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

7360+ Science fiction Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Whether you’re looking for daring space battles or chilling “what if” glimpses of the future, you’ll find what you’re looking for in our collection of free science fiction short stories.

Science fiction Short Stories – Page 478 of 491

Spilt Milk

Submitted to Contest #39

History speaks of the overview effect, which astronauts feel when seeing earth from space. Carl Sagan, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, they all understood. The earth is a fragile blue dot in the midst of an inexplicable universe. In 2160, this fragile blue dot was coming to an end, and the overview effect Mathew Gozen experienced was layered with dread. He sat, with a glum expression, sighing. Looking out of the window. All the tired, wrinkled old man could see, was a once great blue planet starting to burn up in flames, as dark clouds exploded...

12 likes 7 comments 7
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The Weight Of Our Mistakes

Submitted to Contest #39

July 14, 2050I am not the reason I'm the last one here. I am not at fault for this. Yet I am the last human being in this universe. Everyone else? Well, the plague wiped out the entire human population overnight. Except me, that is. Am I immune? Special? Abnormal? A freak? None of these I can answer. All I can do is stare at the empty city. Country. World. And wonder: WHY? WHY ME? The once glimmering, busy city now looks like a scene right out of wall-E. The sun doesn't shine. Plants don't grow. Life is obliterated to its bleakest extent. Wh...

19 likes 4 comments 4
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The Human within the N'Chusa

Submitted to Contest #39

The stars blinked at him as though trying to reveal a secret. Morse code, he thought? But he had never ever bothered to learn it. Maybe there is another human, or humans, out there in space trying to find their way home back to earth. And they just want to know if earth is still habitable.He had never been much of a star gazer but it takes confinement to prompt you into new interests. Now he knew which stars were prone to miss attendance some days...at least the ones he could see from the small barred window.The thought that kept him aw...

24 likes 11 comments 11
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Am I Really Alone?

Submitted to Contest #39

It was quiet. All she heard was the summer breeze, the rustle of the grass, and the sound of her own two feet walking. No birds, no car engine starting, and no humans. This was the first time, quite frankly, that Megan had ever felt truly alone. Where on earth had everyone gone? One moment, there were people walking in the streets, and the next people vanished all at once. Megan knew she wasn’t a scientific genius, but from what she could tell, there is no apparent reason why or even how this was actually happening. Millions of thoughts were...

17 likes 2 comments 2
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Desolate Teens

Submitted to Contest #39

Karen gasped as a wave of consciousness flooded through her body. Ever since the alien invasion that happened just recently, she was knocked out cold. She didn't know how long she was knocked out, nor why she wasn't taken by the aliens.She sat up, wincing as her body ached under the pressure. Her head throbbed, and her muscles felt like a plate of jello."Hello?" She called. The terrain around her was desolate. "Mom? Dad? Ricky?" Her family didn't reply. She started to quiver with fear, and with cold as the icy wind whipped against her bare s...

5 likes 0 comments 0
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Finding Meaning

Submitted to Contest #39

Ash swirled from her footprints, her head hung low, as shards of a past life, a story, came into view. Shreds of plastic bottles, toy trucks, and broken chairs. Her home was a void. She was the only person on Earth. Quick thinking, Carol began to make some plans and get to work. What else was she to do, but repair the Earth by herself? It is determined that as the last alive, she must live up to all humans would want of her as the last human to live. She sets up camp in the dusty remains of her city. She takes what she needs from s...

10 likes 3 comments 3
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The Real Reason We Went

Submitted to Contest #39

Wednesday the 27th June 2027, that was the day I was inducted into BIED. I remember vividly sitting in a conference room surrounded by about 20 or so other recruits. There was crappy coffee and weird biscuits. Everyone awkwardly mingled, pretending to be cool and mysterious; but really everyone was absolutely buzzing to be joining a government agency. You could spot the actual astronauts a mile off, they have presence and… muscles, it was vaguely distracting. I was joining the on the ground tech team, an apprentice. I had to be honest with m...

10 likes 4 comments 4
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Two Strangers Two Survivors

Submitted to Contest #39

The dirt and debris from old buildings and who knows what else littered the ground. Fifteen-year-old Saxon Cooke looked around seeing if he could find anything salvageable in the abandoned but there was nothing. It was just like the other places he’d stumbled across. No food or clothing then again he would have been happy with just a tattered blanket but nothing. He tightened his grip on the straps of his navy blue backpack and continued to walk. He hadn’t even seen another human in days. Or maybe it was weeks? He couldn’t keep track of time...

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They asked me casually, "hey tell me about the woman you think of as a hero"

Submitted to Contest #39

Silence prevailed like an overbearing cacophony. The wall clock kept nudging consistently, only I would occasionally look at it to register its I-know-it-all look for the umpteenth time. Intermittent beeps from the cardiograph challenged my patience, the saline supply jeered at my determination to not let go. A pungent odour was concentrating so hard on choking me, that I almost believed, that’s the only task it was born to execute. Stuck in a loop, half sure of how pleasurable the exit would be, I hung on.This was not even about me anymore....

4 likes 1 comment 1
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From another perspective

Submitted to Contest #39

In here up is down, left is right and nothing really matters. Earth is a tiny, glistening marble, so fragile… everything seems so small and insignificant. The tree in my parents’ backyard I used to climb, I know every branch and every leaf of that tree like I’d built them myself, but I can’t see it from here, as if it had never existed. I run my finger over the picture of my only child and smile. You are why I am here, I want to make you proud. You deserve it all. If I could pluck the Earth out of the sky and put it in a jar, I would do it, ...

6 likes 6 comments 6
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Adam and Eve

Submitted to Contest #39

I never did think, despite all past events and unexpected turns, considering what I know of the world and of myself, against all odds, that I would be the last person on Earth. I have managed to keep myself grounded; my flat is more or less what is was before everything ended, but with a few minor changes. The electric hob is now a small gas camping stove (the hob and oven were hell to get out of the building), and all the useless light fittings are in a pile next to the door. Of course, all the electricity failed as soon as the power statio...

3 likes 0 comments 0
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Change

Submitted to Contest #39

THERAPY LOGPATIENT: STEPHEN PINKERTONPATIENT HISTORY:Arrested on 06 December 3034 for domestic violence, sentenced to one month in minimum-security prison and court-mandated therapy for three yearsTotal of twelve parking tickets and five speeding tickets since patient turned eighteenMultiple reports of unfair treatment from workplace subordinates, no action takenDATE OF FIRST APPOINTMENT: 14 MAY 203512 JUNE 2035 Stephen came in for his first appointment since he first started seeing me. He was supposed to come every week, but evidently he ha...

4 likes 5 comments 5
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Six Days

Submitted to Contest #39

Marco~It's been six days since the world ended. Six days. And I am the only person left. Six days ago, an Asteroid hit Earth, wiping out all of human existence. But I was the only survivor. Funny enough, I was sleeping. Through the whole thing. But it wasn't really sleep, it was more like a daze. The daze was like a sleepless dream. I was sitting on my bed, and all of a sudden I just passed out. Images and memories crossed my mind, dancing around my brain, showing themselves in front of my eyes. I could hear everything fine, but I was pretty...

5 likes 0 comments 0
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Sunrise

Submitted to Contest #39

I walked outside and looked out the window on the eastern side of my house. The view of the sunrise was always best from that window. But there was not any light coming from the window. Instead, light came from the western window. That can’t be right…  “Dean, what’s going on? Is it night and this is a sunset? Why is this happening?” “I… I don’t know. My clock says it is 5:30 a.m. so this should be a sunrise. I have no idea what’s going on,” I can’t believe this is happening. “Are we on a different planet?” “How would...

30 likes 23 comments 23
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All Mine Forever

Submitted to Contest #39

It had been 3 weeks since the bombs rained down. I had eaten a couple dogs and was feeling completely insane. I was numb. Being alone was the worst part. I was cleaning up the pool after the annual pool party when it hit. My body naturally dove into the water. Somehow it felt like my instincts knew I could not come up for air for several minutes. Because of swimming I knew how to hold my breath for 4 minutes at most. That day I swear it felt like I was down there for hours. The thoughts began racing as my vision became more and more closed. ...

10 likes 1 comment 1
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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