Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Featured stories
Activity feed

Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

3300+ 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 201 of 221

The Sledgehammers

Submitted to Contest #56

(In 1946 nearly half of the world was either a colony or occupied territory of another country. The Soviet Union actively participated in most of the world’s liberation movements. By 1975 few colonies remained.) Moscow, Oct. 1945 Alexi Dzerzhinsky fidgeted in his padded chair. He couldn’t decide if he was nervous or if his back just hurt again. He wondered if his old bones might just collapse into his desk chair. When he felt this way, he tended to throw the seat cushion against the farthest wall of his office until his back pain demande...

6 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

She sucked on my lips

Submitted to Contest #56

The evenings were usually yellowish-gold or a shade of yellow-like hue. The sun would seem to be sinking behind some palm trees. Bathing the palm trees in shinning lights, which of course would dim as the sun sank somewhere in the palm trees.  ‘Mama, good evening o!’ the village news carrier- so it seemed, was greeting my mama. She was actually living besides our house, she was my neighbour. And she was my friend’s mama too. She was called mama Kayode, but behind her, she was nicknamed “busybody”.  Mama exchanged pleasantries with ...

8 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

Caught by Wireless

Submitted to Contest #56

Inspired by Real EventsJuly 1910            Edwin Fitzpatrick anticipated a typical journey across the Atlantic. The Laurentic was the tenth ship aboard which he served as a steward, and he had made trans-Atlantic crossings almost as many times. The excitement had worn off, numbed long ago, along with the effects of nervousness and seasickness. He went through the motions, a subservient smile plastered to his face as he “yes, sir” and “yes, ma’am”ed his way through another day, waiting f...

8 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

The Change of Rivalry

Submitted to Contest #56

Elric waited anxiously for a soldier to shoot him from behind. His legs were wearing out from running, and now, stealing the bow seemed a bad idea.‘Why did I steal it?’ he pondered, panting, ‘Well, it’s better than mine at least’ responded his mischievous mind. The bow was gorgeous – the best he had ever seen. The maple frame and linen string were the best combinations he knew. But now, he couldn’t let his consciousness go, for even a single sound he made could alert the soldiers.After stealing the bow, he wanted to put it to test, and anima...

7 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Disaster Buddies

Submitted to Contest #56

REEDSY.COM  28AUG2020 Writing prompt #56 Write a story about two people meeting during unusual circumstances and becoming fast friends. Disaster Buddies   by clcronan 2020 The entire morning had been monstrously difficult. She felt as though nothing in the world was safe or normal. But finally, Angel boarded the inbound bus, and took a seat next to a woman just slightly older than herself. Angel blurted, “Wow, she has such beautiful eyes!” “Yes, they are one of her many attributes.” “How old is she?” Angel continu...

8 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Above The Riot, In Flat 403

Submitted to Contest #56

Raindrops slice through swollen eyelids as I prop myself against a printing shop’s gritty wall opposite to the, now completely alight, police station. Each thud of my sunken heart remains the only reminder of reality while I patrol every ripple of smoke greeting the failed summer’s air. A delusional part of me believed the downpour of rain could be enough to erase the fire altogether. I stand corrected. Hues of vicious red, whispered yellow and manipulating peach peel back wallpaper to bite at the hidden corners of interrogation rooms. ...

11 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

More Than Soldiers

Submitted to Contest #56

January 27, 1918357 Kilometers east of Paris, France.The night was cold and wet, rain had fallen for 3 straight days and showed no signs of letting up now. Pockets of gunfire echoed through the woods, punctuated by seemingly random artillery shells.Corporal Georges McKay moved from tree to tree, careful to watch his footing as well as his surroundings. He pulled the Remington shotgun he carried tighter into his shoulder and took a moment to catch his breath.Georges had gotten separated from his platoon during the battle and lost his way in t...

7 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

The avant-garde book club

Submitted to Contest #56

The dim room possessed an old book smell, which was to be expected, considering that it was a library. To be sure, it was the largest house library that that Miss Lily had ever seen, not that she had ever been in a regular one before. There must have been about a dozen bookcases that were ceiling high, all full of extraordinary volumes. There were quite a few candles that were lit, as well as a blazing fire. Laughter could be heard as it bounced off the marble floors. Lily, in her worn-out dress and half decent hair, felt misplaced. In her w...

7 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

DAY IN THE LIFE STORY ABOUT A FIRST TIME PARENT AND THEIR NEW BORN CHILD

Submitted to Contest #56

For the first time parent’s life begins in strange ways. For immediate recollection I have three first time parents with very different stories, to relate their dilemma, determination, decisions, pain, paradoxes, irony, involvement and so on and so forth.Of the three cases, I shall take or relate the stories of two males and a female. So let us first start with the female, in line with the letter and spirit of the saying, “Ladies first”.I vividly remember my uncle uttering the phrase “Loves Labour Lost” euphemistically for the couple who had...

11 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Thorns of the Rose

Submitted to Contest #56

“You must learn to be assertive, I refuse to have a Niminy-Piminy lead forward the family business.”“Yes, Father,” Charlie muttered. He tried his best to keep his voice steady as the seamstress poked needles into the thick of his legs. He wished to say something but kept his mouth shut in fear of his Father striking the young girl, for he already hated her for the colour of her skin.“Your studies are miraculous, but your voice is far from a match.” He raised his voice once again, Charlie could see the seamstress cringe out of the corner of h...

107 likes 37 comments 37
Read story

Steps

Submitted to Contest #56

She ran to her house, skirts in her fists, hoping she wouldn't trip over them. She was late. Alice had promised her mother she would be on time but learning how to mend a broken leg was more interesting and useful than learning how to fold napkins. Time flew by faster when one did something they enjoyed. Alice finally got to the door of their house in Kensington. She tried to calm her labored breaths, ran her hand over her tied hair to flatten the unruly strands. Wiping the sweat off her forehead she reached for the doorknob, but the door o...

10 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The Elevator Guy

Submitted to Contest #56

The Elevator Guy  1925  "This way, Madam," the hotel porter told Lucy as he collected her luggage from the lobby.  Lucy took one last glance around the snazzy hotel reception area and followed him towards the elevator.  The elevator operator stood to one side and flashed her a warm smile, showing pearly white teeth. He looked handsome in his red uniform, complete with flat cap settled upon his fair hair.  "Second floor, please," the porter said and the elevator guy silently complied. ...

15 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

Death Doesn't Discriminate

Submitted to Contest #55

“How much longer?” Kaylie groans, her finger absentmindedly swiping up on her phone, nothing loading despite the little icon at the top of the phone swearing it’s connected to the wifi. She tosses her phone aside, tired of watching the little circle spin around itself over and over again.  Bennett moves a box from the far corner of the room to the landing just above the stairs. Kaylie huffs, no one paying her any attention. She hadn’t wanted to come in the first place, she was supposed to be at the pool with the girls, putting the finis...

7 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

A Spectre in the Sun

Submitted to Contest #55

Spring, 1920 Jane had always thought that strange things were supposed to happen at midnight. Midnight was a time for fairy tales and ghost stories, when phantoms groaned and darkness cloaked the prairies with a tapestry of winking stars. Then again, Jane’s mother was always scolding her for indulging in idle fantasies. They lived in Wellmere, a tiny farming town where the people were bitter to the bones and, apparently, imagination was considered largely impractical. Not even Jane could have imagined what would come, though. In defianc...

20 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

The Bridge, the Sky, and the Sea

Submitted to Contest #56

The Moon was gleaming seamlessly as Aiko made her way to the center of the Brooklyn Bridge. The sky was wide and awake, but Aiko found herself staring at the water below her. Her dark brown hair flowed with the wind as she leaned against the chestnut banister. Somehow, Aiko was always drawn to the same spot whenever she was in New York. She always found herself leaning against the same banister of the same bridge.  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” a soft voice said. Aiko turned her head upward to see a figure of mist emerging from the Moon...

46 likes 23 comments 23
Read story
RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

Bring your short stories to life

Fuse character, story, and conflict with tools in Reedsy Studio. All for free.