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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

150+ Fiction Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. If you’re looking for the best fiction short stories to read online, we’ve got you covered. Wide-ranging and ever-curious, these free short stories will meet your reading needs.

Fiction Short Stories – Page 4 of 10

Slay

Submitted to Contest #319

“Jason, What are you doing?” I hear the distant words echo down the corridor and float into my chambers. I clamber to put my hair brush I was using as a microphone down on my vanity. I was waiting for my latest sculpture to dry and indulging in a little kitchen karaoke. But that quickly comes to a halt. This isn’t the first time some voyager has entered my cave and interrupted my jam session. I’m just over here vibing and minding my own business. I’m just a banished banshee that lives in solitude trying my damndest not to turn people to sto...

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A Ringing in Her Ears

Submitted to Contest #319

The school bus barreled down the desert road, a glowing spectacle of reflected sunlight on its way to the Grand Canyon. Mrs. Maloney gazed upon the infinite swaths of blurred sepia as they passed by. This is all my doing, she thought. All of it. A month ago, a siege had begun on her consciousness that felt akin to an awakening, a constant barrage of prayers from the world’s believers, all packaged differently – questions, statements, pleas in every language – but all understood by her and all circling around a shared point of pain. A month...

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War within violence and vows

Submitted to Contest #319

CONTAINS SENSITIVE INFORMATION: Suicide, mental health, trauma, war, violence, death. My soul is now as cold as the dried blood that was once dripping down my face, seeping into my clothes. I don't think I will ever be able to return to the person I once was. Looking around at the massacre that has taken place, I feel powerful; however, guilt and a nauseating sickness creep behind me like a stray dog. Voices in my head telling me what I have done is justifiable, but in the back of my mind, I know this isn't me, or… maybe it is now.BREAKING...

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#MonstersOnline

Submitted to Contest #319

Date: September 23 at 11:42pmThread: Introduction Night I didn’t respond to the first post on time, so forgive me for my lateness. Truthfully, I convinced myself that online groups aren’t my thing. A very old friend of mine said it would be wiser to stay quiet about who I am. What I am. And to be painfully honest, I usually don’t spend this much time on the internet. But allow me to begin this introduction with a little about me. I’m male. European-born. I’ve lived in the same neighbourhood for over three centuries (though never in the same...

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The Raven

Submitted to Contest #319

As I fly high above the earth I see so many different things. I am a Raven so that’s what I do to get from place to place. As I look down I can see that there are so very many humans roaming around below, especially this time of the year. There are so many that a bird really doesn’t need to do much hunting, we just need to know how to get our food from the humans. The best place to get tons of food is the Yellowstone National Park. Which is where I started my life and most likely will end it. The humans here are easily swayed to give a b...

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THE PROTECTOR

Submitted to Contest #319

THE PROTECTORby Diane L. Goodman I am small but powerful. I am just 5.8 inches long and 1 inch wide. I weigh just 17 ounces. But inserting a 10-round magazine boosts my weight to a hefty 24 ounces. I’m handsome, too. Sleek silver stainless steel slide. Shiny black barrel. Stippled grip. Day/night sights. I am a Sig Sauer P365 semi-automatic pistol. I lie on a glass shelf in a large glass case. I am the middle one in a row of seven, a Sig P226 on my left and a Browning 1911-22 A1 on my right. There is a card in front of each of us, stating o...

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Tito

Submitted to Contest #319

CW: Mild violence and gore TOTO “It’s been a helluva week, Doc, a helluva week.” Toto shook his head. “Do you want to tell me about it?” He shook his head again. “I dunno. You won’t believe me. I hardly believe it myself.” Dr. Baum smiled at Toto. “Why don't you try?” Toto looked skeptically at the doctor. She was a great therapist, but … “You’d be surprised at the stories my patients tell me,” she continued. “I’m sure it’s nothing I haven’t heard before.” Toto snorted. He wasn’t so sure. “Can you promise me you won’t, you know, have me comm...

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Princess of Blood

Submitted to Contest #319

I still remember the very moment my life changed, the scene was stuck in my mind, playing on repeat every night. It had been a snowy night, father was out in the battlefield fighting those ruthless creatures who wanted us as livestock. I was down there in the cold corridors as usual, humming and waiting for the maids to bring me dinner. It was a really cold day, especially cold in the dungeons and with the usual set of royal clothes it felt even colder. The fact that I was really hungry just added to it. I didn't mean to do it, I really didn...

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A Witch Hunter’s Guide: The Wraith of the Woods

Submitted to Contest #319

Let it be known, I write this story in defiance of the Norfolk council. For they would see the events of October 1659 hidden away, forgotten. But I cannot and will not live among the ignorance. Let this story serve to teach. Serve to teach all new settlers of America to be wary of witch folk.***My name is Abigail Thorne. At the time of the events in this story, I was 16 years old. You also must know, that roughly two months prior to the events of October 1659, an unknown force began threatening the townsfolk. People began finding strange run...

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Grotesque

Submitted to Contest #319

Chaka Kahn's "Tell Me Something Good," rang through the speakers of the orange Ford Pinto winding along the canyon road. Trish's open palm floated outside the rolled down window riding the air current like an ocean wave in beat to the music as she sang along. "You want me to tell you something good? My whole damn life is good!" she yelled. And her whole damn life was good! She moved to Salt Lake City a little over a month ago to start Law School at the University of Utah leaving behind her dull flat life in her hometown of Wichita, Kansas. A...

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The Prairie at High Noon

Submitted to Contest #319

A lone carriage moved swiftly, yet cautiously through the snow crusted forest. The driver observed his moonlit surroundings. The trees were giant and the road was bumpy, yet he pushed his horse to a gallop. Briefly checking behind him, he saw the pale woman inside the carriage body inspecting a box of rocks. He smiled at her and she smiled back. Returning his gaze forward, he suddenly stopped the horse at the sight of a mysterious man ahead.Lit up by the lantern he was carrying, the mysterious man wore a large brimmed hat and a long coat tou...

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Angel or Devil?

Submitted to Contest #319

“Would you like a cookie, love?” The lady in front of me has crinkling eyes and a gentle smile as she bends down and hands me a chocolate chip cookie, my very favorite. I am four years old, in the yard behind the old church on a Sunday morning. In her other hand, she has a plate full of cookies, which she presumably will hand out to the other kids scattered around the churchyard, patiently waiting for their parents to end their conversations and load them in their cars to go home for Sunday lunch. I stare at the plate of cookies, pinning my...

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Shaping Up

Submitted to Contest #319

Charlie bounded into the kitchen knotting his tie.“Hi, hon,” he said, swatting Miranda's shoulder so heartily that her coffee slopped onto the table. “What’ve you got lined up for today?”Miranda eyed him. He was never usually boisterous first thing in the morning and his jollity seemed forced. It was also unusual for him to show any interest in her activities.“I don’t know yet,” she said, mopping the table with her napkin. “I’ll go out somewhere for a while. Agneska is coming today.”Agneska, their Polish cleaning lady, was very set in her wa...

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"Lillies"

T C

Submitted to Contest #319

It is the last 2 days of my month-long stay in the Philippines. I decided to close out my trip in the City of IloIlo(e-lou-e-lou). The weather is warm and muggy but I have grown accustomed to it. I'm still comfortable. I see a woman running towards me. Her face is vaguely familiar. As she gets closer I realize I know her. I move quickly towards her. “Ve” I called out “what is wrong?” She collapses at my feet. I saw what appeared to be blood across her neck and shoulders. I know her but something is different, something I haven't seen be...

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Call of the Banshee

Submitted to Contest #319

They always hear me before they see me. It’s by design, the way I was created, if I was created. Not sure if I was born or just materialized from silt and forgotten wreckage at the bottom of the lake. No mother, father. My earliest memories are the knifelike scraping in my throat and the concurrent shriek that is my oldest performance and my most primal state of being. The icy water in and all around me. The dark. The sweet and pungent smell of dead things. The flat void of nothingness inside me. This time, I’m summoned quickly. It’s a man. ...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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