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

460+ People of color Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. The world is colorful and diverse, and so your reading list should be. Discover a multitude of experiences and perspectives with this collection of short stories written about and by people of color.

People of color Short Stories – Page 26 of 31

Pursued Lifetimes

Submitted to Contest #79

It was 2500 BC in the city of Uruk, in the Mesopotamian civilization when Rami lived with his mother and younger brother Essa. Their father, who played an integral part in the excavation of the Mohenjo-Daro site, was part of a tragic accident at the construction emplacement and succumbed to his injuries when the boys were infants. "Essa, Let's go to the forest and get some wood for the fire", Rami exclaimed. "Only if we stop by Munshiji's orchard and pick those berries", chuckled the cherubic young Essa. These twins have been each other's ...

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Don't you know she's gone?

Submitted to Contest #79

Don't you know she's gone? "Excuse me? I'm here to find a Trissa Keita?" The voice startled Isla Pérez out of her thoughts. She had been studying for her history test tomorrow- stupid America, why must you fight so much?!?- and wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. The person who had spoken to her was a middle-aged man with an uncomfortable look on his face. Isla wasn't sure why. They were in a library, after all. Who could dislike being there? "That depends. Who the heck are you and what do you want with Tris?" Isla questioned. The...

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A night at The Community Nursing Home for the Glorious Elderly

Submitted to Contest #79

A night at … The Community Nursing Home for the Glorious Elderly She didn’t yet know the news. How could she? It had not occurred in her time zone, and when Rose awoke, she still had a few hours before her night shift at The Community Nursing Home for the Glorious Elderly. She felt hot - Rose usually awoke hot. She pulled back the cotton sheet and slowly swung her heavy body to a sitting position. Fat, she thought, but you have beautiful feet, Fille Mae, and she wriggled the small red tipped toes that once made a young...

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Not too little, a bit too late

Submitted to Contest #79

When I was a kid, they used to call me my father’s tail. He was a stay-at-home father and I wasn’t old enough to be in school. I would go everywhere he went. I knew the butcher and the bank-teller by name. His barber had to figure out what to do with a three-year old girl’s hair because of course I’d get my hair cut by him. When I was old enough for sixth grade, I put my feet down. I was no longer interested in getting my hair cropped to an inch of its life. I also got my ears pierced that year. From then, my father would always say he loved...

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Carl

Submitted to Contest #79

I pulled into Carl’s driveway, which was really just a soaked patch of grass, at about eight o’clock that night in my grey SUV. He didn’t have a garage and it was raining pretty heavily; I was gonna have to dash out of the car to stay dry. Raindrops hit the windshield and left clear streaks in their wake as they slivered down the front of my car, it made me miss the dry weather in Colorado.  I wanted to go back. Right then. Put my car in reverse, pull out of that swamp and drive thirty-six hours from whence I’d came. Then I looked in...

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"Happy Family"

Submitted to Contest #79

I was awake long before I opened my eyes. I lay on my back, my head resting on a plush pillow and facing a window, the sunlight red against my eyelids. There was some warmth from the burning orb on my dark face. There should have been an overwhelming sensation of pain, but I felt nothing. My movements were restricted.  I listened intently to my surroundings. The beeping of medical machinery was audible. There were hushed voices outside of my room. Finally, realizing there was nothing to fear, I opened my eyes. A mistake. Seated in fr...

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Dear friend Mama and Baba

Submitted to Contest #79

Dear Mama and Baba, Over the past 18 years you have fed, clothed, spoiled, and neglected me all at once. You loved me as your daughter but never as a person with their own consciousness and sense of being. As a child I loved your presence, your minds, and your care. As I grew into my own person with a very different upbringing my path became much bigger than what you planned for me. Slowly you began to fear my growth believing that I was turning into something negative. The reason I’ve left you for the past 6 years mentally was not because...

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for what awaits (an evening with them)

Submitted to Contest #79

I was going to see my brothers for the first time in a year. My leg was bouncing up and down. My hands couldn’t sit still. I rubbed my fingertips along my pants as a way of distracting myself. The restaurant wasn’t noisy. But it still felt too loud, the glass clinking together, the low rumbling laughs. It wasn’t helping the feeling of anxiousness. I already downed half a cocktail. I think I’ll order another one if it means it’ll calm my nerves. My eyes trailed along the room, then they fell back on the two empty chairs sitting in front o...

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Dawn Of A New Day

Submitted to Contest #79

“When two strangers are along, they can be strong  Who can become a family, which can leave forever happily."             Emily was passing the street while walking her way back to home when she noticed a new shop that was just opened where a old lady was selling flowers. Emily had a look at the shop and she had just turned to go to her home suddenly, she heard a voice from backside where the old lady was calling her. Emily went near the old lady. The old lady wi...

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The Breakthrough

Submitted to Contest #78

"Griff, you got talent, am not gonna lie to you. But this....I can't market this." said Vince still trying to find the right words that can communicate both rejection and encouragement. "I mean you are good, really good, but come one, no one listens to this anymore." he continued "Look Vince, you are my man. I really need this bro." begged Griff. "I know man, but Jazz? This is the 21st century man. No one is gonna want to listen to this. Technology has changed music my friend, all you need is some piece of equipment not that sax you keep car...

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When he Asked His friend to take up his Hobby

Submitted to Contest #78

           SHAMS AFIF SIDDIQI‘‘Life sometimes leads you to a precipice,’ Zahid spoke like a philosopher though he was actually a realist. ‘You need not tumble down,’ he smiled at his young friend sitting on the other side of the table. ‘I will tell you how to cope with it. It will work.’ He frantically looked for the waiter over the innumerable heads walking through the aisle of the sprawling café hall. He was abnormally tall and looked tough like iron. People loved to see his physique; ...

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Target locked

Submitted to Contest #78

Debbie always had a habit of picking up hobbies. From gardening to baking, the list ranged on and on. She was like a magnet for hobbies, once she set her eyes on something she thought would be fun, she went for it. But there was just one little problem, Debbie never stuck to a hobby. Her hobby attention span, or as he liked to call it, her 'hobby span' was very non existent, and people were starting to complain. Debbie was raised in a typical Nigerian family, meaning one thing; strict parents. But Debbie was not deterred by her parents iro...

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Stuck at Work

Submitted to Contest #77

It was finally 5:00. Rebecca sighed of relief as she took off her chef’s hat and gloves and headed for the exit. She couldn’t wait to go home to eat some more of that kugel. “Bye, guys,” she called out to her friends. She grabbed her coat from the rack. “Becca, wait!” Will called out as he and Martyn rushed from the kitchen. She huffed as she faced them, her arms already in the coat’s sleeves. “Listen to the news.” Will pointed to the television which showed a weatherman explaining what is going on with the town’s whether. “That’s right folk...

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Storage Bin Lid

Submitted to Contest #77

Frost and little beads of ice cling to crumbling brick and grey stone. Heavy snow blankets a roof, and a black cat sitting with its legs tucked underneath it sticks out like a beacon. Snowflakes speckle its fur. Just like everything else across the country. Pine and juniper trees look especially stylish when there is snow because they're newly clothed and, ironically, cozy looking in their white jackets. The sun rises above the hills and the neighbourhood in vibrant, soft hues of orange and purple. A minute later, it blends into baby blu...

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Snow Angels

Submitted to Contest #77

It doesn’t snow back home. Looking out at the window from my small apartment, with nothing but thick clothes and a choice to make, I see that it snows. I’ve been in the city long enough to know the odds living in the outskirts, but apparently not long enough to get used to the sadness when you’re alone. The chill in the apartment is a lot crisper than it’s supposed to be, and I reckon it’s the broken heater that my landlord doesn’t seem to consider a problem, no matter how many times I’ve asked. It’s partly why I drown myself with coffee. ...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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