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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.

2900+ 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 193 of 194

Golden

Submitted to Contest #50

  Grey eyes looked longingly through the large stained glass. There stood a hand mannequin, elegantly posing and advertising a golden glittering ring.   It was the late evening in December nineteen, Della stood in front of the jewelry store with freezing hands cupped to her face. Her tattered brown trench coat billowed as the cold breeze blew. Inside, she wore a simple green button-up shirt and blue jeans. Her brown boots dug into the snow piling up on the sidewalk.   Della rubbed her bare hands as she continued to stare. Peop...

18 likes 8 comments 8
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Differing Dreams

Submitted to Contest #50

“Have you ever wondered why… why we live like this? Not just us, but everyone. It’s weird.” The heat outside was unbearable that day. Colorado winters can drop down to temps that would scare away a bear, and now that I think about it, it does. But people forget that summers in some Colorado counties can be just as hot as Arizona. All the birds and clouds must have been blown away by the hot wind, allowing the sun to glide freely onto every building, tree, or exposed scalp of unfortunate pedestrians. I turned to look at Skylar, contemplating ...

19 likes 3 comments 3
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JESSICA

Submitted to Contest #49

RICKToday is the day I talk to her. Today I won’t chicken out. I will walk up to her and say hello and she will say hello back. Then I will introduce myself and have a nice little conversation with her. It would be perfect.I am still in bed. There’s water dripping from the ceiling again. It must have rained during the night. I’ve complained about the leak quite a few times but no one seems to bother. I’ll have to fix it myself.I get up from bed and walk over to the window. It’s foggy outside, but not as much as yesterday. I push open the win...

7 likes 0 comments 0
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Snow

Submitted to Contest #49

A silver needle went through a white fabric, dragging a yellow thread, continuing the flower-like pattern. Then the needle pricked a finger and blood stained the white cloth. Payton just sighed and placed her unfinished work aside. Taking a spare cloth from another basket beside her wooden rocking chair painted with white paint and pink flowers. As she rubbed her finger, her azure eyes stared out at the snow tinted window. A snowstorm blocking her vision to the outside world. She set the miscellaneous objects such as needles and fabric...

6 likes 0 comments 0
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Positive

Submitted to Contest #49

 From anticipation, pure excitement, to deep-seeded depression. These past five years had been a roller coaster of emotions. Would this be yet another heartbreak? Would it fill us with anguish? Could this break us up? I sat with my head in my hands, hair falling around my face, a stray tear landing on my lap. "Honey, is everything okay in there? You have been in there for quite some time," My husband's soft words set me free of my constricting thoughts. "Just a few more minutes," I managed. My ears were met with only the sound of his re...

6 likes 0 comments 0
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Another Chance

Submitted to Contest #49

"I promise you, hell will resurrect the dead if I don’t get this job today". The interview was scheduled for 11 am on 5th August 2019. Few minutes to time, someone came out of the room and said, "I suppose you are waiting for the interview?" Yes sir. "I am sorry; we have closed for today". What? Please, "do not test the devil in me because it will be disastrous. I have been in the waiting room for about 50 minutes before now. Why are you doing this to me? What is my offence? Why not give me a chance before you could decide my fate?" Mr...

28 likes 6 comments 6
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Gifting the Giver

Submitted to Contest #48

Kentucky, Tuck to his friends, sat back on his haunches, admiring the freshly painted handrail running the length of Mrs. Robin’s front steps. Lovingly carved from an oak tree Tuck’s parents had planted 50 years ago, the handrail would allow Mrs. Robins to manage the 4-step elevation without risk of falling again. The feeling of exhilaration at having solved someone else’s problem never faded away. It stoked a fire deep inside Tuck’s chest where he had thought only embers lay. Tuck gathered up the last of his tools and stowed them ...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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For You

Submitted to Contest #47

And there it was. Unprompted, unannounced, maybe unwelcome, but not unexpected. You heard the words, you can actually see them in the air. But you... you’re afraid. You know what has to come next. “Just say it”, you tell yourself. “Just say it. You have to say it”. “Well, if no one objects to this course of action...”, the Counselor said. His words drift off, as if it is obvious this course of action is both needed and, well, obvious. But it’s not. And you know it. The Counselor should know it. But you... you’re just a sentry. A first-ye...

8 likes 2 comments 2
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A Cab Ride

Submitted to Contest #45

  I was online talking to friend jack instant messaging , and we started talking about a strange rumor about a story online circulating about a magical cab ride where it takes you where you have to go not where you want to go. I said “ jack your spending too much time reading to many crazy stories remember we can’t believe everything you see on the internet“ steven I’m telling you its real !“dude I’m going to bed talk to yo...

6 likes 2 comments 2
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Millie's First Walk

Submitted to Contest #41

Her feet slammed into the pavement as she ran down the hill from her house. Her head bobbed from side to side, desperately searching for a glimpse of brown fur as she called the same name, over and over.Evelyn hated running. Despised it. Whenever she had to run a mile in gym class, she faked cramps. The irony was not lost on her now as her side cramped painfully.Her father was the runner in the family. Every day that she could remember, he was up at dawn to run, and sometimes ran 10 miles before Evelyn even got out of bed. Once, when Evelyn ...

20 likes 2 comments 2
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A Little Tinder and Kindling

Submitted to Contest #40

I met my best friend, Sophie, in pre-k.Back then, she wore her hair in a thick, dark bob with straight bangs. Every single day, she would come to school wearing an atrociously patterned skirt with matching leggings. My fashion sense wasn’t much better. I think my whole wardrobe consisted of a single cherry-patterned dress and a baby blue fuzzy sweater.I was rather outgoing when I was younger and was generally at least acquaintances with all the girls in the class. (Boys had cooties.) So, I knew of Sophie in a we’re-in-the-same-girl-gang kind...

11 likes 4 comments 4
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As a Compliment

Submitted to Contest #38

“Hey!” A clink at my window. I looked up from my book. I was sprawled across my bed, red hair strewn across the pillow. I should’ve been getting ready for bed, but I was way too comfortable to get up now, and besides, I was at a good part in The Princess Bride. It’s one of my favorite books in the universe. The whole thing’s incredible. I could read it over and over again. I find something new to love about it every single time I open it. I think that’s what makes it a truly great book. More sounds from the window. I dragged myself away from...

29 likes 9 comments 9
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Cammie and the Coronavirus

Submitted to Contest #34

Jay came home early today! I wonder why though maybe the other humans aren’t letting Jay work today or something like that… But that means I’ll be able to play with him more yay yay yay! We could go to the park, go swimming in the lake, visit Jay’s Momma and-and even go treat shopping like on my birthday every year. Oh what fun this’ll be for me and Jay! But he might have to go to work tomorrow though then I’ll be stuck at home all alone and-and I’ll have to try and play with the cat and Patches is no fun at all.Jay stayed home today and was...

4 likes 3 comments 3
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Dinner à la Storm-tossed

Submitted to Contest #31

I had been told to stand down, so I picked up the newspaper and retired to the dining table with a cup of steaming tea.“Would you look at that, today’s weather was predicted to be stormy,” I called out, not bothering to raise my voice above the din emanating from the kitchen. I had been banished from that room by the Chef for the Day.I did not understand for what reason he wished to cook all of a sudden. But with the way he was cooking, I was pretty sure the storm predicted was currently brewing inside that very room. “Deaths, deaths, a...

5 likes 0 comments 0
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A PARTNERSHIP WITHIN THE GARDEN

Shortlisted for Contest #31 ⭐️

A modest little house stands alone, surrounded by a disorderly sea of green. Not that its garden is completely unkempt, but it is hardly a neatly regimented English garden, nor is it a beautifully manicured Mediterranean oasis. It is chaotic, colourful and cheerful.   Behind the house, small square paving stones lead upwards past a pergola which leans over to one side under the weight of a well-established wisteria and is framed by clusters of tall papyrus stems. Beyond, there are smaller randomly-placed bushes and plants. Frankly,...

25 likes 20 comments 20
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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