6970+ Friendship Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Some would say that tales of friendship are some of the most moving of all. From childhood friends to brand new buds, you'll find a story to warm your heart here.

🏆 Winning stories

“The Walk” by Lindsay Flo

🏆 Winner of Contest #205

Alice was everywhere, until she wasn’t. Just like at first, she was nowhere until she was. The absence of her before I knew she existed, was nothing. Now, the absence of her shrouds everything. Like a guest who never came to dinner; a stormy sky that didn’t deliver. Nothing can wash away the void where she used to be. This is what I’m thinking about the first time I take The Walk without her. I met Alice ...

175 likes 110 comments 110

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“Emma ” by Victoria Macleod

🏆 Winner of Contest #202

I did it because I liked the way it made me feel.  The transaction pleased me even before the idea became a reality.  The see-saw of our friendship now tipped in my favour- I the one swinging her legs loftily, gripping the handles with sweaty palms. Looking down on her smiling face as she crouched uncomfortably, waiting for her turn to rise.   I did it because 23 years of knowing and loving Emma had ...

143 likes 83 comments 83

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“Lilies” by Pari Ghodsi

🏆 Winner of Contest #191

*Trigger Warning: Pregnancy Loss “Do they come with a card?” I solemnly asked the florist, a petite, tan woman with thick blonde hair cascading down her back. The kind of hair that has become popular for women half her age to have threaded and sewn onto the base of their skull. Even though we were in West Hollywood, the pulse of trend and glamour, the three untouched horizontal lines etched onto her foreh...

137 likes 93 comments 93

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⭐️ Recommended stories

“Don't Know” by George Mexas

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #240

 Don’t Know. The wind, indecisive in its direction, takes the umbrella away from me. “Come on!” I shout. I hear the metallic clicks and snaps of the cheap fabric and reused metal that constitutes an umbrella, as it flies away. It ends up landing on a nearby pothole filled with water and I give up on retrieving it. Too bored or frustrated. Maybe I should spend more money for better qua...

22 likes 10 comments 10

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“With a Heavy Heart the World Turns” by Jesse Smith

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #237

The king’s carriage slowly rumbled along the cobbled stones, its heavy frame creaking and groaning each time a wheel found an unevenly set stone. All around, hooves clattered along in a deluge of clonks and thumps as the mounted king’s guard shouted orders at the crowd that had formed before the execution stage. Their words were muffled by the heavy windows and thick walls of the carriage’s velvet-adorned closed cabin.           “I do not want to watch,” Aven whined and crossed his arms....

36 likes 18 comments 18

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“In Memoriam Flight ” by AR R

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #235

In Memoriam Flight by Adam Ryan (Note: This story deals with survivor's guilt from the death of young man, suicidal thoughts, and alcohol/recreational drug abuse) On the way to Will’s house, you and Danny smoke a thousand cigarettes, but don’t talk much. It’s tense. A couple in a fight with kids sitting bug-eyed in the back. But that’s not it. You’re not a couple an...

16 likes 13 comments 13

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✍️ All stories

“The Stickler” by Howard Halsall

Submitted to Contest #246

“Damn it! That’s all we need.” I braced my arms and swerved over to the side of the road, pulling up with a sharp tyre squeal.   “Ooh, oooh.” Sam groaned, cradling her distended belly. “Jesus! Roddy.”   “Sorry, love.” I said, turning to face her. “Are you all right?”   “Uh huh,” Sam said, closing her eyelids.Sam’s face was clammy with perspiration as she clenched her jaw and inhaled through gritted teeth. I reached out to stroke her pale cheek, steadying my trembling hand as I did so. She winced i...

36 likes 46 comments 46

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“Runaways” by Jazmin Quito

Submitted to Contest #246

Trigger Warning: Car Crash For years it was all just a joke, something stupid we said to pass the time. Daydreaming of a life that was yet to come.  “It’s all fun and games” We said deep down we knew it was something more. Something pulling us in. We convinced ourselves that it was a joke until that night. Something clicked in our minds and the pieces of what felt like a lifelong puzzle were put together. We sat on the swings outside of my old elementary school. The summer breeze sailed by as the sun set and the street lamps turned on....

2 likes 0 comments 0

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“One Night on the Jungle Gym” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #246

CW: This piece contains themes of mental health and some profanity. Viewer discretion is advised. “How’d you get to the top?”  “Climbed.” A boy about my age dangles his legs through one of the holes at the top of the old jungle gym. It’s thrice as high as the ones in the little kids’ playground, so much so that the leaves of the trees just about kiss it. Its shiny steel bars are blanketed in a thick layer of rust and grime that flakes when you touch it. Nevertheless, this boy sits at the top without a care in the world, seemingly obliv...

6 likes 4 comments 4

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“Chicken Legs, Love and Ninjas” by Alexis Gold

Submitted to Contest #246

I didn’t want to go. June was long and busy and tiring with lots of lacrosse and school and other things I don’t enjoy.  I didn’t want to add another activity to the ever-growing roster of things required to be a better parent that I am. I wanted the beach, books and a bar cart. So, I pawned it off on my mensch husband, who agreed to take our three monsters and my nephews. I think we threw the last two boys in for sport – the event being “how much could I pile on before my husband had a second heart attack?” I flee to a rainbow-col...

17 likes 10 comments 10

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“Coco and Larson ” by Chelsey B

Submitted to Contest #246

The playground was nearly empty, and that was just the way Coco liked it. When there weren’t many other kids around, her mom let her climb on top of the monkey bars, but she wasn’t allowed to do that if it was busy.  Coco kicked off her sandals and clambered up onto the jungle gym. She hoisted herself up above the monkey bars. Her friend, Larson, slipped off his socks and shoes before following behind her. Coco scooted backwards, making room for Larson to get through. Larson pulled himself up and crawled onto the bars. From this high pe...

14 likes 5 comments 5

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“On the Trail” by M B

Submitted to Contest #246

Normalton Middle School’s playground sat silent save for the slight metallic creak of the playground equipment as the breeze blew through. A far cry from the usual cacophony of children screaming and laughing in play. The sun had long set, and the moon now kept watch in the sky. The entire playground was a picture of serenity as it waited for the light of day and the return of the many children who would fill the yard with their voices and imaginations. But for now, only two teenage girls stood upon the grounds of the playground as they caug...

6 likes 2 comments 2

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“what the seesaw saw” by Lilli Knight

Submitted to Contest #246

Content Warning: allusions to child abuse, and mental health themes (trauma and PTSD) "It was a game," I say in a quiet voice. It makes me feel small to talk about it, vulnerable. Jasper perches on the edge of the playset above me. It's old and weathered, creaking under his palms when he shifts his weight. I lean my back against its worn wooden posts, tipping my chin up to the breeze. It smells like summer at eight years old in Florida heat with a playset just like this one, old and worn and weathered. There's a weight about it that seems a...

2 likes 0 comments 0

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“Louis For The Weekend” by Jay Simmons

Submitted to Contest #246

The afternoon was dragging. Louis and I looked at the clock above the whiteboard, and the clock looked back. Everyone was watching us. Somehow the whole class knew about Louis coming to my house. Like it was news.When the hands of the clock finally formed a right angle, Louis and I were first out of the classroom and onto the sunny playground. We followed Mum to the car and sat together in the back. The travel screens were still buckled to the front headrests from our family holiday to Cornwall a month ago. ‘Don’t you have these?’Louis ...

2 likes 0 comments 0

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“Lost and Found” by Fiona Stoffer

Submitted to Contest #246

“He’s in the canal.” Simon cocked his head to the door. “Could be the one outside this pub, for all I know. Probably stuck to one of the bicycles at the bottom.” Martin raised an eyebrow. “You know, his shirt wrapped around a handlebar or something,” Simon said, as if it was obvious. “That’s why his body hasn’t floated up to the surface.” “What makes you think he drowned? A missing teenager could turn up anywhere.” Simon shook his head and took a gulp from his pint. “In the canal, I’m telling you. Just a drunk boy who lost his balance when h...

2 likes 0 comments 0

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“Marie's Tomb” by Arthur An

Submitted to Contest #246

The Kia Forte rolled to a stop on the unlit Basin Street, just south of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. Four figures emerged from the vehicle beside the graveyard's whitewashed brick wall, its surface reflecting the eerie glow of the waning moon.Dominique Tran's sister Lela, an enthusiastic first time visitor to New Orleans, had concocted the idea. They were to infiltrate the cemetery under the cover of darkness, each entering from a different side, in a race to locate the tomb of Marie Laveau, the 19th-century voodoo queen of New Orleans. The win...

3 likes 0 comments 0

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“Something will happen up” by Zainab Ali

Submitted to Contest #246

It was the trip of a lifetime to the biggest amusement park in the world, something we’ve all been planning and dreaming of doing. We planned to go to Red Sea Pearl Island near Jeddah and spend four nights there. The plan was to meet in the airport three hours before the plane departed, We all arrived at the airport one by one. We got excited as we talked about the myths behind the amusement park, we enjoyed sharing the stories among ourselves to kill time in the airport.  We arrived safely and there was already someone waiting for us n...

2 likes 0 comments 0

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“Swing” by A.B. Boatman

Submitted to Contest #246

She had held a visceral memory of the thrill of a smooth, sleek slide; the rush of air, the slight drop in her stomach, gliding swiftly towards the ground. It was nothing like the experience she was currently having. Gravity could no longer overcome the resistance her weight created; not as easily as it could when she was eight years old and sixty pounds. She was straining, using the squeaking heels of her shoes to pull her body forward. It felt challenging just to reach the steepest part of the decline in the yellow plastic tube.  She ...

2 likes 0 comments 0

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“This Moment” by Samantha Vanpelt

Submitted to Contest #246

 Nola doesn’t meet Venice until midnight. These days people don’t start moving around until six or seven in the evening. Sometimes it’s later, depending on how high the temperature soars in the early part of the day and how slow the mercury creeps down in the back half. Today is a bad day, in the sense that the temp hits well over one hundred and takes until ten to come down to eighty-seven. By the time Nola starts out, it’s a balmy eighty-four degrees, and she’s sweating when she reaches the old park. She heaves a sigh of relief at the...

2 likes 0 comments 0

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“Champagne makes everything a party” by Laura Ethington

Submitted to Contest #246

Sarah yelped as lightning cut across the sky. A loud boom followed, breaking the silence on the playground. Rain was pouring down on her as she slowly rocked back and forth on the swing she had been perched on for the last 30 minutes. She barely noticed she was drenched. She felt numb; she didn't even have the energy to go over everything from that evening. "What time is it?" Emily asked, swaying on the swing next to her.Reality slowly returned to her. Sarah looked down at her watch. "It's almost 2 a.m.," Sarah said. Unsure what they were wa...

2 likes 0 comments 0

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“Graduate” by Grayson Chilcote

Submitted to Contest #246

Mikey sat on a swing set in his cap and gown, letting the light of an ending day envelop him as he slowly rocked back and forth. The swingset was located in the park that he grew up around. Placed at the center of his neighborhood, it had always served as a gathering place for the kids in the neighborhood. A playground and jungle gym with three swing sets all set upon a raised patch of mulch, it was the ideal place for any bright eyed kid, a perfect place to make memories. But now it was nothing but a memory itself.  Mikey stopped rocki...

2 likes 0 comments 0

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