540+ Lesbian Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Love is love, and our collection of lesbian short stories takes pride in its identity. From rom-coms to everyday narratives about life and love, you’ll find all the newest lesbian short stories here.

🏆 Winning stories

“Venus Buried” by Asia W

🏆 Winner of Contest #273

The girl in the graveyard is your best friend, so you take her home. The night is a bruise between you, a blotch of rogue in the passenger window; the colour of fruit left out to fester. The body pries at her seatbelt, a finger, then two. The radio echoes static, the body shuffles in her seat. You study the face; the similar slice of jaw, the nose humped from where a baseball had hit her at twelve, just slightly off centre. The skin like a rain-licked plastic bag. The stink of musk and sulphur. You want to look away but you cannot. She's so ...

122 likes 74 comments 74

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“The World’s on Fire ” by Dena Linn

🏆 Winner of Contest #249

Trigger: Cancer My head rocks back, long hair sticks to sweaty shoulders and my tank barely holds my jiggling A-cups as I pound it out, dancing. I’m that “Girl on Fire,” a single mom gyrating to Ms. Keys. Flinging out one arm, hips swing and dip, fingers snap, eyes close, and my rock and roll fantasy, straight from a music video: my apartment’s clutter, with the snap of my fingers, flies to order. I burn, more than a flickering flame, heart thumps, shoulders shimmy, sweat drips into my pierced belly button. The fuchsia, sun-yellow and ...

76 likes 60 comments 60

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“Adelaide's Cemetery ” by Lucy Joyce

🏆 Winner of Contest #167

Death was accompanied by the patter of nurses’ rubber-soled shoes marching briskly along linoleum floors. The smell of antiseptic solution. A gurney wheel, in need of oil, squeaking rhythmically as another patient was rushed past. Starchy white sheets, and the sharp and angular shapes of nurses headdresses.  My body revolted against the crisp order in violent expulsions of browns, greens, and yellows against the bleached hospital whites. Veins stood out on my small, pale neck and spittle flew from my mouth as I screamed. The cool bed ...

194 likes 71 comments 71

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⭐️ Recommended stories

“Two Gentlemen of Verona” by Debra Tillar

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #257

Two Gentlemen of Veronaby Debra Tillar In fair Verona town one festive day As flags and cheers and trumpets rent the air, Party boats festooned the waterway And singing crowds adorned the central square. The regiment had rallied in the street, Called to arms and ordered to defend Their northern border cities and defeat The French aggressors to the bitter end. With hope and pride the town folk celebrated The soldiers as they mustered for the cause. With kisses, handshakes, hugs unmoderated, Roses, garlands, fanfare, songs, applause. On th...

18 likes 3 comments 3

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“Desperate Remedies” by Melissa Van Rensburg

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #248

Was she taunting me? I was jolted awake by a strange sound — pee-pee-paw, pee-pee-pee-paw. It drilled into my skull, causing shockwaves, though that might also have been the alcohol. I forced my eyelids open a fraction, afraid to face the light. It having been New Year’s Eve, I at least had an excuse for a change. For the first time in five years, I greeted the new year alone. What kind of new bird could this be? I went outside to look for the source of my annoyance. A female tui. I could tell because of the size and plumage. Stran...

66 likes 72 comments 72

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“Pride's Pioneers” by Leah Haberman

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #204

No one was worried at first. The minivan lulled them into a false sense of security. Normal has a certain taste and color. It's a perfume that lingers. The neighbors sniffed at the air. The house looked the same as everyone else’s. The beauty of the homeowner’s association’s iron fist over the subdivision. The tan porches blurred into eggshell garages that contrasted subtly with the off-white of the doors. All with more pigment than the residents of the community.  The woman carrying the boxes into the home had a few tattoos on her ...

31 likes 15 comments 15

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✍️ All stories

“exempli gratia” by Darby Tanner

Submitted to Contest #278

A black bird glides down to the billboard outside Ellen's apartment. She sips a London Fog as the bird sidles into the crowded line of preening starlings, causing a jostling ripple to the unlucky few pushed off the edges. Ellen cranks her window open and invites the morning breeze into her home, then scoots her favorite reading chair, plush and checkered, toward it. The Argenta district bustles below her. It's cozy, with murals of dogs bursting from block letters "Dogtown Proud" on the opposite building, which houses a jazz bar, cafe-bakery,...

5 likes 0 comments 0

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“Sweet Goodbye” by Mckinzee Begeman

Submitted to Contest #278

Celeste woke up to the sun streaming through the blinds. She stretched before reaching over for her phone on the nightstand. It showed 7:43 AM and she rubbed her face, dropping the phone on the table, and rolled back over. She lay there half-awake when she felt the soft pit-patter of furry feet walking over her prone body. A cat meowed, and she felt insistent nudging which made her chuckle, so she rolled back over and patted her cat's head. "What are you doing stinker? are you hungry?" Marshal meowed as if in response and headbutted her hand...

4 likes 0 comments 0

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“She's His Best Friend's Girl” by James Barrett

Submitted to Contest #277

My name is Margie Rabinowitz. Years ago, when I turned twenty-one, I decided to go out with my friends to finally drink legally and get seriously hammered. My boyfriend’s name was Marvin. He was okay, I guess. We’d been an item since high school. We had sex once and a while. “Having sex’ is an accurate description. ‘Making love’ doesn’t apply. At least not for me. Marvin was much more into it than I was. Marvin had no idea that I was bi-sexual. Neither did anybody else. I made sure of it. I never did anything, even in jest, to suggest that I...

5 likes 0 comments 0

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“the middle mermaid” by Fletcher Fox

Submitted to Contest #277

Look, when your father's King Triton, you have little say in your life. You performed for the fishes, pretended you don't eat half of them whenever you're not on display, dealt with the brunt of Dad's rage towards Ariel until the disfavored daughter finally deigned to appear, then swim off with your sisters to gossip about Pisces' new fin-building routine and whether eating snails truly did make your skin clearer. You've always been a side character, fourth-born of seven, and at first, Ariel's drama remains just that, drama. You were angry w...

12 likes 1 comment 1

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“What Am I Gonna Say? ” by Cedar Moss

Submitted to Contest #276

I knew she would ask. She always does. What am I gonna say?   Of course, the story doesn’t start there. Yikes, I wonder where it does start? I guess the second week of 7th grade is a good a place to start, when Jenifer rushed up to me with a secretive gleam in her eye, “I know who likes you, Linda?”  “Who?” “Mark Truman.” “Who is Mark Truman?”  A day or two later someone pointed him out playing catch with a football in the hall. A skinny guy with a crew cut and a strange point of hair co...

6 likes 0 comments 0

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“Friends with Benefits” by Becky Phillips

Submitted to Contest #276

(Sexual Encounter) Thinking back to my childhood, I can clearly remember sneaking into my dad's Playboy magazine stash and gazing at the beautiful women and their big boobs. I would later return to my room and play with myself, imagining those women being with me. Little did I know that this was the start of something much bigger than myself. In college, I'd talk to other girls about their sexual escapades, but I was a virgin until I was 18. So many boys kept telling me, “Look me up when you hit 18. I ain’t no jail bait.”  I knew that I...

6 likes 1 comment 1

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“Friends with Benefits” by Becky Phillips

Submitted to Contest #276

(Sexual Encounter) Thinking back to my childhood, I can clearly remember sneaking into my dad's Playboy magazine stash and gazing at the beautiful women and their big boobs. I would later return to my room and play with myself, imagining those women being with me. Little did I know that this was the start of something much bigger than myself. In college, I'd talk to other girls about their sexual escapades, but I was a virgin until I was 18. So many boys kept telling me, “Look me up when you hit 18. I ain’t no jail bait.”  I knew that I...

3 likes 0 comments 0

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“Even the lost can be found.” by Tammie Williams

Submitted to Contest #276

(Trigger warning: This story depicts mental issues, drug abuse and homelessness.)It was early evening when my phone rang. I answered to the frantic voice of my ex-girlfriend's current partner. "I need your help. Dee has been gone for three days." My heart sank.I knew before she told me Dee must be on a binge. Dee had a drug issue. When we dated it was alcohol, but after the break-up she turned to harder stuff. Of course she tried to blame me, the breakup, anything to not take accountability for her own actions. ...

7 likes 3 comments 3

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“June 10th, 2020” by Haylee Hemphill

Submitted to Contest #276

**Sensitive Content: Mental Health, Alcohol, Major Bodily Injuries Abandoning solitude of many months. I found myself risking peace. I had finally decided to break free from the labyrinth of my mind and the safety of my bedroom. I was going to go on what felt like my first date. It was not, I just had not let myself be a real human being for months now and it was like I forgot how to function.  “You can do it. You are overthinking it. It’s going to be okay, just do it!” My own voice in my head gives me a pep talk while my body is sha...

11 likes 0 comments 0

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“Re: Disappearance of Alexis Monroe” by Shyanne Smith

Submitted to Contest #275

Dear Mr. Stone, I haven’t spoken with Alexis in like six months, so I’m sorry if I get any details wrong. I’m not really sure where to start? I’m not really sure what’s all relevant with supernatural stuff, so please let me know if this isn’t enough. I didn’t really know her that well at first. The store was huge and our shifts didn’t really line up. We never took breaks at the same time, and she didn’t stick around after clocking out, either. Sometimes the top-of-the-hour announcement would go off, I’d go off and pretend to face the shelves...

5 likes 0 comments 0

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“Olive Green Couch” by Chloe S.

Submitted to Contest #275

I tried to savor the seconds slipping away, like sand falling between the fingertips of an open palm. I could tell that she was falling out of love with me, but I chose to deny it. I couldn't believe it, how could her feelings stop when mine were so strong? How could I be so irrevocably in love with someone even though I knew the feeling wasn't being reciprocated? I guess that's what Jane would do to people. She was hypnotic without even knowing it. Everyone loved Jane. We met in college and she was the type of student that professors would...

8 likes 0 comments 0

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“Of Course I'm a Witch” by Cedar Moss

Submitted to Contest #275

-Mirror mirror on the wall….  Look at that reflection!!! Blonde curls falling gently on my shoulders. Bright blue eyes and rosy cheeks. Truth be known, I look kind of sweet and innocent. Even after all these years it still makes no sense to me. You think I don’t know what witches are supposed to look like? Black scraggly hair, warts on nose of course, scrawny as a scarecrow. Certainly not these luscious curves (as I have heard them referred to). Even if I wanted them to, no one would believe ...

2 likes 1 comment 1

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“Ó Leannáin” by Wolfgang Widrig Wood

Submitted to Contest #274

The moonlight drifted pleasantly through a gap in the autumn clouds. Breathing in, you would taste rain and smell the delight of the refreshed grass and mud. Niamh shivered, not because of the cold, but from the excitement that came from knowing that after tonight she would be an adult. She couldn’t help the foolish smile that spread across her face. Her boots sank softly into the mud till she reached where the road became divided into three parts. It had gotten so deep that no carriages could safely be pulled through. Her skin tingled ...

5 likes 1 comment 1

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“Don't Be Afraid of the Dark” by Abby Johnson

Submitted to Contest #274

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been afraid of the dark. There's something about the quiet shadows that makes my heart race and my senses heighten, as if I'm preparing for something lurking just beyond my sight. Even as a child, I would lay in bed, staring wide-eyed into the darkness, listening for the slightest creak or murmur, afraid of what I couldn’t see. That fear followed me as I grew older, and though I've come to understand it better, the unknown depths of the dark still leave me unsettled. It's as if the darkness carries a weigh...

13 likes 0 comments 0

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“The Mermaid's Wedding ” by Rosa Arlotto

Submitted to Contest #273

The Mermaid’s Wedding When Jeanine was a little girl she would dress up as a mermaid and marry her prince at sea.Her adoptive parents had her dream come true.  Steve, her father, the smart accountant that he is had made a few lucky investments and made a bundle and now he and his wife Patti could afford a cruise wedding and were now completing their daughter’s fairytale.  Patti has said to Jeanine:” You don’t marry a person, you marry a family” and so she had invited  and paid for their entire family and a few ...

9 likes 0 comments 0

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