatev Gaboyan

Submitted to Contest #298

Session 3It was raining again. Thin gray mist clung to the window beside the couch where Marianne sat. The office smelled faintly of sandalwood, a mix of essential oils, and old paper. It was spacious yet cozy, with bookshelves on two walls. Dr. Keene sat across from her on a chair, ankles crossed, notepad resting on one knee.“How are we today, Marianne?”She blinked slowly, her voice low and flat. “Still breathing.”“Breathing is good. That’s all it takes some days.”Marianne nodded. Her coat was still damp from the walk over. She hadn’t drive...

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Too Late To Say Goodbye

Natalia Nava

Submitted to Contest #298

I’ve lived a long life—one filled with goodbyes, unexpected turns, and silent wounds. But nothing shaped me more than the summer I met Zara.I was born in 1945. My mother raised me by herself. She had a lover once, but when he learned she was pregnant, he vanished, or at least mom told me that. She never saw him again. I never had a chance to meet him. And, over time, that became okay.It was 1959. I was thirteen when Mom and I left our quiet town behind and moved to New York City. To say I felt lost would be an understatement. I ate alone, ro...

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The Reunion

Jina Koffi

Submitted to Contest #298

This whole block is a wind tunnel, he thought, as he stood outside of a fairly new apartment building. He knew he shouldn't be there…knew how she would react. However, he had to try and make her listen to him–somehow. He had been waiting a full 10 minutes, hoping someone would open the door so he could sneak inside. He sipped his black, yet sweet, coffee as he peaked at the sun overhead. The coffee wasn't helping. The weather was neither cold nor warm, humid nor dry, but it was windy and he considered busting out hand warmers. Finally, a tal...

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18790+ Drama Short Stories to read

Drama Short Stories – Page 12 of 1253

Rallume Ta Lumière –Relight Your Light

The Walk That Never Ends

Reset

Ilkbahar - Spring

Honest Truth

The Blood of the Oaks

The regrets of a life lived in shadows

Dear Owen,

The Weight of Consent

A Bridge Over Broken Waters

And for one night, the SOC ran this company. Not the boardroom.

The Ink Remembers

The Final Stage

Too Late To Say Goodbye

The Reunion