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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.

11120+ 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 663 of 742

The Backup Dancer

Submitted to Contest #73

There she goes again. She thinks that because she is the lead dancer, she can do whatever she likes. Where is she going this time ? If she catches the Covid virus, she will have to self-isolate, and then I, her backup dancer, will have to take her place in the show. And it is not just one performance, but the show continues, without a live audience of course, for every day over Christmas and into the New Year. But I just want a rest. All this changing of the Covid rules, seemingly from day to day, is getting me ...

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Game Over

Submitted to Contest #74

Trigger warning: Death They took off my ventilator. Ten seconds left. Before I lose. Ten. I stayed at home. I washed my hands. I wore a mask the rare times I went outside. I adapted to the online classes, the Zoom birthday parties and the occasional awkward family group call. I texted till my thumbs were sore and watched television till my eyes were red. Nine.I did it all. I tried. But it wasn’t enough. Clearly. The people who did nothing to save themselves were saved. I did everything to save myself. But it caught up to me. I ran until my l...

119 likes 195 comments 195
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The Journey Begins_ But Still same place

Submitted to Contest #73

What if Life: – L- Lesson: Life is a lesson we all learn in everyway at all times. … E-Enjoyment: Life is an adventure. L i F e :——– The meaning of life is that which we choose to give it. Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored. Earl Nightingale I am nothing...

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Dear Santa

Submitted to Contest #73

24th December 2020 Dear Santa, I’m lonely. I think I have lost my last marble. I mean, what am I doing writing a letter to someone who does not exist? I never even wrote you a letter as a child, what the hell am I doing? Anyway, Santa, I’ve been bad. Really bad. I’ve ruined lives. Mine included… Why am I telling you this? I mean, you’re supposed to know everything right? But I guess, as they say, confession is good for the soul… I feel like I have not slept in a year. Is it pathetic that the only person I have to talk to is...

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Mommy and Sparkle

Submitted to Contest #73

One week before Christmas Eve 2005, I received a call from a nursing home. My adoptive mother had been hospitalized after suffering several grand mal seizures. She was scheduled to come move in with my wife and I in two days. In the meantime, we got the call from the animal hospital that we had to come and pick up her parrot, Sparkle. My mother had owned Sparkle for 57 years, and the bird was part of her day to day life. I was not looking forward to caring for this bird, partly because I didn’t know the first thing a...

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Life Unscripted

Submitted to Contest #73

The unceasing sky being observed by my eyes, dabbled by the clouds, passing endless vibes. Here I am, resting on my back and letting my gaze upward, enjoying the nothing that is everything. I often spot myself, deeply contemplating on the fact that how come some people try to replace their traumatic thoughts by the temporary peaceful scenarios they seize often in their routines. This place where I am now, the bridge between the two lakes in the middle of the orchard, is the least I can escape from those past years I wish were a dream, behind...

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Free Like A Bird

Submitted to Contest #73

Christmas. The saddest time of the year for me. But nationally supported as the happiest time. "Here, open this one next!" My sister eagerly shoved a present at me and I caught it, fumbling for it clumsily. I smiled tiredly at her and she beamed back. I tore off the wrapping. A sweater. "Thanks, Hennah. This is so soft." My parents looked at each other, nodding slightly. "We got something for you, too, Eris." "Thanks, guys." Dad left, coming back in with a covered cage. I pressed my lips together. "It's a bird!" he said excitedly, ri...

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A Christmas Crow: The Heartwarming Tale of a Murder

Submitted to Contest #73

“Looking back, it was one of the most surreal places to sit two days before Christmas. The man in the grey suit and the holly printed tie was a far cry from the visit with Santa I had been looking forward to. But Momma had coaxed me into my new Sunday dress, filling me with promises of gifts from Great-Grandma Zelma. My memories of my great-grandma are few and sporadic. She had been eccentric, a bit too eccentric for much of our family. I now realize how shocked my parents must have been to receive an invitation to the reading of her last...

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What does it mean when you see a white dove?

Submitted to Contest #73

‘It’s a dove,’ He condescended to inform me, ‘you know… peace, unity and happiness all of that.’ I sat in silence. I wasn’t all that sure that that’s what doves represented at all. And what if the doves simply did not want to represent anything? What then? Can doves not simply just be doves if they so, please? He snapped at me then. Daydreaming was a habit of mine for which we did not share fondness. He had certainly made that much clear when ensuring that he kept me and my wandering soul far enough away so that not even the most advent...

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Randy's Bird

Submitted to Contest #73

Someone who is given a bird for the holidays but doesn’t know how to take care of it. The glow of the fireplace warmed my face. Swaddled in blankets, the glistening lights of the tree behind me, I closed my eyes and let the moment sink into my mind. Every little problem melted away like the chocolate chips in my cocoa. A dusty photograph with an old wooden frame stared down at me from the wall. Smiling faces and rosy cheeks wrapped up tightly with red and green scarves. But reality gripped me with cold hands, and I set down the mug. When ...

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The Dove

Submitted to Contest #73

The plane lifted off smoothly and Toronto began to disappear beneath the wind blown clouds. Kyrie rested her forehead against the greasy plastic window and watched the patchwork of fields, the ribbons of rivers, the buttons of moors, blur beneath the jet. It was a quiet Christmas Eve flight with little turbulence, but for Kyrie it seemed to last forever. The desire to get quickly home surprised her, since whenever she was at home she wished to be away. Her home, the tired five-room apartment with grey walls and handful of smudged windows, on...

101 likes 29 comments 29
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Two Turtle Doves

Submitted to Contest #73

 "Okay. What to do now." Seoul Bak had a birdcage with two turtle doves locked inside on the kitchen table in a lonely apartment, and she was trying to figure out what just happened. It was 8 p.m. She was getting ready to start her daily bath when someone knocked on the door. "God, why now," she groaned as she opened it. On the opposite side of the door stood Cene Parker, hiding something behind his back.Seoul and Cene were childhood friends and she had a crush on him ever since high school but lacked the courage to tell ...

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When in Doubt, Ask the Internet

Submitted to Contest #73

She gave me a parrot for Christmas. But that’s a loose interpretation of what happened. What really happened was this: my doorbell rang, and upon answering it, I saw her waving from the street before she stepped into a red SUV with him and drove off into her new sunset.         I stared at the SUV’s taillights. I ran my hand over my five o’clock shadow and said, “Hope you’re happy, June.” “Hope you’re happy.” I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard my words repeated back to me in a familiar, bird...

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Voiceless Poet

Submitted to Contest #73

"I don't want to hear it!" The director yelled at me. "But-" I started. " NO!" He said and walked away. It really wasn't my fault that Christmas tree on set fell over. Well, I thought to myself at least I got noticed. I walked back over to my make-up station and gathered what little things I had there and headed out to my car. Thankfully my car started this time because I felt the looming auditorium suffocating me. ________ _______________ ____________ ______________ I flopped on my couch with the grilled cheese I had just made and switched ...

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Her Father Was on Her Christmas List

Submitted to Contest #73

Coming back from the funeral, the girl sat on the loveseat as her mother opened yet another photo album of her father, specifically his college years when they first met. They opened the page of her father kneeling down in his red football uniform with his helmet in his left hand and football in the right. The girl smiled at the thought of her dad teaching her to throw the ball when she was a little girl but her smile quickly fading as he was no longer there to teach her how to catch. The family continued mourning the loss of her father, a...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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