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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.

150+ 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 6 of 10

One More Day

Submitted to Contest #317

Machines hummed and whirred alongside Elliot’s bed, their soft prattle feigning a liveliness within his hospital room that belied the sterile casket it was inevitably to become. Other than the rhythm of Lily’s breathing from the chair beside him, living was at a premium within these four walls. Not that it was much of a surprise. His march toward death had been slow, and had increasingly left little vacancy for vibrancy. It was fine; Elliot knew his time was drawing to a close. Eighty-three years had come and gone; sometimes s...

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Where the Desert Keeps Her

Submitted to Contest #318

Most people only find the Moonlight Motel after they’ve already lost something important — time, a memory, someone they loved, or a version of themselves they can’t seem to properly grieve. It doesn’t show up on GPS. The road that leads to it isn’t paved, or even named. One moment you’re driving across the Mojave with sweat on your upper lip and static on the radio... and next thing you know, you blink and it’s there: a glowing oasis off the shoulder of nowhere, pulsing faintly under the weight of starlight. The air around it tastes like ozo...

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Cloverville at Odds: Singing Flowers Cause Treble in Community

Submitted to Contest #317

What was once hailed as a modern marvel of magical discovery has quickly turned into a flashpoint in the community, as the public becomes sharply divided over the Magical Floral Reanimation Project. Recent polling shows a sharp decline in support for the Department of Magical Landscaping’s recent “Garden Song” installation. ”It was cute at first,” said Barney Larson, 47, who lives next to the garden installation. “But the daffodils have gotten off key, the gardenias have switched solely to opera, and the pansies have moved onto stand-up come...

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Remembering Henri

Submitted to Contest #317

(Newark International Airport, 1990...) Lingering over bad coffee at Joe’s was going to cost him. Henri had found many things to like about the United States during his gap year, except for the coffee. He’d given it one last shot that morning at Joe’s Diner, at first lured by the giant neon coffee cup that had blinked invitingly in the window, and then by the chatty, red-headed waitress who’d called him “sweetie pie” and “honey bun.” Alas, it had been just another sad cup, and now … Henri glanced at his wristwatch. Already nine o’clock! His ...

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I'd Give My Life To Have You Back

Submitted to Contest #317

The hands on the grandfather clock in the living room of my grandfather's house fly around, counter-clockwise. I squeeze my eyes closed as the last 40 minutes or so play in reverse around me. I can hear the sounds of the events, though they’re muffled, almost inaudible. I can feel myself moving backwards through the motions and the emotions too. As the clock rewinds, the events that occurred disappear. I get to choose the moment they begin to be rewritten. I choose now. The hands on the antique clock pause for a brief moment and then begin a...

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Hidden in Time

Submitted to Contest #317

“So, that’s you?” “That is correct, James.” “You’re a baby, Sarah.” “I know, James.” “Help me out here. How could you co-exist with your younger self?” “I told you, I have no idea. I don't understand that stuff at all.” “Eight billion people on this planet, and you go to meet yourself as a baby?” “The person I wanted to see the most,” Sarah said, her eyes twinkling. At The Corral Café in south-central Copenhagen, James Grimm and Sarah Nielsen discussed his problem. “When we met,” he said, avoiding the perplexing time-travel paradox for the m...

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Things Best Left Unsaid

Submitted to Contest #317

“Is he going to understand where he is, Dr. Soma?”Somasundaram, but most people call me Soma, the man had said when they met for the first appointment. A doctor in jeans and a worn-out tee I wouldn’t use to wash the floor or even garden in. What happened to a shirt, tie, and white coat?“Not unless you tell him, Ms. Ruhl, certainly not at first, and perhaps not ever…” He paused. “Though he may appear confused or repeat certain questions at times. That’s completely normal.” He let the absurdity of that statement hang in the air, fighting a she...

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Tier 2: Glitchgirl Core

Submitted to Contest #318

Everyone wants to be Tier 1 until they get the welcome kit. Mine arrived in a champagne-scented box shaped like a pill. When I opened it, a voice that sounded like my old guidance counselor chirped: “Congratulations! Your Value Has Been Updated.” Inside: bone-white contact lenses with auto-shimmer, a MoodRegulator™ chip to “balance emotions for optimal likeability,” and a printed Tier 1 schedule. No weekends. No privacy. No time to think. By noon, my wardrobe had been reprogrammed to “Celestial Chic.” By 3PM, I’d been assigned a stylist, a l...

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Run it again

Submitted to Contest #317

Cindy sighed heavily as she left the club, indifferent to the heavy metal door as it slammed shut behind her. Today was a lousy day for tips; customers were lackluster, and no one seemed interested in her tonight. If she were new to the job, it might be enough to hurt her self-esteem. Good thing she ran out of any of that three years ago. She shivered a bit, pulling the collar of her coat closer to her neck to fight the wind. She said a mental prayer that no hobos or scumbags came near her as she made her way to her POS car. As if answering ...

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Barabar (The Caves of Time)

Submitted to Contest #317

Dr. Susan Strong and a handful of colleagues began their intensive study of the Barabar Caves in East India. Even after more than five years of research, each time she stepped inside one of those chambers, a shiver ran down her spine, the same electric sensation she felt on her very first visit.The Barabar Caves weren’t their only focus. They poured themselves into the mysteries of the Ajanta Caves in West India, committing countless hours to examining every chisel mark, every alignment, every haunting echo.The more they uncovered, the more ...

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New York Minute.

Submitted to Contest #318

The turning of seasons is regarded with suspicion and caution in New York City. The coming of Spring, in particular, is always a flip of a coin. Towards the end of Winter New Yorkers are graced with what is referred to as “Fool's Spring”; a teaser among the bitter cold days. Then a few tropical storms followed by wind chill… just to keep everyone on their toes. Traditionally, the city subscribes to the superstition of the Groundhog Prediction; if the critter sees its shadow that's six more weeks of winter. No shadow predicts an early spring,...

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Mind Alterations and Time Adjustment Laboratory

Submitted to Contest #317

I.Enclosed in a remote valley of a barren world was a small lake brimmed by an ever-luscious forest of beautiful trees. Tucked sporadically between pines were quaint buildings decorated with flowers and connected by perfectly maintained paths. The buildings stood innocently one-story above ground which masked the depths of floors that stretched down deeper than their surrounding mountains were high.The complex was one of a few such structures in the Outer Arm that intended to position themselves outside of Kentrolian jurisdiction, O.A.C. jur...

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The Hedge Fund Sparrow

Submitted to Contest #317

A sparrow fluttered past Gerald’s window. It was his fiftieth birthday, and forty years since everything changed. June 5th. The day Grandpa met his demise in the middle of Main Street, run down by a speeding car that didn’t see the old man stumbling across the lanes, searching for something he’d never find. The family unraveled after that. But there was something worth holding on to in that mess. Grandpa loved birds. He often pointed them out as they fluttered over his burgeoning back garden, where Gerald liked to sit as a child and imagine ...

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A Private Inquiry

Submitted to Contest #317

[DISSERTATION]_SavedSources_9683-02-20.dprt [INCOMING DATA PACKET][DATA DECRYPTION COMPLETE] SECURE MESSAGE LOG: Patch,I am not often contacted by fellow Aegismen from our days in service. It has been my great pleasure to assist you in your research for the dissertation you are writing on the “History of Atheos: An Exploration of Humanity’s Response to the Apocalypse.” (An excellent title to be sure, though perhaps a bit wordy?). My search of the archives proved to be useful, and I have thus attached the most relevant of my findings accordin...

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An Interview with Bigfoot

Submitted to Contest #317

~~~~~~~~~The Times Intelligencer Journal~~~~~~~~Thursday, August 28th, 2025 BIGFOOT FOUND How a Hiking Disaster Turned into First Contact Described as “Humble, Peaceful, Intelligent Creatures” The Back-channel Treaty with the US Government In Lifestyle: a Conversation with the Bigfoot at the Center of the Story By James Spektator and Edith Afix Around 9:00 AM on May 27th, 2025, a lone backpacker named Jim was walking the Horseshoe Trail in Redwood National Park. The path is a strenuous one, with several uphill stretches, and on this cool, mi...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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