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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

2940+ Happy Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. A good story doesn’t need a devastating twist. Nor does it have to plumb the darkest depths of the human conditions. These happy short stories might be exactly what you’re looking for in these uncertain times.

Happy Short Stories – Page 150 of 196

Dark Brown Eyes

Submitted to Contest #79

The dark brown eyes in the mirror of my dresser stared back at me, searching for familiarity. There was a photograph stuck to the mirror. The same, younger set of eyes in that photograph ignored what I was going through, simply staring at my dad’s laughing face and his happy grey eyes as he held me in his arms when I was a five year old. I always wished I had dad’s eyes. Thinking of Dad hurt sometimes. I didn’t want to leave him. I wished, in that moment, that I could be his little baby forever. I was terrified to leave this place. Being old...

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supposed to be dead.

Submitted to Contest #79

   I am the only kid in my class who was in foster care, or with a limp. I was blessed with a birth defect and parents who didn’t love me, yay! #blessed. No matter how much my new parents love me, I can’t get over the grudge I have for my real ones. People ask me if I remember my mom at all, and I have to refrain from replying, “Hey moron, didn’t I tell you I was given up at birth? Do you remember first seeing your parents? No, I didn’t think so.” And other people say “How lucky you are to be adopted, some kids aren't that luc...

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A Rom-Com with Father

Submitted to Contest #79

Oh crap! As soon as I opened the door to my bedroom, the huge pile of mess on the bed stared right back at me. It was my turn to clean today and God knows why the room's always messy when it's my turn...or maybe not- maybe I realize it's in a jumble when I have to arrange it; otherwise even a tornado-struck room would seem easy to work on if it was Rachel's turn. I felt like rushing back to the restaurant- the same place I'd been trying to run away from since the past three years; but now even the job of getting scolded for being a minute la...

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RE-UNITED AGAIN

Submitted to Contest #79

I was 12 years of age and it was the year 1982. She was eight years of age. I grew up in Goodwood and she grew up in Lansdowne. I have a younger brother. Sally has an older sister and two older brothers. Cousins growing up in different suburbs in the Western Cape, South Africa. We used to get together at our grandparents’ house over the very special times of the year, particularly over Easter and Christmas.  We were a large family. My grandparents had a son and four daughters. The son had four children. The oldest ...

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NOVEMBER 22, 1963-A DAY OF TRAGEDY AND TRIUMPH

Submitted to Contest #80

1963-A DAY OF TRAGEDY AND TRIUMPH November 22, 1963--everyone who was alive, remembers that day with heartache. Everyone who wasn’t has read about it in history books as one of the darkest days our country has ever experienced. There have been movies made, books written and TV documentaries about this day. It will be etched in my memory as one of the worst days of my life and, ironically, one of the best. My twenty-three year old husband, Ron, and I, who had just turned twenty, were sitting at a table in a hospital cafeteria in the Nor...

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A Chariot for Champions

Submitted to Contest #79

Author’s notes: Story inspired by “The Rainbow Bridge Poem” and dedicated to the most amazing mother who taught us Guardian Angels are all around us in every shape and size. Thank you.  The pain stopped. Suddenly. Instantly, really. That’s all I can remember. Understandably so, it had been so long since I felt free. I’m not entirely sure I ever was free. But now I am.  I feel weightless--like I’m floating, numb and clean. I don’t want to open my eyes. What if it breaks the illusion and the heaviness returns? Bound again to th...

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HAPPY PLACE

Submitted to Contest #79

The ache that had clawed its way up from his legs to his waist started to reach for his shoulders as the ocean of repurposed cartons came into view. He tightened his grip on the nylon bag and picked up the pace as his final destination came into view, and so did the others in his group. He remembered it like it had happened the previous day. He remembered the long days they spent planning the trip. He remembered the skepticism he and the group shared about the prospects of the trip being successful. He remembered his worries about the effe...

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Oh, Brother!

Submitted to Contest #79

My phone buzzed. A text message from my brother. Hmm. That’s odd. We really don’t talk  much unless it’s something really REALLY important. I have some news. Call me when you can.  Blah. It’s really REALLY important.  I replied. K. I’m at work and I still have a few more clients to see. Then I’ll call you.   As if this year hasn’t been hard enough! I don’t know how much more I can possibly take.  I finished up with my last client and escorted her out the door, my stomach churning and my mind racing at the t...

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My palace

Submitted to Contest #79

Can I call you my dear child? Can you consider me as your mom? I'm really happy to get you in this stage of life. You're my dear family. I'm (Maya) shocked, hearing this awesome words from that site. Is it true? May I be able to live in a family, again ? I can't think. The lady hugs me and I also do the same thing. Thank you God!!! A story of melancholy song turns to a melodious one. Maya is such a lovely teenager around 18 yrs old. At this early stage, she lost her lovely abode. Her parents are died due to pandemic waver. She has no...

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Letters to Larry

Submitted to Contest #79

This wasn’t Adam’s first-time opening Mr. Groff’s letter. At first, it had felt funny to open someone else’s mail, but the old man had requested with such a puppy face that Adam couldn’t refuse. Old man Groff often forgot his reading glasses at unexpected places. He also, always wanted to know what was in the letters urgently. As soon as Adam climbed up the porch stairs to deliver the letters, Mr. Groff asked, “Whom is it from?”. He seemed a little disappointed when he heard, it was from someone called Ron. This was a usual question form the...

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The pain of choice

Submitted to Contest #79

                               Scarlet There are many hard things I have witnessed in my life. Watched my mother die before my eyes. Seen our field slaves beat to a pulp because of a simple accident. Had to nurse my father back to sobriety after his daily nights at the saloon. Now as I see it, all that was easy compared to what I had to do next.  Rain falls all around me, bringin...

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We have been looking everywhere for you

Submitted to Contest #79

There are some feelings, some deep personal feelings, that are unexplainable. The ones you can’t really share with anyone, even if you did want to; even if you did try to put them into words. The same ones that seem to always last longer than all the others. Alice was experiencing a fair dose of a mix of them at the same time. Sitting at the edge of the rooftop of a two story building, she felt anxious, sad, angry; but not quite. It was as if someone had had a recipe that required all of the above, but had somehow mixed up the doses. Not t...

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The Ultimate Betrayal

Submitted to Contest #79

The day is colder than usual. Is it the air or is it the grip that tightens around my heart whenever I think of you. The dripping of rain outside the window thumping on the stone path ripples through my mind. I am lost. Alone. I can hear your footsteps coming down the stairs, they seem slow and laboured as though you have had a heavy night, as usual. My hands twitch in anticipation as I consider and reconsider how I should approach the situation.  Your feet hit the tiled floor of the hallway and I hear you enter the kitchen and rummage ...

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A walk in the park.

Submitted to Contest #79

He raised his head to the infinite grey above him, as though trying to take in one last breath before he drowned in the well of emotions that was slowly consuming him. When did it go wrong? When did I become so broken?  Today felt weird. Feeling devastated from all of the fights and misunderstandings and hostility, Alan grabbed his jacket and left the house in the early morning. It was already clear that everything was falling apart. He felt desperate, and he hurt. Pushing life’s responsibilities aside, he just wanted to get away, eve...

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Going Home

Submitted to Contest #79

There it was. That voice, that sweet, blissful song in her head, calling her too the ocean where all her happiness, calmness seemed to live. The air was fresh there. The sand was soft. It was untouched by the worries and pressures of society, free as anything, especially when the tide rolled out. The ocean; the only place on earth which she felt at home. It had been a little over three months since everything had happened. On top of her boyfriend breaking her heart, her dog, the only one in her life who seemed to understand and protect he...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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