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11890+ Romance Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. From the thrill of a first date to a snapshot tour through an entire relationship, our collection of romantic short stories will give you everything your heart desires.

Romance Short Stories – Page 750 of 793

Waiting For The Right Moment

Submitted to Contest #49

He arrived on the platform with time to spare, patting his pocket to make sure that the little box was still there. As he climbed aboard the train and made his way to a vacant seat, his mind returned to the heady moment when he’d decided to ask Violet to marry him. He’d felt giddy enough to want to blurt out his secret there and then, but a proposal needed to be perfect and so he’d resolved to do things properly: buy a ring, find a romantic little picnic spot, then go down on one knee and ask the most important question of his life. The car...

13 likes 3 comments 3
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A Soldier, a Grave, and the Missed Bus

Submitted to Contest #49

“Wait!” Mel called, pumping her arms as she ran in her boots. Seeing the Greyhound bus taking off —  without her on it —  made her heart plummet into her stomach. She gave up the chase and stomped her foot, not unlike a five-year-old.  “I’m guessing you missed the bus?” A man’s soft voice questioned.  Mel turned, brushing her brown hair away from her face. A man she didn’t notice the first time was sitting under the eave of the bus stop. He had a gentle face, kind grey eyes, and an Army uniform on. He looked to be about...

26 likes 2 comments 2
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Frozen Stance

Submitted to Contest #49

The sun shone down with great intensity at the desert. A man and a woman stood facing each other, several hundred meters apart. Their eyes bore insurmountable hatred and anger. The woman held a short sword in each hand horizontally and parallel to the other. The swords were pointed directly at the man. At the same time, the man held up a long sword with both hands and aimed at the woman. Their swords glint in the sunlight. Coincidentally, a reflection of light was focused on the man's scar on his forehead. It was something he had carried as ...

7 likes 4 comments 4
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Known Strangers

Submitted to Contest #49

It's a certain station. A pretty girl just entered the ticket counter. She saw that there is a huge line of people in the counter. She was feeling sick as she just discharged from the hospital yesterday. She had an minor operation last week. There was a man in the last of the line. She fervently requested him to book a ticket for her as she is not feeling well. She told him the destination and gave him the money for the ticket. He said her to sit in the bench. After few minutes, the man came to her and handed her the ticket. The m...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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See Me

Submitted to Contest #49

Warmth filled her cheeks but coldness gripped her heart. She hugs herself tight amidst the buzzing crowd. Her eyes, trying to capture dark curly hair, tall and built figure, but nothing. Maybe he won’t come again, she thought. She brushes the wetness off her face and looks up at the sky. Why did she even hope that she’d see him? The cold metal in her hand buzzed and she stared at the screen. “Hello?” she says. The world around her continues in silence as the man speaks to her ears. “It’s okay. I’m heading home anyway. Happy anniversary.” She...

8 likes 4 comments 4
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Pearls

Submitted to Contest #49

Margaret ran her hands across the lap of her dress, taking great care to smooth its pale, pink surface of even the smallest of wrinkles. Her fingers, lined with their own wrinkles that she cared not to smooth, quivered slightly as she did. This was not unusual, and so she took them, one in the other, and placed them down into her lap. It was cold in the small waiting room, the rumble of the unseen air-conditioner giving the cold a constant voice, but Margaret wasn’t surprised at the chill. It was always cold here. At her feet sat her purse, ...

6 likes 2 comments 2
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Letting Life Catch Up

Submitted to Contest #49

The view from the peak is something to stop and look at.  This was her place. The spot where she always stopped to rest before descending the trail into the valley below, back to her car, her apartment, and the rest of her life. Today she’d arrived early before the sun had peaked over the horizon in the distance, just enough light to get started. Her day ahead did not need to be rushed, she planned to sit here and enjoy a view she would normally glimpse as she made the U-turn at the top and then running back to the parking lot, alwa...

12 likes 2 comments 2
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Hurricane

Submitted to Contest #49

I remember the taste of the cheap merlot on my tongue. The green bottle has been in the refrigerator for four days now. It’s going to go bad soon, and that would be a waste of money. The hum of the refrigerator and the beating rain outside is the only noise as I stare at the bottle.  Four days late doesn’t mean anything, I tell myself, and I pour a glass for Greg and myself.  There is a crack of lightning followed immediately by thunder so loud I look up to make sure the roof hasn’t been ripped off of the apartment. There is anot...

10 likes 3 comments 3
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One. Last. Time.

Y N

Submitted to Contest #49

Time flickers. Hospital. The clock ticks. I take another breath. Silence. Another tick. Another second goes by.  I close my eyes, staring at nothing but the ceiling. My hands hold a blanket, but do not feel the comfort, the warmth in it. In fact, everything feels cold. Everything is slipping. And a breath is held. The ticks are gone. Silence. I leave. I open my eyes. I’m no longer at the hospital. Instead, I’m in a bedroom. The walls are painted blue, decorated with pictures of a family. Most of them feature a wedding of a h...

14 likes 2 comments 2
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What Happens at the DMV

Submitted to Contest #49

You don't need to keep checking your watch, I reprimand myself as I look at my watch for the hundredth time. It's not going to make the line move any faster. I hate the DMV. But then again, I don't know anyone who can claim to love it. The guy directly in front of me has a little boy with him, maybe five or six years old, who keeps ducking in and out of the line underneath the crowd control barrier. He ducks back under and bumps into my leg. "Oopsie," I comment. His dad turns around, exasperated. "Be careful, Dustin," he chides his son. "Apo...

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No More Waiting

Submitted to Contest #49

Again.   It's the first thought that goes through Alice's mind, when a text of her boyfriend pops up on her phone screen. — ‘I got caught up on something. Gonna be a little late. Love you.’ , — it said.   There comes a moment when you see that things aren't how they used to be, and you have to decide if they're worth fighting for or if it's better to just let go.   Alice's mom's voice echoed inside her brain as her fingers wavered on the call button. No. She wouldn't call. It's been a long time sinc...

8 likes 2 comments 2
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The Waiting

Submitted to Contest #49

I still walk in the dark, searching for a light to guide me to find the exit door. Nobody is here, the place where I stay. Only me with my empty world, filled with loneliness. Sometimes I feel like I do not exist at all, and sometimes I feel like it just my dream - a dream from my long deep sleep in the middle of the night. No daytime, but no sleep. I keep walking to find an end. I cry for help, but no one is listening. I pray for guidance, but no one is answering. No food and no water. No time to eat and drink. ‘Listen! Listen! I am here be...

9 likes 0 comments 0
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Love's Prescription

Submitted to Contest #49

She noticed his hands before anything else. They twitched and fidgeted as if they were late for something and the rest of his body would just have to catch up. Next were his eyes. They darted from one corner of the room to the other, watching the ceiling as if the answer to all his problems would be written there. Whenever his eyes would set on something, then she could really look at them. They were a beautiful pair of black irises. Never before had she seen eyes so dark. It was intriguing while at the same time frightening. Lastly, his nam...

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The Weaver Comes Out at Night

Submitted to Contest #49

His mother whispered her last words to him. She was half way through when they pulled her away, a great wrenching swipe that left heat burns on his hands and his chin where it pressed into her cloak. She was ready to go, bonnet and gloves the color of unripe mulberries.   His aunt didn’t let him go the next day, had locked him and his cousins inside until night fell and she came back with a drained face and red eyes.  When he was older he built a cottage on the edge of town, and even though he didn’t want to he made several ...

15 likes 5 comments 5
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When The Northern Lights Finally Reach You

Winner of Contest #49 🏆

  I’m sorry, Noah, it reads on the back of the faded postcard he holds. It’s not safe here. Go home. I’ll catch you later.     There’s no signature, not that Noah needs one. Not when he can find that familiar lopsided scrawl etched onto the left side of his soul.    Not when he already knows he’s late.    I’m sorry, Noah.    It isn’t the first time he’s been left behind to deal with the aftermath of those words. They replay over and over in his mind, like a song that’s stuck in his head, one ...

309 likes 192 comments 192
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RBE | RBE Romance | 2024-03

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