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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 10 of 10

PTD !

Submitted to Contest #304

Now that I have your attention, let me assure you the title of this story is not a typo and I will herein explain its significance during the following discourse. I’m a person who, if given the choice of coming back again per the unlikely phenomenon of reincarnation, would prefer to be a most successful “Cupid”. Witnessing the cementation of an eternal bond between a man and a woman pleases me.So I chose to produce a manuscript as a way of bringing to life this angelic dream of becoming a kind of messenger of love, and personify an encouragi...

8 likes 1 comment 1
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In The Wee Hours

Submitted to Contest #304

Sarah pulled up and parked, thoroughly disenchanted. Another shift, another round of idiots and zombies to entertain. She looked up at the neon sign, which read “wik-E-Mart”, as the “K” had given up long ago. Much the same as she had. No fireworks or big saga, just quietly stopped working when no one else was looking. She sighed, thinking to herself this tired internal monologue of hers really needed to get a life.She moved as if she was a zombie herself, scanning items and taking payments, completely lackluster and barely there. Low mumbled...

5 likes 2 comments 2
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Bright as the Stars

Submitted to Contest #304

Stars. They twinkle above the heavens. The lights of those who have past. The celestial beings watching over Earth. The fragments of elements lumped together hovering in the vastness above. Nights had been my favorite times of day then. Momma and I would sit or sometimes lay on the ground and watch them for hours. We could do that then because we were in the country. Momma would share stories about each speck of light. The little one that we could barely see was my little sister who was taken away from us too soon. The big bulbous star was m...

3 likes 1 comment 1
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The Dream Weaver

Submitted to Contest #304

Flinn soared across a purple sky, his long coat snapping against the head wind and his dark hair alive amid the current. An intense light rained down from a tapestry of white stars, back lighting him in an ethereal glow. His mastery of the night realm bled from his powerful form in flight. If anyone could see him, he would look bloody awesome. Unfortunately, as usual, everyone else in the world of dreams was asleep. He sighed at the wasted effort he always put into his dramatic arrival, and slowed to hover over the town of Lunar Bay, ready t...

19 likes 9 comments 9
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Thomas Wilson Jones is a Normal Man.

Submitted to Contest #303

Thomas Wilson Jones is a normal man. He wakes up each morning with a yawn and arm flung over the woman, Vicki, next to him. He curses the alarm that causes both bodies to stir like worms in a jar of fish bait. For a brief moment before he stands he wishes that his arms were coated in the same slimy residue as those wriggling creatures, if only to make an excuse to stick to his bed for five minutes longer. As per usual, Vicki will get up first, warming Thomas’ cheek with a kiss full of morning breath and the smell of sleep before she pads tow...

7 likes 6 comments 6
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Losing and Finding Her Voice

Submitted to Contest #304

Finally, I get to showcase my original song! Well… it’s at an open mic next week at Latte Da, and between spoken words and cover songs, I’ll perform my original. And sure, most people will mostly just be thinking about their act, not appreciating my performance as deeply as they could, but it’s a start! Truly, I’d rather perform in front of people sipping coffee, half-listening to me as they gossip with friends, than to still be making coffee, dreaming of music all hours of the day. Everyone starts somewhere. “I just asked how your day was…”...

7 likes 3 comments 3
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ANGEL

Submitted to Contest #304

ANGEL Every spring carries with it an aura of promise. The newness can be seen in the tree blossoms, the crocuses lifting their heads above the ground to breathe new air, and the melodic chirping of birds whose song had been stifled by the cold winter. None of this is new, but rather a renaissance of what had occurred many times before. I looked forward to springtime. This one felt different and I was approaching it with hope. Writing has always been my passion and over the last two years, it fell back into my life like an old ...

10 likes 1 comment 1
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Pioneering Words: The Life and Legacy of Irene Silverstein

Submitted to Contest #304

The faint scent of lilies and something vaguely metallic, like old pennies, clung to the air. I was maybe three, four years old, clinging to my great-grandmother's arm. A woman that was tall and elegant, with curly silver hair, and large round glasses. She smiled, a smile that reached her eyes, and offered me a small, sugared almond. I remember the feeling of the smooth shell, the sweet taste, but not her face. She was a fleeting image, a whisper of a memory, quickly swallowed by the bustling, echoing space of family gatherings. I never knew...

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Courtalise Thorn and the Choice of Shadows

Submitted to Contest #303

The palace gardens, once lush with life and laughter, had become a haunted maze of twisted thorns and faded blooms. The grandeur that had once drawn visitors like moths to a flame had wilted into something darker, something broken. The vibrant colors were now muted—petals dulled to ash-gray, leaves curled and brittle beneath the oppressive weight of neglect. Even the sweet scent that once perfumed the air had turned sour, heavy with decay and forgotten promises.Courtalise Thorn moved silently among the curling vines and black roses, their th...

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Courtalise and the Rule of Hearts

Submitted to Contest #303

Courtalise stood at the edge of the Queen’s Court, where the red roses bloomed fiercely beneath a sky of swirling colors that shifted between dawn and twilight in a constant dance. The air hummed with whispers and secrets, every petal a story and every shadow a warning. Here in Wonderland, rules were as sharp and unyielding as the Queen’s gaze—and breaking them was a perilous game.But Courtalise had never been one for careful playing. Especially not when the heart was involved.She tugged her cloak tighter, feeling the weight of the world—or ...

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Courtalise Thorn: The Villain of Another’s Tale

Submitted to Contest #303

The court of Wonderland is a place where stories bloom and twist like wild roses—beautiful, unpredictable, and sometimes full of thorns. I, Courtalise Thorn, grew up beneath those tangled vines, part of a world that spoke in riddles and hid truths beneath painted smiles. I never asked to be a villain. Yet, in someone else’s story, that’s the role I was cast to play. The thorn that pricked, the shadow that darkened their light, the disruption no one dared admit they feared.They say villains have no choice, that evil springs from desire or cru...

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Wonderland Wasn't a Place-It Was Me

Submitted to Contest #303

Moonlight dripped through the hollow oak limbs overhead, pooling in silver puddles across the mossy floor of the Tulgey Wood. I sat cross-legged on a fallen log, flamingo mallet beside me and hedgehog ball half-buried in bracken, feeling the hush settle deep into my bones. All around, Wonderland’s hallmark chaos blinked and shimmered in the outskirts—teacups drifting on phantom breezes, card soldiers marching in tight formation, and the distant tinkle of the Mad Hatter’s off-key laughter.But tonight, I felt nothing of their whimsy.I wiped a ...

7 likes 1 comment 1
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The Hollow Hunger

Submitted to Contest #303

It had been six years since her world quietly collapsed. A slow, suffocating silence that follows death when the world forgets, yet you still remember. Every morning and every night. She wore her widowhood like a second skin, one that couldn’t be peeled off or outgrown. It had dulled her senses, her spirit, and even her sense of who she was. Friends had stopped checking in and sympathetic support had vanished. Life was moving on but she remained stuck. She mourned inside which kept her life on pause, muffled and a bit blurred.One evening, so...

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Chemo

Submitted to Contest #303

It was eleven years ago that I last heard Mom’s voice. She was dying from cancer, and I knew then that someday I would deal with it also.In May 2006, it was time for another mammogram. I dreaded those blasted things. I have heard many women say that they don’t hurt at all. That was not true in my case, but I didn't have a choice. I had felt a lump in my right breast a few weeks before the mammogram but decided not to tell the doctor. I wanted to see if the test would actually show the lump. I knew when the doctor scheduled an ultrasound that...

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Many Deaths

Submitted to Contest #303

He texted Billy to meet him at the bar round seven. Billy's response was terse, 'K'. A lump had been set in his throat for a while now and was, he had noticed, linked to his increasingly fragile psychological state. Any slightest hurdle in social or moral interaction set this thing alive and made him want to puke, then cry. This single syllable 'K' from Billy was just the sort of trivial perturbation to set it off, jumping like a bean in his esophagus. He called Marci. Told her how much he loved her, missed her, and wished he would see her t...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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