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

3320+ Historical fiction Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Whether you’re looking to step back into ancient civilizations, the 19th-century, or anywhere in between, our collection of historical fiction stories is here to keep you riveted.

Historical fiction Short Stories – Page 2 of 222

The Exit Strategy

Submitted to Contest #302

Note: This story contains references to Holocaust-era persecution, antisemitism, war-related trauma, and brief depictions of emotional distress and dehumanizing language used by Nazi officers. Reader discretion is advised. *** The little boy indicated to me that he was thirsty and pointed to the bottle that popped out of the zipper of my backpack. I handed the bottle to him and got a soft and tired ‘Danke’ in return. I smiled and watched him gulp down whatever water remained. It was a sad sight, but things were going to get better for him a...

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Linguistics of Love

Submitted to Contest #302

My office is on the top floor of a brick building which used to house the staff who lived on campus in the early days of the university, but has now been converted into the offices of the Anthropology and History departments. It still has the charm of the original architecture on the outside, with a wrought iron railing along the front stairs and painted shutters encapsulating the windows.I make my way inside, preparing to get back to work as soon as I sit behind my desk. Whenever a puzzle is laid out before me it takes over. I think that’s ...

10 likes 0 comments 0
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Adventures in unhealthy Scepticism

Submitted to Contest #301

I stared around the small box of a cell from a lumpy mattress, which, despite the lack of evidence, my crawling skin refused to believe was not full of bed bugs. My friend Frank’s gift of the understatement had obviously rubbed off on me because I wryly quipped to my new crustacean bed mates – “this was not part of the plan.”To be perfectly honest, the entire trip had been rife with twists, culminating rather spectacularly I thought in the first arrest of my life landing in a foreign jail at that. My first portent of doom, that should have b...

5 likes 1 comment 1
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Ocean Tsunami Surge Carries Away the Ship Destiny's Dreams

Submitted to Contest #301

White sails glided through the marine layer and into the bay.The promise of a peaceful anchorage beckoned. The 1800s wooden ship under square canvas sails waltzed over the waves like a sleek, beautiful woman.She was the mythical vessel known as the Destiny's Dreams on her world voyages.The sea reflected the sun's sparkle. The air caressed the skin with a light, warm touch. The ship settled at anchor with sounds of happy ripples on the water.But unseen rhythms of the sea were bringing changes.Soon the day turned into chaos.Earlier that mornin...

39 likes 20 comments 20
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Dear Yuri

Submitted to Contest #302

TW: references to violence and alcohol ────୨ৎ──── Dear Yuri, This isn’t my first draft of this letter. Or the second. Or the third. But eventually, I found a way to convey the deep pool of my feelings, even if it’s only a dip in shallow waters. To be honest, I don’t know why I’m writing this. I don’t know where I would mail it to, or if you would be able to read it, or even where you are right now. In the end, I think I’m writing this letter more for myself. It’s healthy to get all your feelings out on paper, I’ve heard. I vividly remember o...

11 likes 2 comments 2
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Midsummer Rain

Submitted to Contest #301

Jin- seon inhaled sharply, groped weakly at the long spear pinning her to the ground, blood spilling from underneath her iron chestplate, shirt already soaked with blood. The demon stood over her, face blurred and just out of range of her jikdo, not that she was strong enough to hold up the four-feet length of sharp metal in this state anyway. With a leering grin, the rakshasa stomped on her chest, making her gasp painfully. Slowly, torturously, the demon began to pull the spear from her stomach painfully, having the audacity to laugh as it ...

4 likes 2 comments 2
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Agis vs the Modern Toaster

Submitted to Contest #301

Agis had been trained since childhood for battle. Back in the days when the agoge meant wrestling bears and dodging spears instead of spam emails, he earned his stripes through brutal fights, harsh winters, and a regimen that made your gym membership look like a meditation retreat. He'd fought foes across distant lands and even attempted to wrestle a bear once—not successfully, but the story killed at dinner parties in Sparta.None of that prepared him for his most fearsome foe: the modern toaster.Yes, a toaster. A sidekick to breakfast, an a...

9 likes 4 comments 4
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Capital Gains

Submitted to Contest #301

Thursday, August 9, 1984I made an honest mistake. I was going to Boston for a deposition of a key witness in an upcoming trial. After forgetting to wind my fickle alarm clock, waiting for traffic and a long search for parking, I was late, running through the terminal with a briefcase in one hand and a gym bag stuffed with a change of clothes in the other. The doors to gates E and F were a few feet apart, and I saw the last of a line of people going into the door on the right. I joined the line. If I tried this today, a hundred safeguards wou...

2 likes 3 comments 3
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A Fate Worse Than Death

Submitted to Contest #301

(This story contains mild Language, Physical Gore and Violence, and uses Terms used from World War 2)Lieutenant Lyle J Bouck jr is a real Lieutenant that served in World War 2, and this story takes place before and after the Battle of the Bugle (December 16th, 1944 - January 11th, 1945) the true story has been modified & Fictionalized to tell a compelling storyTerms used from World War 2“See the Chaplin” = Shut Up & stop complaining“BTO” = Big Time officer, someone who thinks they’re important“T.S” = Tough Situation“Grousing” = Compl...

5 likes 1 comment 1
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THESTER//TROKE

Submitted to Contest #301

There came a day when the lights went out.When the new companies from Nemchija and Poljska swooped in and replaced the nationalized utilities, promising cheaper and more efficient power to all of Slovenia, before- once they’d inrooted themselves like jubilant, bloodhungry ticks upon the flesh of the already-bruised socius- promptly jacking up prices to obscenities that’d make even the saltiest old ribitsa blush, or weep, and just shutting off the power where- and whenever they liked, alongside far more unintentional widespread power-outages ...

4 likes 3 comments 3
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Burnt in The Memory of The Rain

Submitted to Contest #301

Sensitive Themes - Slight Abuse, Discrimination, Religion I used to love being out in the rain. The rhythmic sounds carried by nature, the world settling into peace, and the feeling as if nothing else mattered. Every night, when the world fell into this spell, I would go into the forests. The darkness, combined with the rain, made it so no one would follow me, which was exactly our plan. Adelia was special to me. She put color into my dull days. Even when we had to be a secret to our husbands, I always waited for her in the familiar bend o...

4 likes 0 comments 0
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1865

Submitted to Contest #301

Gunshots ring in the air. The ground groans beneath me.This isn’t anything new.This ash gray sky, these bodies, their pasty fingers grabbing my uniform as I step on them in return. This is an old sight, one my mind will never be rid of.“Water… water…please.” A confederate soldier lays on the ground, a gaping hole for his stomach. He couldn’t be more than fifteen. A boy. A boy like me, dragged into this war, believing he could somehow make a difference.“Water…” He repeats.I aim my musket and fire.Die.The sound echoes numbly through my body li...

3 likes 2 comments 2
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The Patience of Trees

Submitted to Contest #301

Gwen had steady hands. People admired that most about her. At the museum, when someone spilled a coffee too close to an archival box or flipped a parchment too quickly, Gwen's fingers were already there, lifting, blotting, reordering. She had the touch of someone who never panicked.No one would ever believe what she had done, that was why.The letter had arrived in a sealed tube from a private donor, thin, yellowed paper with delicate creases, ink faded to the color of dry violets. It was a love letter, dated July 12, 1863. The author was Pri...

9 likes 1 comment 1
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A Spartan's Heart

Submitted to Contest #301

A Spartan’s HeartAct IThe scene enters a crowded marble hall. Thirty-two men stay seated at a long spruce table encrusted with jewels. Mountains of lavish food pile up on golden plates. Brazed Ox, Roasted Duck, Seared Rabbit, and Fried Hog steam with heat. Wine flows through silver goblets: each held by the powerful elites of Sparta. At the end of the table sits the king, Leonidas, alongside his brother, Heracles, the major general of the Spartan Army. Leonidas, the most powerful king in Spartan history, drunkenly slouches over his thrown.Se...

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Ancient Creatures of the Black Ponds on the World Voyages of the Destiny's Dreams

Submitted to Contest #300

A gigantic bone stuck up from the black goo like something beckoning from beneath the surface.It was the 1800s. Anya, the Storyteller of the Blue Lantern, stopped breathing and her heart pounded.Her thoughts raced. “The legends are true. It is them. Underneath. How many are there? What are they like?”The stories carrying ancient wisdom awakened deep inside of Anya. They bubbled up from somewhere beyond time.She could almost hear sounds coming from beneath the shiny dark surface of the seepage. It was neither liquid nor solid. The dark slime ...

36 likes 35 comments 35
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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