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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.

18620+ 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 1241 of 1242

From A Place That Is Gone

Submitted to Contest #3

The flowers are gone. The butterfly garden my father and I painted together disappeared the day my home became only a house. Purple coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, blue lupines, daisies, and Queen Anne’s lace and butterflies dancing around my bedroom, all gone. Even my own two little flowers in the corner that I painted with fingers trembling with perfectionism. Daddy says the shadows of the flowers can still be seen through the standard stale gray paint if you look carefully. I miss the happy sunshine yellow. I miss when...

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Sandy Grounds

Submitted to Contest #3

“You can’t be serious,” my mother said over the phone. I sighed deeply, “Mom, I’ll be fine. I am just going back to see a friend, that is all.” “For how long?” the worry still showing through her words. “Four days, three nights.” “Noah, honey, it’s not safe.”I had spent nearly half an hour trying to convince her that I would be fine, causing her to hang up on me out of frustration. After texting Valerie, the girl I’d be visiting, I began packing the necessities for an out of town trip.My phone lit up in the darkness of my bedroom, making me ...

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The Wanderer

Submitted to Contest #3

Chapter 1: Laura  Laura had always loved the fresh clean air of Washington; growing up in California near big cities, she never realized the difference until moving there. “There's just something about the vibes here”, she would say. She loved the way it made her feel at least for the time being.  It was an impulsive decision you see- to move. Laura has never been the best at making decisions or feeling grounded in some way. “There has to be something better” she would tell herself after feeling discouraged on most days. ...

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Memory of a Youth

Submitted to Contest #3

It's been 5 years, I find myself, seated in a train cubical, traveling back home. As I look out through the window: I was drawn into the glimpse of my past taking me to the place where I once grew up — a memory worth preserving. It was a beautiful village toward the north, surrounded by paddy fields and rubber forests. As the day began, my mother would shout "Get up! You're getting late for school". We lead a simple life. I rode on my bicycle everyday and cherished every moment I spent on the road. Ah! Yes, the beautiful road that ran in bet...

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Just Leave

Submitted to Contest #3

Jenna, the friend I was crashing with, drove me back to that house right after school. I told her I would call when I needed a pick-up. If I timed it right, work wasn’t over yet and I had some time for either a rescue or a confrontation. Whichever one, I was ready. I shouldered my heavy backpack and knocked on the door. Rule of the house, the door didn’t open unless both of them were home, but I knew they would make an exception for me. It had been three months since I’d packed up my things and left. Both of them had probably been waiting fo...

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Half of A Man

Submitted to Contest #3

The essence seems different but nothing has truly changed. The crisp autumn leaves become ash under the souls of my shoes as I walk to touch the wooden porch that stretches out in front of me. I reach my hand to touch the cracked paint on the wood. The feeling brings memories flooding back to a time where the world seemed so generous. A roof that looks as though it'll collapse with even the faintest slam of a door. The sun hits the steps, so inviting, almost as if it draws me to come closer. I place my hesitant first step towards something t...

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Death of a Patriarch

Submitted to Contest #3

“He’s dead.” That was her first words to me, no Hello or How you doing. There was no need for pleasantries. I didn’t care two shits about how she was doing and she felt the same way about me. But no matter how little we cared for each other she knew how much this news meant to me. “How?” I asked knowing there was only one “he” she could possibly be talking about.“9 millimeter to the forehead.” “Who?” “Auntie Doris,” she said it with zero emotion like we were talking about the weather. “Guess she finally got tired of ...

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Unconscious

Submitted to Contest #3

My brother, who had been in a coma for I don't remember how long, just woke up this morning. Mom called me in tears, barely able to form sentences."Johnny is awake !", she finally said in between sobs.I booked the first flight I could get.I got to the hospital the following morning. Little Johnny has changed to say the least. I wasn't not sure if I could still refer to him as "little" Johnny. He looked almost as old as dad, if not more. His once youthful face now had a gaunt taint to it. Sunken cheeks, eye bags, the works. Inactivity took a ...

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Lake House

Submitted to Contest #3

Home is never the same without you. I took a stroll, the smell reminded me of you, strong and vivid, and I could feel it resonate with my breath. I missed you, it was like you were there watching but I couldn’t see. We were twelve when we made the promise, ‘to be on the lookout for each other no matter what’, we blew the candle in the darkroom, creating the eerie atmosphere you wanted for dramatic effect. Since then we always searched for something evil, you said it will be a demon but I believed it to be something unknown like the stories y...

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On the Outside

Shortlisted for Contest #3 ⭐️

The field is duplexes now. Our field. That long expanse of grass where we used to hit golf balls--remember that time you hit the side of Jerry’s house?-- is now filled with brick buildings, paved driveways leading to the road. They block the view of the lake. Some of the neighbors still have signs that say Say No to Duplexes! poking out of their yards.  The house that used to be my house looks exactly the same on the outside. White house, black shutters, red front door. I wonder if I step inside if I’ll still see the tile entry where yo...

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The Theory of Human Consciousness (Mister Scientist)

Submitted to Contest #3

Kong Min felt it in his chest where his heart should be: a sudden strain where all his muscles suddenly contracted resulting in a sinking feeling that literally sucked in all life and breath he could barely muster anymore: like an anchor docking a ship. He struggled to breath and he collapsed for a while, a little unsure of where he was and how he got there in the first place. He could feel the flush of his cheeks and the veins in his arm bulged out. A tight knot formed at his throat. Then, pin-drop silence. A stinging noise irritatingly b...

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Long Deserted

Submitted to Contest #3

The old rusted bus waggled to a halt. Clarisa wasn't surprised at the emptiness of the bus. She grabbed her cross-body handbag from the seat next to her and slung it over her shoulder. She stood up, her body stiff from apprehension and moved about the chairs."Hurry with it!" the driver barked at Clarisa and she visibly flinched from the harsh impatience in his tone. She could tell he was nervous about the surrounding and she didn't blame him.She stepped out the bus and her leather sandals slapped the pavement whose bits had been chipped away...

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A Little Piece of Heaven on Earth

Submitted to Contest #3

I was born and raised in a small village in north western India called Dhapla. Mine was not a hospital birth with doctors, nurses and machines surrounding a sterile bed where my mother lay. Instead she was writhing and moaning on a bed that looked and felt more like a material covered board. Meanwhile village women attended her every need with consoling, soothing voices, urging her and encouraging my arrival. The hands that were close during this time were gentle in movement although calloused and rough from work on the v...

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The story of her life

Submitted to Contest #3

It was strange to her, the reality of space. She always thought the vast cosmos was a vast cluster of space dust and stars with the occasional planet dotting the universe when in reality there are hundreds of thousands of light-years in between each star. Just seeming endless darkness where light does not dare traverse. It's also cold but not like the cool walls of a dark, dank cave but cold like a crisp winters day. The silence also carries not a feeling of dread but a feeling of comfort like being given the opportunities of being alone wit...

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Time!!!

Submitted to Contest #3

When my mother called me last night, I never thought that the news would be so heart wrenching, but I guess finding out your dad has passed away kinda does that to a person. Me and my dad were never close. He liked books, I liked sports, he hated snakes, and I practically adored them. These were some of the reasons I would use to explain our distance from each other, but I never knew how stupid they all were until I went back home for his funeral.  As soon as I walked out of the airport the hot Florida sun shone brightly in my eyes...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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