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Looking for a steady supply of teens & young adult short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.

5400+ Teens & young adult Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Looking for the best short stories for teens? Our collection of funny, suspenseful, and relatable young adult short stories will meet your needs.

Teens & young adult Short Stories – Page 64 of 361

A Slice and a Half of Apple with a Teaspoon of Peanut Butter

Submitted to Contest #235

I have always hated going to the doctor. They ask too many questions, and they stare at me intently with kind eyes while I try to answer. This appointment in particular has been worrying me for the last day, ever since the incident at soccer practice yesterday, when Eliza was tearing down the field during a scrimmage and I went in for a slide tackle, winning the ball, and instantly felt a sharp pop in my knee and excruciating pain shooting through my body. The whole thing was my fault; I should have gotten to the ball sooner. I was a jun...

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Time to Breathe

Submitted to Contest #234

What if after all these years I’m not the one he’s supposed to be with? How do I cope with the fact that he did love her at one point? That he had such serious feelings for her and they went away, but what if they come back? What if she’ll always be this piece in his life? We’re similar. She’s an older sister with one younger brother. She’s close to her family. She’s beautiful too and way more God oriented than I am. No, but I shouldn’t be comparing myself. I don’t want to, but they have things in common that aren’t my interests. Seven ye...

4 likes 2 comments 2
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When I Was Her Hero

Submitted to Contest #234

Never in a father’s life is he ready for the day that he is expected to turn his daughter over to the arms of another man. Never in my life was that a moment I was prepared for. It was a moment that people joked about. “She’s gorgeous, Ledger!” My friends would tease. “Pretty soon, the boys will be knocking at the door like crazy!” “Yeah?” I’d always snorted, waving them off like they had mush for brains. Because my little girl was my little girl. She wasn’t going anywhere. She was just a baby. My baby who loved to play with Barbies and ...

13 likes 9 comments 9
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One Day

Submitted to Contest #234

I was tired, and cold despite the four layers of blankets that weighed on me. The T.V. hanging high on the wall was turned off and the three chairs crowded tight around facing me were empty. The curtains to the right of my bed past the chairs were drawn open revealing bright spring leaves brushing back and forth behind the window. It made a constant crunching sound that wasn’t unpleasant, but I couldn’t hear it. I stared out to the leaves not seeing or hearing anything other than my thoughts.  Whispers of regret swirled in my head of t...

4 likes 2 comments 2
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Just Another Day

Submitted to Contest #234

It didn’t take long before I was back, staring blankly at my computer screen, wondering how to respond to my teacher’s request. A writing prompt with the words : Explain in full detail what you do if you were given the ability to time travel. What time would you go back to? Why? I was only a few weeks into this creative writing class that I had practically forced onto my schedule and I was already writing more than anything else. If it’s not a prompt, it’s an essay. If not that, then I have to write out the date on my paper, rather than simp...

3 likes 1 comment 1
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A Lesson in Dreaming

Submitted to Contest #234

Shen had never fought so hard in his life. His legs quivered, and his arms barely held themselves up, much less his wooden training sword. His teacher, Master Fukuhashi, stood diametrically against him within the dojo. Despite the long training session, Master’s stance was still strong and ready as he faced down his student. “Young Shen,” he said, “finish this fight.” The boy hesitated. He knew what his teacher wanted him to do but not how to achieve that goal. He tried to analyze the situation, picturing the many different scenarios in hi...

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The Silent Dream

Submitted to Contest #234

Once upon a time, I myself had the pleasure of making the acquaintance a very unique soul. It was in fact a miracle that he even wanted to acknowledge the existence of someone like me, for I was an uninvited guest to his wondrous pity party in those days. But I guess even condescending miserable men such as he sometimes need a sort of connection to the more wondrous world that exists outside of their own head. As a child, I hated being known as a nerd. But when that charming trait opened the doors for me to attend Oxford University in Engl...

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Delays and Dangerous Ends

Submitted to Contest #234

Dear Rose, You and time have lots in common. Time spurns me, yet it is kind to the stars. It sends us their light across an infinite expanse of dark nothingness, mocking me with the possibility of seeing something that’s already long gone. Do you ever read these letters? Or are they also victims of time, left to fade and yellow until all that remains is a dusty silhouette of us?I am writing to you on the patio. None of our old stars are visible tonight. It was only when you came over and sat in the wicker chair beside me, bundled i...

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Coffee Talk

Submitted to Contest #234

Jacob showed up at my house at 1:30 pm, the same time he did every Saturday. I watched him pull in the driveway from my window before seeing the “here” text on my phone. Unlike usual, I wasn’t outside on the front steps waiting for him. Instead, I was lingering by the door, wondering how long I could stay in the house before he drove away without me when my phone buzzed for a second time.  “you coming?” I debated replying with a last minute excuse. A “sorry, just caught a stomach bug,” would do. It might as well have been true, my st...

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In the Hall of Two Truths

Submitted to Contest #234

“We have all the time in the world,” she said. I think that was supposed to be reassuring, but her expression was hard to read. The Assessors sat silently, heads bowed in fealty. I tried my best to emulate their formal demeanor, but I desperately wanted to ask about the turquoise feathers sprouting from her arms. After an excruciating wait, I was finally at the head of a massive line that wound its way through the dimly-lit hall. Throngs of people bunched together just enough that you felt obligated to ask each one if they were in line ...

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Wake Up Call

Submitted to Contest #234

The highway glimmers with light rain, the dark evening’s street lights reflecting in the ripples. The car’s heater breaks the soundless drive. The restaurant was a busy shift tonight, and Dave had worked an event evening for a local wedding party. Whilst he drove the long highway towards home, his phone rang with a familiar ringtone that signaled it was his son calling, Avery. He reached blindly into the glove compartment, retrieving the ringing device and answered it, putting it on speaker.       “Hey,” He gree...

7 likes 2 comments 2
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The Deception of Time

Submitted to Contest #234

TW: death, chronic illness “We have all the time in the world,” I say to Kyrollos as I break apart from his embrace. I don’t meet his gaze as I look around me, eyeing out who can see us. We sit in the school library, doing anything but studying. Which isn’t wise since it’s our last year before we graduate. I’m usually a rule follower but lately, Kyrollos has been very convincing with getting me to just spend time with him. He’d always say, “Just live a little, Vero.” Vero isn’t my name, Verena is and yet, I don’t think I’ve ever heard t...

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It was D!

Submitted to Contest #234

A Dondle McGrewfin fealt uneasy about Clara's situation.B The author used juxtaposition to emphasize the importance of humility.C Clara is a wombat.D Clara wanted to show off her talents.“I don’t know!” The question in question is, of course, asking what is the best description for the scene in which Clara wet her bed. If only Tanya could remember what juxtaposition meant! She figured she would guess ‘B’ anyway because the rest of the answers didn’t require learning any hard words and it was definitely not D. Then again, Clara certainly coul...

4 likes 3 comments 3
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Stolen Moments

Submitted to Contest #234

We almost never have a moment to ourselves. If I’m not cleaning, I’m folding, if not that, I’m cooking, if not that I’m helping one of the older women with their cooking, cleaning, and folding. Free time around here isn’t something you advertise you have. When I realized I had finished all my chores a bit earlier than expected, I trekked down to the river and waded in, ankle deep, to look for tadpoles. The water is cold- almost icy. It’s only April so it hasn’t had the chance to warm in the late Spring and Summer sun. It’s refreshing to me s...

4 likes 1 comment 1
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6:47 PST

Winner of Contest #234 🏆

What has four faces, eight arms, and can’t tell time? The clock tower at Union Station. Four clocks on the tower and none of them run? I mean, what’re the odds? I peer up at the time and shade my eyes. It’s 6:47 pm. Always is, always will be. And all anyone knows is that on a Monday the world was a loud, frantic place and Tuesday it wasn’t. Tuesday? Really? The world should’ve ended on a Saturday. Saturdays are fun. Used to be anyway. But no. We get eternal friggin Tuesday afternoon where nothing changes. Ever. Good news though— we’re ...

143 likes 75 comments 75
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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