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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

5420+ 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 71 of 362

Shadows In The Nightgarden: Dream Weaver's Dawn

Submitted to Contest #227

A tremor, like a hummingbird's wings brushing against a sleeping rose, rippled through Anya's slumbering form. Memories, fragmented and hazy like mist clinging to a mountaintop, drifted through her consciousness: vibrant landscapes woven from moonlight, the chilling laughter of nightmares echoing through desolate spaces, and a desperate struggle against an encroaching darkness that threatened to consume them all. Then, a jolt. It wasn't a simple awakening nor a gentle nudging from slumber. It was a cosmic earthquake, a sudden eruption of raw...

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Black Widow

Submitted to Contest #227

She twisted the ring around her finger anxiously, absent mindedly wondering if she should just take it off. Who wears a wedding ring on a first date, anyhow? It had been so long since she had been on a first date, and she felt so on-edge and uneasy; the weight of the ring brought her some comfort. She was, after all, wearing the ring when she first met him at the grocery store. He had been so caught up in flirting with her, he didn’t even seem to notice until they made it to the checkout line. She had quickly assuaged his fears by explaining...

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Rime

Submitted to Contest #227

The base was silent and dark. With no crewmembers bustling about, it almost seemed abandoned. No Captain kicking her bootheels on the floor, no Dr Jordan flicking through her papers, and no Ecologist Tommy making a mess of the cryonics chambers and tripping over his own dirty mugs. There was just you. - The cylinder lit up, a glass door sliding open—a wispy steam from the exhaust fumed in the chilled air. The biting air was the first thing you became aware of. It pricked the hair on your arm and stung your nose. It numbed your fingers ...

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The Cold Warmth of a First Snow

Submitted to Contest #227

The beautiful, white, soft rain floats all around my eyes. I can’t help but stare out my bedroom window as I watch its captivating dance. Wrapped up in warmth, I lean my head against the window, feeling the cold glass against my skin, and watching as my breath softly fogs up the glass. Today is the first time it’s snowed this year. Oh, how I love this feeling. And, oh, how I hate it. Memories flood into my mind. Memories of when I was a kid—carefree and full of so much joy.  I remember the first snow of when I was eight years old; It w...

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Do Your Worst

Submitted to Contest #226

“Hi! I’m Claire. You’re in my English class, right? You’re Emmy.” I’m not sure what I replied – I’m sure I at least stuttered.  I knew who she was, if I didn’t know anything else yet at the school I’d been at for a couple of months. Claire was the star, the queen. She was the cheerleading captain and teacher’s pet, the most beautiful and popular girl with the crowd of next-most-popular girls in her wake.  She smiled at me and sailed down the hall, a titter waving through the crowd that moved with her. I h...

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Snow (or, Mr. Sherman Announces his Retirement)

Submitted to Contest #227

Snow. Some love it. Some hate it. As for me? Well, I, Lena Levy, love AND hate snow. That means that my opinion on snow depends on when it falls. For example, since I am an interfaith Jew, it angers me to see snow fall before the fall Jewish holidays conclude. Thankfully, that type of snowfall has never happened in my lifetime. Also, I hate snow days that fall on what were originally going to be test days for me. Why? They result in more studying for me. GRR! This has happened a few times. Oh, and, in my honest opinion, snow should NOT fall...

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Contagic

Submitted to Contest #226

I was infected when I was fourteen. Magic is contagious. Not everyone that is exposed will become infected, just the ones with the right predisposition. The right genetic markers or certain kinds of life experiences – usually some form of trauma or abuse. Those kinds of experiences left physical remnants, damaged DNA, malfunctioning cellular machinery, and abnormal brain waves. Then, if that person is further unfortunate enough to be exposed to magic, they will become contaminated. This often manifested as a malignant magic prone to certa...

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Spiral

Submitted to Contest #226

She didn’t know when she first noticed the ring inside the mansion on 3rd Street. Her job was to clean the mansion weekly. In the beginning, she only gave the ring a glance. She’d walk into the room to clean it and she’d clean around the ring. But she never touched it. She’d never thought about it much either. Yes it was beautiful, with its gold band dotted with diamonds that led to the biggest gem she’d ever seen sitting on top. It was a curse that came with her job. She was forced to clean things that she’d never get to own. She lived...

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The Greatest Myth

Submitted to Contest #226

It feels great to feel nothing. It was slow to get here. Every cut took seconds to make, the decision to make them took hours. How many? How deep? With what instrument? Ten, five on each arm, straight horizontal lines forming tiny ladders. Deep enough to easily pry open with your fingers. With my fathers favorite kitchen knife, eight inches, stainless steel, and sharpened every day after dinner. It's time, I feel the abyss growing. My eyelids are gaining weight. Not much longer now. I use my final seconds to appreciate my creation. Scanning ...

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The Last Potato

Submitted to Contest #226

“You’re better than this,” Peter thought as his weakening eyes struggled to remain locked onto his prey. “It’s the last one. You can do this”.  Sat in the centre of a greasy ceramic dish, littered by the crumbs of his fallen comrades, a lone roast potato continued to steam away into the air untouched by the rest of the occupants around the dinner table. From below, where the action took place, out of the view of his two kids and partner who was spending a considerably long time in the bathroom; Peter’s belly extended beyond the confides...

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GRACE TO BETTER

Submitted to Contest #226

Scheme, manipulate, deceive and shun, these are all things we face on the road to better. The world is cruel and crumbling at the knees of the people who roam it. Lies soar, the women beg, the children have become lions and yet they call it fair. A system of thieves and dragons, you either live or live dead, either join the game or be at the mercy of it.  Until You showed up.  Sleep  It was Benevia, in the year of the reign of King Ozed. I was ten years old then, a refugee is what they said I was, I didn’t know any less, and w...

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Sunflowers and Roses

Submitted to Contest #226

4:29pm: “Will you set these on the table?” Mrs. Rosenthal handed her daughter, Maya, eight folded napkins. Mrs. Rosenthal suffered from severe OCD, so she was a perfectionist. She had spent over thirty minutes in Home Goods yesterday morning holding up different napkins with different napkin rings to see which matched better. “The cream may be too harsh against the dark wood table,” she thought, “perhaps I’ll get a tablecloth as well.” “If I get a deep autumnal red tablecloth, then the gold napkin rings would work better,” she continu...

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To better myself

Submitted to Contest #226

When I first got hired to work at the museum. My biggest concern was how was I going to go through the whole day just standing. My poor black leather coach loafers. My poor feet. One week into working, it felt like labour at its finest.  My manager was a crude. She was also five foot four, skinny, whiny and an alcoholic. I was an actress paving the way for myself. During the job interview, when she asked me why I wanted the job, I paused for a slight second. I could tell her the truth, tell her I’m just here for a short time, to pay o...

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She Just Wanted You To Understand

Submitted to Contest #226

Evelyn used to be smart. She used to be at the top of her class; one of the smartest girls in school. Every school year, she would be the recipient of the Principal’s Award for maintaining an overall 4.0 average. She was involved in two after-school extra-curriculars, which often resulted in her staying at school until 6:00 pm almost every day. She had a part-time job too, as a retail associate. It wasn’t much, and she didn’t work crazy hours, but it was enough to save some money for university tuition. Evelyn was a high achiever, worked p...

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Scratch Cupcakes

Submitted to Contest #226

Middle school sucks! My mom told me not to use that crude word unless it was for emphasis.  It sucks hard.  I don’t know if I know what that means exactly, but things went from bad to apocalyptic since Black Friday at my school.  But you are asking, “Kids aren’t in school on Black Friday, Josh” and you would be correct. That is one reason why my story is beyond bizarre.  Hi! I’m Joshua Carpenter.  I attend Daniel Webster Middle School, in Brunswick, Connecticut, seventh grade.  Go Paladins!  I am a dece...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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