Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Featured stories
Activity feed

Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

10940+ Sad Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Do you ever need to break your own heart? We see you. Grab a tub of ice cream or a box of tissues and settle down with some of the best, really sad short stories to make you cry.

Sad Short Stories – Page 2 of 730

The Name She Carries.

Submitted to Contest #294

She couldn’t take her eyes off the sleeping child in her lap, a tear falling silently down her cheek as the tiny blankets rose and fell. It would be another hour until the inky sky behind the shaded window showed its first hints of purple and then orange. Another sixty minutes of peaceful slumber for Charlotte, the daughter who represented all that was right with the world. One final hour. How she treasured it. Caleb lay soundly across the room in his small bed, his feet nearly touching the bottom of the mattress. Carlota’s mind was alert de...

6 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

The Mary Celeste

Submitted to Contest #294

Aboard the Mary Celeste, Sarah Briggs stood on the deck watching the waves gently lap up the hull. The sun was settling down beautifully on the horizon. The sea breeze whispered to her, lifting the hair on her arms. Captain Briggs wrapped a scarf around her arms and held her in his. “You look awfully cold out here,” he said. She looked down at their daughter. She was sitting on a blanket, playing with her toys and singing to herself. “Best I take Sophia in for the night. Gets cold after sundown,” she replied turning to look at her ...

4 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

The Walk Back

Submitted to Contest #295

You ever seen one of those SafetyWalk lampposts? University installed them, like twenty years ago. Ugly little things; short and squat, a crude safety yellow, with a biiiig red button. It was a precaution. For people like me, walking home late at night. If you felt like it was dangerous, or you were at risk of being harassed, you could just press the button, wait, and someone would come help you walk home. Simple as that.I'd never used one. Never needed to. The fact of the matter was this: I wasn't afraid to walk home at night...

8 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Less Than Lovers, More Than Friends

Submitted to Contest #295

They always told me the Ocean was filled with salt. That must have been some other ocean though. Probably a blue one. Because my ocean was black. And it didn’t taste salty.  The blackened water, with the entire colour spectrum floating on top of it like a greasy film of algae, tasted both bitter and sweet. Like a smoky marshmallow plucked out from the fire. After a few gulps, I was already feeling sleepy.  A sugar crash no doubt. And when I closed my eyes, I could feel myself fall into that same inky blackness.  With something...

12 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Regret

Submitted to Contest #294

John looked at the time and it just turned 4:00 pm. He turned off his computer, stood up, and stretched, to give his anxious muscles a little stimulation. One of his co-workers peaked his eyes over the cubical wall with a curious glint. “Going home already John? A little early don’t you think?”“I know, but I wanted to do something nice for Mary,” he said as he grabbed his briefcase and picked up his cubical.“When did you become the romantic?”“It’s been a while since I’ve done something for her, I wasn’t thinking much just flowers, chocolate,...

4 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

The Blessed Veil

Submitted to Contest #294

My Dearest,We have finally made it to Sevastopol. Our ships have anchored in a bay the locals call Kalamita. We have not encountered the enemy yet and the French and us are now disembarking all we have brought for this campaign. We shall march South to the city itself in a few days. I hope to hear from you soon.Yours, Henry. My Henry,I hope you keep writing; your letters and Phillip are the only things keeping me from finding a boat to Crimea myself. Our son is doing well, keeping to his studies and helping Mr. Carpenter at his shop. He spea...

4 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

The Place Where the Sky Wasn’t Blue

Submitted to Contest #295

I was thirteen the last time I saw my sister’s face, but I still wake up to it most nights. Sometimes she’s smiling. Sometimes she’s crying. Most nights, she’s quiet. Just staring. Like she’s trying to remember me. When I wake, I have to remind myself I’m not in that house anymore. Not in that city. Not thirteen. The bed beneath me is soft. The ceiling above is clean and uncracked. There’s a hum of distant traffic, not drones. A neighbor’s dog barking, not sirens. Still, the first thing I do every morning is check the window—just to make sur...

11 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

The Ambiguity of it All

Submitted to Contest #294

There are sensitive themes: war, existential dread, sicknessWe were just kids when the regime in our country, Zanaria, changed. Suddenly, the sky felt heavy on our shoulders. One-third of the fit men were sent on ships to work in the mines on the East Side of the Old Land.I was thirteen, watching birds fly through the smoke of the factories where weapons were crafted. They wanted to escape. I felt scared most of the time. Days came and went, and everyone was waiting for the war to start.My mother assured me we would be okay, but when I looke...

3 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The lady vanishes

Submitted to Contest #294

Content warning: depression and suicidal ideation/attempted suicide-----------------------------------------It had come on so gradually that it took a while to notice. Even for her. That while the days got lighter and the spring blossoms—egg yolk, white and amethyst—congregated in ditches and on patches of ground free from snow, she turned ever more towards darkness.  It is not the first time, so she knows how these things usually go. Call loved ones. Make plans. Go outside. Do your homework, do your job, try to take it day by day and d...

4 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The Hill

Submitted to Contest #294

The sun was a hot stone in his eyes for a brief moment, even at this early point in the morning. He had just climbed up the small hill to the place where he was supposed to wait. It was always at this same time; always on a weekday. He was no longer new to this, but the light and the heat left him slightly dazed and sweaty at the same spot on the sidewalk where he would always have to wait. And here he was, waiting again for the exact same thing. After two weeks, he had some thoughts about all of this, even though he woul...

14 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

The Angels and Lisa

Submitted to Contest #294

"Lisa has returned!" Lisa held her arms to the heavens, daring the angels to try and take her again. She had a loaded water gun ready to drench their wings and pull them down to Earth if they tried. The water inside had been sitting for one year now, and it would sure make them stink if they ever came back for her. She had come up with one way to ensure the angels never returned. She had committed to being the demon they'd never dare go near. Ha-ha, you evil angels shall know the eternal flames. "Close the door and go wash your hands, sweeti...

8 likes 8 comments 8
Read story

The Weight of Silence

Submitted to Contest #294

DISCLAIMER: this story is heavily inspired by Jeffery McDaniel’s “The Quiet World” 167 words a day, 7 words an hour. I save them for my lover- hundreds of miles away, Now here, in front of my father- I know I have to say something.His trembling hand reaches out to mine. For the first time, I notice how bones jut from his sagging skin, how breath rattles in his hollow chest, how his frail frame lays slack in the hospital bed. “I miss when you’d talked to me” he rasps so quietly I have to lean in to hear, “I wish you’d use just a few words a d...

3 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The Seer of the Forsaken

Submitted to Contest #294

Note - offscreen kidnapping/killing/SA. Captivity. Mara lay her head on her arm, staring out the window at the distant forest. She sighed softly, enjoying the coolness of the stone under her arm.  It wasn’t even the height of summer yet but the heat was becoming unbearable even in the tower.  On the other side of the forest was the home she barely remembered anymore. But she remembered that night, the night they came and took her from everything and everyone she loved. The sound of Mama’s screams, of Papa shoving his way tow...

0 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Letters to a Ghost

Submitted to Contest #294

02/09/2024 --- 01:18 AMMy Ghost,Do you remember us like I do? I remember the night we met like it was yesterday. It was 2015, and we were having an all-nighter at my best friend’s house. You were drinking with her brother, at 15 like the rebel you were. I was too scared to participate since I was only 13, and I had decided to go to the backyard to look at the stars. You followed me out there and just started talking to me. I didn’t even know you, but you were drunk and spilling all your teenage heartbreak to me. A girl had just broken your h...

4 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Echoes of Solitude

Submitted to Contest #294

Kagami was young, and she was tired. She tried her best and did almost as much as she felt possible. Still, her efforts weren’t enough to fix everything.  Kagami awoke and slogged to move and get ready for the day, making mental note of each blemish she encountered littering her skin. She pulled on a baggy shirt and a pair of jeans from her closet, which greatly hid the body within them. Soon enough, she was on with her day.  Later, Kagami trudged her feet along the school’s multicolored, speckled carpet, away from the direction of...

3 likes 0 comments 0
Read story
RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

Bring your short stories to life

Fuse character, story, and conflict with tools in Reedsy Studio. All for free.