Menu

Prompts

DirectoryContestsMagazineFAQ
Stories
Studio

Apps

Hire professionals for your project

Advice, insights and news

Online publishing courses

Free publishing webinars

Launch your book in style

Bestseller PodcastBook Cover ArtSuccess Stories

Tools

Book Promotion SitesBook Review BlogsBooktube Channel GuideBook Title GeneratorCharacter Name GeneratorIndependent PublishersLiterary AgentsLiterary MagazinesPen Name GeneratorPlot GeneratorPublishers DirectoryShort Story IdeasWriting ContestsWriting ExercisesWriting Scholarships
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.

3290+ 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 207 of 220

War

Submitted to Contest #44

“Hole sweet hole,” shouted Danny, grinning through the mud and muck, an eternal optimist. I wanted to shoot him. It was one of those cold, rainy days that haunted us. The rain would pour down intermittently, just enough to catch us off guard. One good thing about the trenches was that it kept the worst of the wind off us, but it still drove the rain across. It was days like this that command told us to stay the most alert. “This is German territory. They know this land better than us and are more used to her crazy weather.” Easy for them to ...

40 likes 17 comments 17
Read story

Of Puppets and Flames

Submitted to Contest #44

Blood.There was blood flowing from his back to the palms of his hands as he felt another strike. It sent jolts to his body, tearing his flesh as the tip ran through his wounds. The guard was skilled in handling the whip, he noted, feeling the sharp lash on his shoulder, missing his left ear by a few centimeters. The sound resonated and he hissed in pain, biting his lips until he could taste agony and metal all mixed in one."Who sent you?" a voice boomed, repeating the same words over and over again. He received another whip for his silence, ...

5 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Three Bullets

Submitted to Contest #44

The world was slowly adapting to the present changes, sounds of bullets and bombardments instead of birds, the smell of gunpowder instead of flowers and the echoes of the sobbing families, whose husband, son, brother or father had recently lost their lives in the frontlines, filled the atmosphere. The “Great War” as it was dubbed, had been continuing for over two years and no one knew when it would end.One day after the weekly meeting in the Town Hall, discussing the necessities of helping the families in these times and preaching how the so...

6 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Tales of beauty

Submitted to Contest #44

September spring, a happy evening it was. My parents, siblings and everybody at that party were dancing in ecstasy. The mood was jubilant. The effect of two rounds of vodka made me speak to the prettiest girls at the party. At twelfth I had already secretly made up with four girls in the bathroom. It was the greatest Sunday of my life. The joy and excitement went on until two in the morning. That was the morning I remembered I had a DAT test to write four hours later. DAT was a test written to determine the probability of students likely to ...

6 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

- The Quest -

Submitted to Contest #44

“You will be hunted by all, child,” Mama said to me, placing me on the doorstep of a brick building. It gives me the shivers. “Oh, you’re cold.” she throws a velvety green blanket over me. I don’t say anything. My Algae-green cloak is enough to keep me warm, and now I’m nearly suffocating, but I love the smell of Mama; apples and bread, and I’d rather die than be complaint about Mama. “But don’t lose faith. Hope and Trust, and you shall win.” her voice is growing fainter by the second. A cool breeze floats over us, and some of her auburn hai...

12 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

The Run

Submitted to Contest #44

I ran through the streets with my head down. There was not another soul to be seen, but the sounds of guns and tanks said otherwise. My heart pounded, head spun, legs shook, hands dripped in sweat, and my long, red hair was only kept out my face by the wind of my speed. I had to get to the general store. I just had to. People would die if I didn’t… If I didn’t make it before 4 PM this day.Cars were scarce. Anything with a motor would get blasted in two seconds. Bikes were warped from the debris of toppled buildings. Even if I could find one,...

7 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

Beyond the Seas

Submitted to Contest #44

“I’m sorry Janet. I can’t take you too,” Jayne said to her niece. “You’re a good worker and I’m grateful for the help you’ve given me when I’ve needed you, but I can’t employ you permanently and I can’t afford another mouth to feed. I’ll see if Mr Duff in Nicolson Street will take you on as a housemaid.” “I don’t want to be a housemaid, Aunt. I want to stay with my sisters. They need me. It was hard enough when Mother died, then Father died too and now our stepmother has abandoned us. It’s all too much,” Janet replied. “I...

11 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

Road to Jenkins Ferry

Submitted to Contest #44

April 28- Afternoon.General Frederick Steele winced as the rain began to seep through his widebrim hat, water droplets mixing with sweat from the humidity stinging his eyes with every drop. "Curse this Southern spring weather," he muttered as steam rose up from his dirty blue wool uniform, and from the mount shivering below him. This campaign through the Arkansas wilderness had been unkind to him and his men. They had resorted to foraging and had made many enemies on the road as they pilfered corn cribs and the very barns and homes of the lo...

6 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

My First Day at My New School in my New Shirt

Submitted to Contest #44

I rubbed my eyes at the break of day, letting the sun sting my unadjusted eyes. Once my vision cleared I slowly crawled out of the thick blanket that provided warmth for me during the chilly night. Mama had laid out my nice plaid button down shirt and bow tie with black dress pants to slip on for my first day at my new school. The clothes were neatly folded and draped over my dresser. My dresser also has a faded picture of my friends and I on our first day of Kindergarten. I sure do miss all my friends from my other school, but Mama said I w...

10 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

Your Forever Friend

Submitted to Contest #44

“No. No! You can’t leave me!” I shout, uselessy. I always hated the characters in movies and books that say no when something bad is happening. As if that makes a difference.I pet my pet’s wet cooling body, as it barks for the last time.“You have to let go,” My mom coaxes me away from the lifeless dog that rests in our backyard. A tear slips down my face, and I wipe it away. Dad must be cutting onions again, he just loves eating them. I open the door and step inside my house only to be greeted by Vivya.“It died, didn’t it?” My sister ra...

37 likes 23 comments 23
Read story

They're Still Human Beings

Submitted to Contest #44

I walked past Mr. Abramsen's bakery to see the slurs on the two doors and four windows. I shook my head and walked on. I walked past three more shops that had gotten "painted". I kept on walking through the trash littered streets, looking at the Jews that were being abused. I took a right turn on one of the streets that I didn't know. I was on this walk to go for an adventure and explore, after all. Most of the houses seemed like rich people's houses. After walking a bit down the road, the houses started to change. First it was just smaller ...

51 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

The Sixth thorn

Submitted to Contest #44

It was a cold austere November evening when Lady Rosaline Roberts decided she was better off without happy endings. The clock advertently chimed six overhead her just at that moment the resolution positioned, and her fate was sealed, or so it seemed. Still, a little fire stoked relentlessly in the core of her indifference, apparent by the glare her eyes would emit and the sharp breath she would draw when someone, jokingly smears her with the endowment “sixth thorn.” It was a name she never would consider getting accustomed to, but it seemed ...

15 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

The Men in Blood

Submitted to Contest #44

The young girl sat upon the edge of the dampened, wooden boardwalks that nearly circulated the cool harbor around him. The weather was reasonably warm for the early spring season, and the fresh wind driven by the lapping waters was a bitter refreshment in uncertain times. The large naval boats rocked gently, tied comfortably to the docks as they were vacantly cradled. There was not a man on these ships, and without them, the view was dark and mysterious. No cargo was to be released, and no human would leave these ships a friend to the girl’s...

6 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

WHAT’S FOR DINNER

Submitted to Contest #44

Amok, squatted, his rear hovering above the hole in the ground, his feet buried in ankle-deep mud on either side. Normally, he’d be in such a compromising position for the exact reason rolling around in your head. But this time you’d be wrong. His stomach growled. He clutched his stick and cocked his head while his pea-brain wobbled. Ta (the woman who claimed Amok for herself) had a craving for water-shrew meat with her dino eggs. Amok knew his punishment for failure would be severe. His long matted hair hung down partially blocking his visi...

6 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

In The Act

Submitted to Contest #44

Dust lifted into the air like a small cyclone, kicked up by the ill hemmed bottom of a young girl’s dress. A young boy ran across the packed road as he chased after a large wooden hoop that he rolled with a stick. The boy narrowly missed a disgruntled horse drawn carriage, a woman gasped loudly in the distance and the boy stopped dead in his tracks.  A woman, his mother, placed her dignified hand around the hoodlum's ear and pulled him along. Her purple dress flounced behind her as she walked, with a shrill voice she lamented the boy. J...

14 likes 3 comments 3
Read story