Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Featured stories
Activity feed

Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

14990+ Fantasy Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Though fantasy is well known for its epically long sagas, fantasy short stories can deliver all the genre’s best attractions with one punch — or, shall we say, in one fiery dragon breath?

Fantasy Short Stories – Page 995 of 1000

That Was the Night.

Submitted to Contest #23

That Was the NightRight Now Oh what a night! I hope that I never go through another like it ever again. Company New Year’s parties are such a bad idea, particularly when you do not particularly like where you work, or your boss. There were parts that I liked – the free-flowing alcohol at no cost to the employees comes first in my memory of the night. Look at me now. I am lying in bed with the clothes that I wore last night. That even includes my shoes. And I do not remember getting into my apartment and I certai...

9 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Dye Me Dead

Submitted to Contest #23

DYE ME DEADJay StempinChapter 1Michael      The tall bookshelf, bookended by dozens of Medusa-haired skulls, squeaked to life by the sound of a tricycle pedaled by a faerie with daisy petal hair. Green skin. Looked like a flower. She skidded to a halt in front of a paperback edition of Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man. “Hey Mike, what’s the deal? Thought we had plans to get rid of him. As you can see snow’s falling hard. We really should get going. You know how I get around wintry weather.”“Name’s not Mike. H...

6 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Frigid

Submitted to Contest #23

I could see my breath in front of me as I walked to my car.  It was flurrying outside. It was beautiful. Magical even. The flakes were just barely laying on the ground but I knew that the snow was going to speed up later.  I got into my car and pulled out of the driveway to go get my brother, Zack, from basketball practice. He was truly talented at basketball, or almost any sport you put him in for that matter.  Me, I’m more of a nerd. I do enjoy the occasional game of ping pong, but other than that, I tend to stay away f...

5 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Trackless across snowbound tract

Submitted to Contest #23

During the next couple of weeks, I will house and pet sit for my lucky parents. They won topnotch prize all expense paid month long getaway. Aforementioned well deserved escapade courtesy me, their aspiring paperback book writing son. No sooner did their plane taxi off the runway piloted toward lost horizon (bound for warmer clime bajillion miles away), then intimations of sadness arose. A sudden pang for their presence to fill immediate profound absence arose. Tears streaming down my face, I sojourned back to 324 Level Road and to keep bad ...

6 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Magical snow

Submitted to Contest #23

Roxy is walking down the street to reach the Grocer,it was freezing cold but unfortunately she had no other way and hence had to walk the distance,the roads were empty with just few vehicles and very less people as well due to holiday season and as it had snowed heavily yesterday the people preferred to stay indoors rather than stepping out.She saw few poor kids sitting in the road in such cold weather which would freeze anyone,they were sitting without winter clothes and blanket and nobody bothered to help them,Roxy was helpless as she didn...

5 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

OPTIONS

Submitted to Contest #23

The day I first saw the fox was the one after our arrival. His eyes caught my brain and the only thing I thought, from that moment on, was to get a common language so he could guide me through this new world I was choosing. It was a beautiful animal and seeing him made me think about Celtic stories of strategy, cleverness and wisdom. It was a sign.I’ve always hated summer. Warm days take my energy away, so now in my forties I decided it is time to move. It was December when we got to our new home with my husband Alan,  my wife Claire (y...

7 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Fallen

Submitted to Contest #23

For the first time in a long, long time, Heath was on his way to see Lora. Heath couldn’t lie; the anniversary date crept up on him this year. Between all of his traveling and checking in on his family, he hadn’t spent as much time with Lora as he wanted to, let alone prepared for the anniversary. Okay, so it wasn’t just not “as much time.” Heath had totally left her. Huffing, Heath continued on to their special place. She hadn’t forgotten him, right? No, no; that’s ridiculous. Their love was strong enough to defeat time apart. Dancing alone...

7 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

When I Die...

Submitted to Contest #23

Ten. Six. Five. Two. These numbers have no pattern. Only an individual meaning. In the middle of February, I was skiing across the mountainside when I fell into a ten foot pile of snow from a cliff of height only god-knows. My body sank six feet into its fluff. My five-foot figure was practically buried. It took forever to climb my way out. My fingers had turned a dangerous shade of blue by the time I was free. I gazed at the sky overhead. It was a fiery shade of red. Dusk was settling in soon, ready to cover the skies with its blanket of da...

15 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

Just a Moment of Magic

Submitted to Contest #23

           The snow holds off ‘til I reached my parents’ place. I’m rumbling up the long driveway in my overladen car when the first little flakes drift down from the gray evening sky, as though Michigan had just been waiting for the perfect timing to welcome me back.           Stepping out of the car into the sharp January air, I am immediately reminded of the fact that I’ve spent the last five years in Florida where there aren’t re...

6 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Zenobia Harsch Has No Idea She's Dead

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

The snow’s out again. Like a huge stupid blanket that insists on suffocating all mankind. Zenobia Harsch has always hated the weather. Winters, she wants the heat and the lemonades. Summers, she begs for snow and hearths and haute chocolát. Pull and complain and do it again, that’s Zenobia Harsch’s motto. She is a tall and imposing woman with raven hair and smeared eyebrows that pull on her face and make her look a constant frown. She noticed people’s feet first rather than their smiles or the way their noses crinkled. Zenobia Harsch used to...

65 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

WINTER WONDERLAND

Submitted to Contest #23

The world was frozen solid, her fingertips were frozen solid. As she shuffled slowly across the glassy pavement, she noticed that she had been loosening her arms so that the thick coat slipped halfway down her body. The sharp sting of cold air prickling against her delicate skin felt euphoric. She had walked far from home and yet she was exactly where she wished to be... no more yelling, no more screaming, no more monsters, just the simple shock of frosty air and the numbness that trailed closely behind. She was walking faster now, willing t...

9 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Room Service

Submitted to Contest #23

Snow’s only acceptable when it comes in the night. Not the dead of night when everyone’s asleep, like you did slinking in past curfew to make sure you wouldn’t wake the family dog. There’s that precious time of night just after dark when the automatic sensors go off and porch lights illuminate soft patches of watch zones. The corners of gutters. The tops of brick patio posts. Between the garage doors or the strategic lamp post keeping watch over the sidewalk. The best snow creeps when the world’s caught in a drowsy battle to keep its eyes op...

7 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

What I leave behind

Submitted to Contest #23

For the first time in forever, it was just me and Jasper for the holidays. We had just moved out of our parent’s homes, and were ready to take the next step in our relationship. As much as we loved our parents, we wanted this Christmas to be special. Living in California, a white Christmas was completely out of the question. So rather than spend another Christmas in sixty degree weather with our parents, we rented a little cabin in Milad in the forest, hoping for a white Christmas. Our first Christmas with just the two of us.  But it di...

6 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

To Fall Through Your Front Yard

Submitted to Contest #23

Part OneI sit on our worn leather couch, staring out the window at our lawn that is now covered in a fresh layer of sparkling white snow. Just looking at it makes me shiver and I pull my blanket up higher around me. "Beaux," my mother's voice shakes me out of my world of thought and I stand, carrying the blanket with me as I walk over to her as if it is the last thing holding me together.I sit down next to her, her eyes are wrinkling at the corners as she smiles, "You should go for a walk outside." My eyes widen, "It's too cold, Mother. I'd ...

7 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

A FEAST TO REMEMBER

Submitted to Contest #22

In the far-away land of Arbainia, where the animals could talk like humans and the birds could perpetually be seen flying in the clear, remote firmament, their wings glimmering like kaleidoscopes, something inexplicably bizarre was happening. An obscure murkiness had recently engulfed the island with its freezing touch and foggy winds, the reason for it beyond all comprehension. The king, frail-hearted as he was, had apparently been killed while investigating the elusive mist, or the Jwelalur, as the locals began to call it. He had been enve...

62 likes 33 comments 33
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.