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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

150+ Inspirational Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. From tales of the miraculous to stories of extraordinary people overcoming incredible odds, you’ll always find something uplifting in our collection of inspirational short stories.

Inspirational Short Stories – Page 1 of 10

2025 Geriatric Marvel Award Acceptance Speech

Submitted to Contest #306

“It is with great honor that I accept this Geriatric Marvel Award. I know so many of us have struggled through what seems like a lifetime of hardships and prayers just to get to this point. Something that comes so easily to others became such a daunting task for us. Analyzing yourself day in and day out wondering why you can’t simply be ‘normal.’ Hating your body for not doing what it was naturally created to do. I want you to know that I see you. The world sees you and you’re not alone. Motherhood is within your grasps! I remember playing ...

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The Last Thing I Ever Cooked for Him

Submitted to Contest #306

Recipe for Walking Away Preparation Time: However long it takes to remember who you are Serves: You Ingredients• 4 heaping cups of courage (Preferably organic, not store-bought)• 3 tablespoon of midnight tears (stored in cold)• 1 container of unanswered texts• 5 crushed dreams and given up ambitions (optional, but highly recommended for better flavor)• 1 suitcase packed with clothes, self-respect, and every version of you he ignored• a dash of anger (be careful with the portions, don't overdo unless necessary)• 2 girlfriends on speed dial (s...

4 likes 1 comment 1
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Find The Fight

Submitted to Contest #305

It took a few seconds for me to realize I was utterly and completely lost. Somewhere new, hours away from what I knew as home, as my own. But riding through it all with family. “I want you to know that I still love you, Neveah.” my aunt Elise says as we pull into a Chick Fil A, still two hours from our destination. Even then I still have to sit through more hours of driving, driving all the way to old-town Colonial Beach, Virginia. I found the statement unnecessary because not only do I know that she still cares but I’m not in the mood to li...

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Tipping Point

Submitted to Contest #305

Prompt: You know what? I quitTitle: Tipping Point I looked at each section of the room as if I had just opened my eyes for the first time. The stack of old books piled without color-coding, directionality, or bookend support. The bookshelves were crammed with curiosities that found a place to display themselves at the altar, but were made to scoot over instead. A picnic basket, a lemon-shaped watering can with matching salt and pepper shakers, a yellow Dollar-Tree sign that said Sweet Summertime with a yellow lemon traced in pink glitter, an...

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Clock Out

Submitted to Contest #305

My job is to hold up the sky. I don’t mean that metaphorically. I mean that in a very literal, aching-back, calloused-hand, “don’t sneeze or a solar flare will slip through and vaporize Detroit” kind of way. You’ve never seen me because I’m not supposed to be seen. That’s part of the contract. There’s a clause. Page 213, Section 9B: “Visibility void in all Earthly spectrums, unless system breach or divine audit.”Basically, I exist in the space between perception. You pass by me on your commute, while scrolling on your phone, while blaming th...

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Nine months later

Submitted to Contest #305

Sometimes we have to do what makes us happy... It was my dream job. It had cost me my time, my health, and —let's be honest —a big chunk of my principles, but nothing mattered anymore: I'd made it. I was a mid-to-upper-level manager in a large company, one of those that shape the world and make your curriculum something to talk about, even with strangers who have no idea what you talk about at those fancy dinners people invite you to from time to time. I was a medium shot on my way to becoming a big deal. I had survived the Corporate climb d...

9 likes 4 comments 4
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The Expath Chronicles: Conversations with Ghosts

Submitted to Contest #305

(Sensitive content: grief)It hit me in the middle of a bustling street in a new city—I was utterly and completely lost.It was a simple mistake—a wrong turn, a missed landmark—but the feeling went deeper than that. I'd lived in multiple cities, mastered metro systems in foreign languages, crossed continents. Getting lost didn't scare me.But this time, it stirred something else: a quiet ache.I missed the kind of place where I couldn't get lost. Where even with my eyes closed, I knew every crack in the pavement. A village tucked between green h...

11 likes 3 comments 3
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Perfect Teeth

Submitted to Contest #305

NOTE: Mention of suicide by overdose and one F-bomb used. I stared at the crowd and told the biggest lie of my life. “She died peacefully.”Three hundred faces tilted toward me like sunflowers following a false light. My mother’s dental colleagues, her bridge club, the neighbors who’d borrowed sugar for thirty years. All of them desperate to believe that cancer was something open to negotiation, something that understood manners.She’d clawed at the bed rails until her fingernails split. Begged me to kill her with the same voice that once sang...

16 likes 11 comments 11
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Turnin’ in Circles

Submitted to Contest #305

It all started with a lie more than 40 years ago. I was 23 and had moved to Paris from Minneapolis to study film making (that was little less than a lie as well, because I had no real intention to make movies) and especially to paint and see all of the great paintings there. I’d arrived on a charter flight with a one-way ticket (you can’t do that anymore) with just a backpack and $100 in my pocket (that’s not a lie).After shacking up with Michèle, a pretty French girl two years my senior, (because I had no way to pay rent), I started looking...

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Logic Verses Kindness to Solve Life Problems

Submitted to Contest #305

“You know what? I quit.” This was what I thought, but I refused to. I was definitely not going to say it out loud; that would only encourage Charlie.This debate is essential, even long after the audience has gone home. Charlie and I were making a decision about something we had a problem with in the past. I thought we resolved it long ago, but apparently not.“Amiee, you just like to please people too much. If you are going to get ahead in life, you need to be more aggressive when you stand up for yourself. Otherwise, your kindness will alway...

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I quit!

Submitted to Contest #305

I QUIT! Dusting crumbs off the breakfast table, Sadie turned and caught her reflection in the hall mirror. Horror! It couldn’t be! Her hair was sticking up at ungainly angles making her look like a stand in for “the Adams family”. Her mascara, inexpertly removed last night, had left two dark, panda eyes making her look like a walking insomniac. Graham, her husband of many years pecked her politely on the cheek, as he slid sideways out of the front door into the cold December air. He ‘air waved’ from the car as it turned the corner. Luck...

4 likes 2 comments 2
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Mom's Spaghetti

Submitted to Contest #305

“You know what? I quit!” she screeched, tossing the fork of spaghetti across the room. She left her dignity at the dining table where everybody could see it. As she marched across the kitchen, she felt the cold marble floor below her feet. With each step, she inched closer to the bathroom, as her legs tried not to buckle beneath her.Like a house of playing cards full of kings and tired queens. She threw a splash of tea tree oil on her face and pulled her cheeks down with her fingers. Who was that woman in the mirror? Were those laugh line...

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Too Tired to Shine

Submitted to Contest #305

At some point, the mask always slips and the disguise comes off. The one she’s carefully crafted over decades. Flawless on the surface, tailored to every social cue, and cracks just enough to let the truth bleed through. She has been performing for so long, she could hardly notice the effort anymore. She knows when to smile, when to frown, and when to stay silent while the room erupts around her. She has worn the mask so well that she forgets it’s there. But today is different. Today, she’s slipping. Today, she wanted to quit, just for today...

21 likes 6 comments 6
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WHY CAN'T I FIGURE IT OUT?!

Submitted to Contest #305

You know the saying, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Well, I’ve sat here for hours, staring at my spell book, desperately trying to figure out where I keep messing up. I’ve said everything correctly. I have the right materials, I have the book. I’m even wearing the right clothes, because apparently this spell works better wearing linen than cotton! I promise you, I’m doing it correctly. So, why is it not working? What could I possibly be doing wrong? I’ve tried hundreds of times. How many times will I need to ‘try again’ bef...

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You know what? I Quit

Submitted to Contest #305

My Dad raised me never to be a quitter. “You won’t win if you quit,” he’d always say. The words infused into my bones; they spoke to me every time I faced something hard in life. I wore it like a badge of honor. I knew that no matter what life threw at me, I’d overcome it through hard work and determination. With that strong work ethic, I had fantastic grades in high school. I decided to become an Architect and had my choice of universities to pick from. Architecture had its challenges, with late nights and stressful projects, but that m...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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