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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

4900+ Speculative Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Looking to explore terrains beyond Earth and stretch the limits of your imagination? Welcome to the Internet’s best source of speculative fiction stories.

Speculative Short Stories – Page 307 of 327

And They Shall Inherit the Stars

Submitted to Contest #72

Quinlan and Vienna were out getting coffee when the stars started falling from the sky. They fell right past the clouds sloshing into their cups with a soft splashing sound. Vienna picked one up with the edge of her left pinky; it was a blue star and it was dying and neither she nor Quinlan said a word until it faded, just a shadow of light on Vienna’ fingertip. Then Vienna stirred her cup of coffee and Quinlan just stared into his own cup as though it was made of miracles. In a way, it was. “Stars,” Quinlan said. It was only another wo...

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Ones and Zeros

Shortlisted for Contest #72 ⭐️

The smell of coffee woke Kasey up. A voice, feminine and husky, chimed, "Good morning, Officer Roman. Your uniform has been laid out along with the jacket I anticipate you will want. The current temperature is -2 degrees Celsius."  Kasey's eyes blinked open; the ceiling stared back. "Based on traffic patterns, the time it will take for you to get dressed, and the speed at which you finish your coffee, you will arrive at work at 9:12." That was almost on time. Kasey stood, stretched, and drank the coffee slowly. The small flat consisted...

34 likes 11 comments 11
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More Than a Bargain

Submitted to Contest #72

How many months has it been? Two? Three? I lost count. My friends and family have left me to rot. It seems that they’ve given up on a jobless 35-year-old man who has no future. Was it my fault that the company I worked for would close down? I spent years of my life in that tiny cubicle, slaving away for a meager salary. What did I get in return? Nothing but misery. Because of my ungodly work hours, I never had time to socialize let alone get a girlfriend or a wife. It sure is pitiful. Now, I am living in a derelict apartment that stinks...

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You can't predict this

Submitted to Contest #72

Hello, I am Pac. I am not what you would call an ordinary person. In fact, I am not even one at all. I am a computer. A very sophisticated computer, and I can do something that some people call making life boring. I predict what every person on the Earth will do in a week. I am always right, too. It is helpful when it comes to dealing with crimes, since I know who will do it on exactly the day they will do it. My programmer has become a successful person due to making sure I can do this effectively. The only problem, is she become somewhat o...

7 likes 1 comment 1
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Linus

Submitted to Contest #72

Linus I’m not a conscript of nostalgia, but sometimes when you are cleaning out the closet, you find something that causes you to remember something you’ve forgotten about. It happens to me, most often during the holiday season. Why, I am not sure. Perhaps, it maybe that I’m at my most vulnerable, during that time. I was unpacking Christmas ornaments, when I realized that I had wrapped each memorable glistening globe, complete with its silvery bent hook, in newspaper; the funny papers to be exact. I like to use the co...

8 likes 0 comments 0
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The Introvert

Shortlisted for Contest #72 ⭐️

You stand with your finger pressed to the doorbell.  At first, no one answers. The temptation to turn away, to leave it for tomorrow, for never, is almost overpowering. Sweat breaks across the back of your neck. Your stomach turns over. But then you hear a voice. Come in, they say. Now you must step inside. You want to kill her. She did this to you. But she is already dead. * Thanks to the aunt who always showed up at Christmas dinners and Easter lunches, dressed like Audrey Hepburn at one of her glam parties, with a dirty martini balan...

25 likes 8 comments 8
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Intuitivity

Submitted to Contest #72

Intuitivity When I received the notice, I set it on the desk with all the others. Applying for jobs has gotten to be an exercise in futility, but one I can’t afford to abandon. Not a joke, not a last-ditch effort to procrastinate my way to a better world. I needed to find work. Not just for the money, which I needed desperately, but I was turning into a bowl of Jell-O fruit salad. I was that grape suspended in the green shimmering coagulated mess of what Auntie had insisted I take home with me after our, “old fashioned,...

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Aquatic Ambassador (the sequel to "Submarine Academy")

Submitted to Contest #72

I sat on a padded seat next to a bubble window in the lounge and sipped from a cup of hot tea. The warmth from it felt good. Every so often, I saw a vertical stream of foam and larger bubbles flow past the window. The school's exterior lights were dimming since it was getting closer to bedtime. Beyond their shrinking, darkening perimeter, it was as dark as the night sky above my home back on dry land. All that was missing were the stars. But what swam out there, at these depths? Sperm whales, probably, and giant squid; then there were th...

22 likes 62 comments 62
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Aging Improves the Flavor

Submitted to Contest #71

Here I am, trying to remember something from centuries ago, and I’ll be damned if it isn’t almost impossible. I may have bitten off more than I can chew. My cooking group decided to do this, not me. Still, I didn’t want to protest, and accepted the challenge. That’s the whole problem. I’ll try to explain. We are supposed to prepare a baked good that was a signature creation by a grandparent. This is going to be painful. What follows should explain why. Baked goods? Hmmm... I have very few memories of my grandmother, but they would fill a b...

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Weathersby's Honor

Submitted to Contest #72

Weathersby's Honor These roads ain’t what they used to be. Remember when it took half a day to get out here. Usually having to fix a couple of flat tires, wench yourself out of the mud, and hope no one took you for a government man. Good things time have changed. Now you can break the law in plain sight and people don’t even look twice. Not like it was back when I was a kid. People knew what sticking together meant. And if you didn’t, well, you didn’t need worry about it for long. “You Jerome Weathersby...

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Bad Press

Submitted to Contest #71

“Stop sending me that post!” “Not until you agree with me! It’s perfect timing.” Tallon was relentless.  “Okay, tell me about it again.” I was dicing carrots for next weeks beef barley soup. Tallon wiped her hands on her apron and started her pitch for Calgary’s Cookie Clusterf*ck. “Each team brings a dozen cookies, twelve judges try all the cookies in a very top secret dramatic fashion.” She rushed through the logistics. “BUT, the winner... “ She paused dramatically, waiting for me to bite. “The WINNER gets an article in Canadian...

4 likes 8 comments 8
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Poor to be Rich

Submitted to Contest #72

It was just another day in the life of Michael Andrews, when he heard a knock on his front door. He was expecting anyone so he was quite curious as to whom it could be. As he approached, he could feel a change in the Universe. Not knowing who could be here he knew nothing would ever be the same. Michael pens the door, only to find a simple woman standing there in a suit and carrying a suit case. “Hi, my name is Alexandria Delevine; I am a lawyer with Delevine & Dramose. I just have a couple of things to go over with you, Would it be ok ...

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Flight of Fancy

Submitted to Contest #72

Leeza woke up with a start, bathed in sweat. She’d been having one of those weird dreams, parts of which were recurring. Her shrink said they were replete with suppressed memories and significant objects, but she knew they were her brain’s way of saving her from having to resort to electroerasure therapy. She was in a classroom, the walls of which were painted aquamarine, and decorated with stuck-on pictures of fish. This gave her the feeling of being inside an aquarium. Outside the classroom, there was a lot of noise; children were play...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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I'm Not at Home

Submitted to Contest #72

Title: I'm Not at HomeAuthor: HaripriyaAuthors Note: Hello everyone! I hope you are having a fantastic Friday and had a great week! Since I am really fond of the genre of science-fiction, I thought that this story was going to be perfect when picking which one to write. I went on a different route in this story, but all in all, tried to make everything fit the prompt. Hopefully, this choice was a good one! I hope you like the way I approached this prompt, and I hope you all have a blast reading!Preface: During the 21st century, a lot of...

60 likes 33 comments 33
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A Moon Rose

Submitted to Contest #71

A woman dressed in a black rain jacket wanted to scream at the clouds and the torrents of rain sending her curly hair into a wild frizz. But sending a tangled wail of thoughts into the angry sky would attract attention, so for this reason, she preferred to remain silent.  As the downpour continued, the woman pulled a hoodie over her head, trying to keep herself; and the package, safe. Two more blocks until she would reach the metro station and take off to the house before the rain soaked through her clothes completely. The woman w...

70 likes 23 comments 23
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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