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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 3 of 10

From Wife #1 to Wife #2

Submitted to Contest #306

To: Carly65@gmail.comFrom: Sarah67@yahoo.comRE: Easter Hey there. I hope you are well. Yes, if you could bring desert that would be fantastic. Your lovely daughter Amy and Callum, are covering most of the meal, so I plan to do appetizers and all the miscellaneous details. Even though it makes Dan uncomfortable (LOL), I love that we are all getting together and emailing. Just let me know if Peter plans to come. Best- Wife #2 To: Sarah67@yahoo.comFrom: Carly65@gmail.comRE: Easter Peter would love to come, but Amy dislikes him in the extrem...

8 likes 2 comments 2
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Explaining Myself to my Ghost One Entry at a Time

Submitted to Contest #306

1st entry.Hello me. I know we haven't always been a ghost. COVID did that to us. One day we had a career and focus, optimism even. Then the world changed and dragged us along. I admit, we have been a bit of a frog in our focus on how to effect genuine social and environmental change.Our friends always seemed to agree we need kinder, cleaner, more effective ways to make a living in order to function more consistently at peak energy.Then one day my optimism crashed. I realized we wern’t going to get there. Plastics and forever chemicals are in...

9 likes 8 comments 8
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We Weather The Storm

Submitted to Contest #306

Sensitivity Warning: This story contains descriptions of traumatic events related to Hurricane Katrina, including flooding, injury, fear, and displacement. It may be distressing for readers who have experienced natural disasters, trauma, or loss. August 29, 2005Last night, a roach the size of my Nintendo crawled across my face!!! We have to get out of here before I lose my mind. It was already bad enough that I fell through the ceiling trying to climb up here, and now we have to sleep with bugs and birds? I hate hurricane season. At least th...

3 likes 0 comments 0
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Thank You Mr. Bradbury

Submitted to Contest #306

Thank You, Mr. Bradbury 5 April 2025 Dear Lord, It has been a long time since I have written in this journal. However, it seems like my life has been full of pretending to be something I am not. Especially when it comes to the business, writing, and being a doctor. I really do enjoy writing, and I am being inspired by the different authors I am reading about or listening to on MasterClass, such as James Patterson, Ray Bradbury, Joyce Carol Oates, Judy Blume, etc. It is very fascinating how they can create wonderful stories from their minds. ...

2 likes 0 comments 0
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Why Have a Diary at All?

Submitted to Contest #306

Dear love,You have been ignoring my Facebook messages. Maybe it's because your busy working and I don't want to press you. I've been following your posts and some of them are great. The one with you at the zoo is phenomenal! Do you remember as kids how we used to travel around the country and go on some exciting hikes. Our parents… I was so proud of you. I don't want to make the wrong impression, I didn't realize you were the love of my life. It's been 40 years since… Last time we met you said you were having a difficult time and what was th...

1 like 0 comments 0
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Recipe for a Hot Mess

Submitted to Contest #306

Recipe for a Hot Mess:‘Motherhood Edition’ Serves: Everyone, all the time (plus baby). Prep Time: 9 months (sometimes a few weeks over.) Cook Time: One sleepless night, or ½ a day to reach 'Hot Mess' peak. Ingredients: Substitute with whatever seasoning you’re in (pregnancy, newborn, toddler, child, teenager, flying-the-nest). 1 cup of sick, snotty toddlers. Throw in baby spit-up for extra flavour. 4 heaped sink loads of dishes (bonus: if it’s Weet-bix or dried porridge). 2 overflowing hampers of dirty clothes—any type. A 'Hot Mess' isn’t pi...

30 likes 34 comments 34
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Serving in the Honor of The Queen

Submitted to Contest #306

I landed my hand on his shoulders. His shoulders were broad, The type people have when working outside. : Thank you:: You'd do the same I knew he was wrong.: Shoot in the head, otherwise…Encounters with the local population became frequent. The locals were becoming powerful…confident.I once was surprised by one. The meetings with locals became less frequent. They had overcome us by tactical methods involving suicide at times. It was noted they showed no remorse, no fear.:You deceit and cause fear among us. Your father would be ashamed if he ...

3 likes 2 comments 2
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The Speech I Never Gave

Submitted to Contest #306

Good evening.Or maybe it was morning. I honestly don't remember. The light was too bright on that stage, the room too filled with noise I wasn't part of. I only remember the pressure—the kind that sits in your chest like a stone tied to silence.They told us to write a graduation speech. A celebration, they said. A thank you to the people who made us who we are.I watched the others go up—quoting Maya Angelou, thanking their parents, cheering on the future. My hands were sweating through the sleeves of a borrowed gown. My knees locked. I stood...

3 likes 1 comment 1
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A Girl's Guide to Mending A Defective Heart

Submitted to Contest #306

Trigger/Content Warning: Mental Health, Body Image, Mention of Scars. An easy recipe for recovering from open heart surgery - valve replacement edition! Cook time: 4 - 8 weeks. Ingredients: For the body...2 packs of hospital grade bandages or 1 box of gauzes, 1 bar of antibacterial soap, 4 sports bras or 2 velcro binders, 1 bed, 1 heart shaped pillow, As many rectangular pillows as needed, 3 over the counter medications (aspirin, tylenol, and ibuprofen), 1 loop diuretic prescribed by doctor, 1-2 breathing tubes (for lack of better words), ...

9 likes 3 comments 3
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Spring Commencement and the Grand Design

Submitted to Contest #306

Undergraduates and fellow travellersWelcome to the seven hundred twentieth spring commencement Of The Iris and Aset School of Communication and Design. Ours is a young school, a school of entrepreneurs, innovators, pioneers, and transcendent thinkers. We have no graduate program by design, for the world you go into is a world in which you must travel using the knowledge you have now toward a destination you may not understand. The future, as you all know, can only be understood in the untraveled distance between the manifest projection displ...

6 likes 0 comments 0
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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...

12 likes 3 comments 3
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The Quiet Month

Submitted to Contest #306

Trigger Warning:This story explores themes of trauma recovery, emotional abuse, dissociation, and mental health challenges including CPTSD. While no graphic content is described, the narrative may be triggering for some readers. Please proceed with care. The Quiet Month Journal Entries from the First 30 Days of Trying to Heal Day 1 I didn’t want to write.The therapist said to “just start somewhere.”So here: I don’t know how to be quiet with myself without feeling like I’m waiting for something bad to happen. The silence feels unsafe.The...

5 likes 2 comments 2
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Recipe for a Body Built from the Ground Up

Submitted to Contest #306

Recipe for a Body Built from the Ground Up They’ll say it’s vanity.They’ll call it a phase.They’ll assume it’s about the mirror, the scale, the angles. But you know better. This is not about looking good in jeans. This is about peeling yourself off the bathroom floor after the breakdown and choosing—again—to try.It’s about reclaiming your body from the stress, the kids, the comments, the trauma.It’s about finally building a home you don’t want to escape from. So here it is: not a meal plan, not a miracle.Just a recipe—raw and real—for the wo...

10 likes 5 comments 5
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Goodbye From My Hello

Submitted to Contest #306

I guess this journey was long enough for me to say goodbye, let me explain. It started off from my childhood, not knowing I was never beautiful or gorgeous like others said, but like usual I agreed to it. Sigh.. to my future self it’s ok to not agree with the disagrees, though it’s plenty of other options of diguisments I know next time what’s good for me. Not once have I ever questioned myself what’s needed for an improvement, that’s another blame to throw at me. I’m starting to understand the moment of silence I finally endured, goodbye t...

3 likes 3 comments 3
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DANCERS IN A TIME OF GRIEF

Submitted to Contest #306

July 25. I have begun this journal as a record of my thoughts now that I have moved out to this small cottage in the woods. I need time and space and peace to recover from a very messy and bitter divorce from the man I thought loved me, whom I’d loved with all my heart for all the time we were together, only to find that he’d been cheating on me for years with my best friend. The feeling of betrayal nearly destroyed me. I have quit my job, collected my savings – what was left after the divorce – at least the settlement was civilised – and mo...

5 likes 2 comments 2
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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