Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Featured stories
Activity feed

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.

18520+ 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 1221 of 1235

Even If

Submitted to Contest #40

Cynthia was unusually quiet as she and Millie walked home from school. They weren't neighbors, Millie live a couple streets over, but Millie always walked Cynthia home to make sure she got there safe. A while back Millie had asked why Cynthia walked home from school alone instead of taking the bus. Cynthia wouldn't say. Millie only wanted the best for her, and liked her company, so she offered to walk with her from then on. "Did your chemistry exam go ok, Cynth?" Millie asked as she kicked at some loose asphalt on the road. "Eh, it went alr...

11 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

A Night Out

Submitted to Contest #40

“Where?”   Abigail’s caramel fingers hovered above the screen. Undecided, she looked at her addresser. The man had a snaggle-tooth.    “Eh?”   “No de look me like fish. Where you de go, madam?”   The lady in question sighed, shoving her phone in her back pocket. “Sorry, sir,” she entered the bus. “Anywhere.” Anywhere that’s not there.   “Oya, get out, lemme go home. I be like say you wan waste time. See this pikin o. Anywhere,” he mocked. “Na 8 o’clock curfew we get. No time to misbehave. Oya,” he pointed to the...

10 likes 8 comments 8
Read story

Some Things Never Change

Submitted to Contest #40

"Our roots will always be tangled."Nice thought. But like so many things--communism, universal healthcare, democracy--it only sounds good on paper. Makes for a nice plaque on the wall. A greeting card, maybe. A coffee mug. People will spend money just to have those words staring back at them every day, reminding them that somehow their "friendships" really mean something.I wasn't always this way. I'm a drag, I know. Looking at four indifferent, splintery walls. One ceiling, stained along the seam by amber remnants of past rainwater. Out one ...

24 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

Absent Friends

Submitted to Contest #40

Rosaline Her body was found by her mother on her bed at 10:05am on the 2nd of March 2012. Her usual olive toned skin had been drained of all its texture, leaving a white the colour of freshly lain slow and equally as cold to the touch. She lay with her face buried in a pillow. Reluctant, even now, to make eye contact. On the floor, next to the bed, lay an empty bottle of vodka and a blood-stained knife. There was no note. There were two unanswered text messages on her phone. One from Rebecca, which read; “I’m sorry if I made you feel weird…p...

5 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Melany Birch and John Oak

Submitted to Contest #40

Deep within the lush green forest, yet untamed by mankind and ruled over only by the sun and the rain, there was a meadow of golden grass stalks. And in that meadow, a miracle of life was unfolding.Two stray seeds, a birch seed and an acorn, brought on the dancing winds not that long ago, were beginning to sprout in the pristine soil. Encouraged by water and warmth, they cracked their shells and dug their way through the earth, until their soft, gentle leaves touched daylight. The meadow grew larger by two.With life bustling all around ...

14 likes 12 comments 12
Read story

A Final Excerpt from the Anthology of Jules & Geneva Wiley

Submitted to Contest #40

41 years.That’s how long Jules and Geneva had been married. Exactly.As Jules sat in bed on the dawn of their anniversary, on top of the covers, wiggling his toes, he took time to reflect on the past four decades of his life. Many mornings since his retirement started off much like this. Jules would naturally wake up at the first signs of new light, but having no real need to be up and about at this hour he would often just sit and think, allowing his own imagination to entertain him. On occasion he would read or watch the televisio...

5 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The Prodigal Father

Submitted to Contest #40

The day was a cold one, drifts of snow blanketing the ground and a bitter wind shrieking through the bleak stone buildings of 321 E. Robertson Way. If one stood in the middle of the narrow, wet street and looked upward, there was a good chance that it looked as if the gray stone reached all the way up to the clouds…and also of getting a thorough dousing with the gradually-melting snow gathered on the eaves.On this particular day, a young man wove his way through the motley crowds of Robertson Way, his threadbare coat pulled close about his s...

13 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

It's All My Fault

Submitted to Contest #40

Marissa I thought we would be okay… I truly did, or I never would have brought my friends along. Jayne had tried to talk us out of it, and she ended up getting the worst of it. I was the one that invited her in the first place… Cameron is going to lose a leg. She had always loved running, and now, because of me, she would never run again. And Lena… paralyzed from the neck down. It’s all my fault… Cameron I can’t believe Jayne is gone. There is just no way… any minute now she’ll walk through the door and laugh at us for believing the EMTs. I ...

32 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

A Common Ambition

Submitted to Contest #40

"This is it, the start of my new and prosperous career." Bill was looking at the door to the First National Bank of Northfield.             "History was changed in this town," a young man about Bill's age remarked. Both men were enjoying a tour of Northfield, Minnesota, the famous town that dared to fight the infamous James-Younger Gang.           "Yes. Have you ever wondered what would have happened if the b...

14 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

Divergent Blossoms

Submitted to Contest #40

I felt rusty. Not rusty like I needed to practice a skill or rusty from sitting around all day - rusty like I was covered in rust. All disgusting and peely. How could I have been so stupid to let Beth treat me like that? She had promised all my secrets were safe with her, that our late night chats would be our special best friend time. But of course she had to go ruin that with her underlying need to cause drama and be the center of attention.  I couldn’t seem to squish any deeper into my pillow. No matter how far I fell I couldn’t esca...

9 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

Beyond Repair

Submitted to Contest #39

I finally took off the ring. It glistened under the night sky as I twirled it between my fingers. The object which I had once been so elated to receive, now looked back at me with pity. I don’t think I can do this. I couldn’t say a word and he couldn’t even look me in the eye.The stars seemed brighter tonight. He loved to stargaze and I loved to watch him look up at the sky in wonder. I couldn’t watch him anymore. Our first anniversary together and he said there was nothing we couldn’t fix together. He lied.He should have tried harder. But h...

10 likes 12 comments 12
Read story

The Shift

Submitted to Contest #39

We kept watch for decades. The prophecy said it would come. And soon. But the sun set in the west and rose in the east like every other day since I was born. When it happened when the sun rose in the west and set in the east we barely noticed. Why would we? The slight increase in wind speed felt like any other oncoming storm. As long as the sun was up it was all that mattered. It looked like any other summer day. Corn and grain, fruits, and vegetables. Even flowers for fragrances. The planting season was past. The hard part was done. An...

46 likes 11 comments 11
Read story

Molly's Box

Submitted to Contest #40

           It had never happened before, but today, my mother called me by a different name. It was my tenth birthday and my mother was busy taking photos of everything that was going on during my birthday party. I was hovering around the cake with a few of my friends because we were too impatient to wait for my mother to come light the candles and cut the cake.           "Everybody smile," my mom yelled.     ...

177 likes 102 comments 102
Read story

Starry Silence- By Anou Swami

Submitted to Contest #39

I glared up at the glimmering stars in the sky. "Stupid things!" I muttered, kicking at a pebble in my backyard. "Stupid stars, stupid stargazing party, stupid dad, stupid mom, stupid sister! Ugh!""Are-are you okay, Teri?" My best friend Paris India Rockefeller(her parents love to travel) tapped me gently on the shoulder."I'm fine!" I whirled around to face her, pushing her hand away harshly. "What do you want?!" I quickly regretted it when my sensitive friend burst into tears. "I'm so sorry, Pary. I just- you know-" I paused, thinking of th...

10 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

Lights of the Night Sky

Submitted to Contest #39

This story starts with the stars. The stars that have been in the sky for billions of years, and may be in the sky for another billion. The stars that light up the night sky. Valerie was sitting on the stoop of her house. It was just another suburban house, but for Valerie, this was not just a house. It was home. Valerie was looking up at the stars. They were the one thing that could comfort her right now. The stars would not change, whether she was looking at them from North Dakota or Nebraska, whether she was with her mother...

5 likes 0 comments 0
Read story
RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

Bring your short stories to life

Fuse character, story, and conflict with tools in Reedsy Studio. All for free.