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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.

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 78 of 362

Silence.

Submitted to Contest #218

It all happened in slow motion and was over in a half a breath. Sayna was animatedly telling her mom about her day at Skyline High school as they drove home. She couldn’t wait until they got there to tell her about the tryouts. She was three weeks from graduation and had been accepted at four of the five different colleges she had applied to, but she had chosen USC. Probably. She had been accepted into Gallaudet, but she wanted to be an actor and USC had graduated more alumni who have gone on to win Academy and Emmy awards than any other in...

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The Mockingbird

Submitted to Contest #218

The scuffing, thudding boots echo up the corridor, then stop at my cell door. That sound is the only sense of time I have in solitary. 15 days down, 350 more to go. With a creaking clank, the rusty serving hatch is forced open, and the breakfast tray is slapped down with even more gusto and disdain than usual.Patting rough hemp blankets and the cold metal bed frame, I feel my way into position before the cell door, then reach out with my good arm and find the little shelf. I whip the tray away as best I can one-handed. Then the hatch is shut...

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As the night settles, so too does this house

Submitted to Contest #218

The walls are alive with zipping current, the refrigerator hums its third-shift duties, the floorboards moan from the day’s trample of little feet and purposeful strides. Be silent! he had yelled when I’d asked about the smell, and I shut my mouth. I can be silent. This house, though, that had once helped nurture the first-time homeowners as we grimaced through the undigested milk and Gerber’s reflux that was commented upon by our coworkers, enjoy it while it lasts; that had once heard delighted squeals, that had once absorbed the pound...

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The Smell of Rotten Eggs

Submitted to Contest #218

I stood in our new duplex with the smell of rotten eggs flowing from the water faucet. Why does this smell continue to haunt me? I recalled when I was a twenty=nine-year-old chef and happily married with two children, until the smell of rotten eggs ruined my life The smell of rotten eggs brings me back to the time that everything in my life changed. This smell, however, was not rotten eggs at all. It was a smell that was identical to rotten eggs, but you probably have never heard of it. After I tell you my story you might understand where th...

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Beneath the Dross

Submitted to Contest #218

The lights went out suddenly. Screams filled the gym faster than smoke pouring in from the hallway as the thunderous herd of students clambered down from the bleachers. Instinctively, I reached for Maddie’s hand and gave it a squeeze, pulling her close. I’d dreamed about this moment with her for months—maybe that’s why it happened so naturally. There had been no smoke in my dreams, and the screams sounded completely different. “Pull your shirt up over your mouth and nose, now! We’ve got to move left, Maddie, toward the locker rooms.” “No...

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Until the End of Time

Submitted to Contest #218

Jeffrey's eyes were open, but he couldn't see. He inhaled water and choked. Salt water. The ocean. He tried holding his breath, but it was too late. Cold waves of panic washed over him as he realized he was about to die in this dark world of muffled splashes and inaudible voices.Suddenly, a pair of hands jerked him from the water by his shirt collar and forced him to his feet. They pounded his back in what seemed to be punishing anger.Jeffrey's sight returned as he threw up all over Mr. Montgomery's white shirt. He found himself standing in ...

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The Discovery

Submitted to Contest #218

The pungent smell of iron hit Merrick’s nose in a tidal wave, hitting the back of his throat and causing him to gag. The smell itself was sharp and bitter, so strong you could taste it, but the implication was far more upsetting than the smell itself. Merrick didn’t know where he was but the strong scent of fresh blood indicated that whatever had happened to him was far from good. When he finally adjusted to the acrid odor he took in his surroundings. He couldn’t see much in the dim moonlight but he could feel the cool damp moss beneath his ...

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This wasn't Supposed to be a Romance Story

Submitted to Contest #218

“You said that this was going to be a simple prank! This isn’t ‘simple’ at all!” “Hush, will you? We’ve already made it past the point of no return. You’re in this for the long run now. So, shut up, and take these.” “W-wait a minute! Ow! These are…no. No, no, no. I did not agree to this! You said we were just going to mess with them a little bit, you did not mention anything about rope or ball gags or–”“Relax. We’re not kidnapping them, but we can’t let them get away either. It’s a temporary thing. Listen, we’re just going to tie t...

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The Ghost of Windrush

Submitted to Contest #218

The clanking and groans of the ship cutting through the grey North Sea provided the beat to a woman’s melodic humming as she soothed her child. Her fingers trace the rounded cheek of a little girl, whose head lolloped in sleep and whose nose made soft snores. A boy who could be fourteen or fifteen, watched the woman tilt her face to capture the spray of seawater, which found its way through cracks in the porthole. Perhaps the woman he watched remembered her faraway sunny home, as her mouth curled up. The salty taste of the sea, mixed with th...

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Collage Prank

Submitted to Contest #218

The stench of sweat filled my nostrils, harsh spikes of floral, and wood mixing in. Move one way and the harsh smell almost resembling nature would make you dizzy. Go the other and flowers hit you like a train, almost knocking you off your feet.  You could practically taste the loud smells if it had not been for the gun powder. The only smell you could taste was sweat, the saltiness constantly abused my tongue. It was hard to keep my mouth closed to stop it.  I was breathing to heavily. One gasp after another. No matter how man...

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Demon of The Chasm

Submitted to Contest #217

Demon of The Chasm  Spirit drained from the journey, the weary villager barged into the tremendous estate. He can’t even bring himself to be lost in the grandeur the noble warrior indulges in. The common area was aglow with life; a troupe of bards played and sang such sweet music of the warrior’s stories of conquest from the great war. The noble warrior, mighty and cunning Apevti himself had glistening goblets studded with jewels overflowing with the finest wines he’d been gifted and acquired in war tours all across the continent in eve...

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Sparkles and Twirls

Submitted to Contest #217

Dear Diary,Well..I am now 16 years old! I have a learner’s permit and am practicing driving. Dad allows me to drive on the way to/from school to band practice. He says I have a lead foot.He strokes his upper lip, where his red mustache used to be, and says, “I need you to practice driving slower so you can drive yourself to school after you get your license.” Does this mean I will get my own car, Diary??!!I met A SPECIAL guy. He is six feet tall, with strawberry blonde hair, and the most beautiful brown eyes. He plays trombone...

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Flat Soda

Submitted to Contest #217

Soda pop, pop, pop. Nose hairs dance. It's hot! Sweat falls down the sides of her curly auburn hair, kissed by the summer sun. Wide, white grin–blue tongues from melted popsicles. She sparkled in the sun like refracted glass. Rainbows dance on the ground. She had that look about her, a fascinating spectacle of chance. The spokes, the wheels, grey–they had lost their luster from heavy use, she spun the pedal slowly on her sky-blue bicycle. "I'm glad we did this!" Sasha said, cooly.  "Me too."  “How long has it been since you've ri...

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Libra Jones and the Entry Level Job

Submitted to Contest #217

Libra Jones copied the list of times from email and pasted them into another. She flicked back and forth between the Outlook calendar, her inbox, and the Excel spreadsheet of product updates. Her eyes burned from staring at the small screen of the MacBook Air that her company provided to all assistants. She craned her neck to check the boss’s office to make sure Flannery was occupied with a call, then leaned back in her chair, pinched the air in front of her, and pulled a freshly, unlit Marlboro Light out of the ether and into her fingers. ...

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The Final Task

Submitted to Contest #217

I stood motionless as I watched seven large men lobbed ropes over the dragon's body. Its head rose ever so slightly as it took its final breath of air, savoring the element which kept it alive. The dragon's head then fell hard to the floor with a loud thud that shook the arena, and just as its eyes closed for the last time, I swore it met my gaze before its limp body melted into the ground.  My classmate, Adwin, threw his bloody hands up taking in the crowd's roars of cheers. The elders looked unamused, keeping stern faces at bay. Adw...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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