Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Featured stories
Activity feed

Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

620+ Western Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Hitch your ponies, shutter up the saloon, and watch the tumbleweeds roll down Main Street. There's a showdown at high noon — and the weapon of choice? Short stories.

Western Short Stories – Page 34 of 42

Canine

Submitted to Contest #96

I almost stumble as I raise my chin to the sky, too busy admiring the looming skyscrapers of the Manhattan skyline. I almost bang into someone, but my reflexes are quick and trustworthy. They sneer at me, immediately catcalling as I walk away. It doesn’t bother me though. I’m more than accustomed to the streets of New York. I continue strolling, burying my frosted hands in the pockets of my trench coat. My leather pair of Chelsea boots does me well even in the light layer of fresh snow. My gaze traces the buildings until they reach the sky,...

19 likes 30 comments 30
Read story

But for the Grace, of Grace

Submitted to Contest #96

The fog was so thick that I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. My head and the hole in my shoulder was excruciatingly painful. I'd been shot before but not like this, never like this. Sitting in the saddle, with my one good arm and blood oozing down my face, I managed to tie myself tight. I had to get help. I could feel myself slipping, falling, losing my grip. The good book said that death rides a pale horse, or was it a pale rider on a horse and his name was death. I can’t remember anymore; it was so long ago. I have to get help, so...

27 likes 13 comments 13
Read story

No more happy ending

Submitted to Contest #96

Once upon a time… …there was only war. She leapt up in triumph, blood dripped from her sword as she swung it down on the beast’s neck, hacking in a frenzy. She laughed. The taste of blood and sweet revenge urged her on in her manic slaying of the creature that had… No, no that wasn’t right. Once there was a girl who… …who had a monster in her, clawing at the surface every waking moment she… No! Not that either. There was once a little girl who… Who what? Tearing the page away and crumpling it into a ball, he threw it over his shoulder to joi...

10 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

White Space

Submitted to Contest #95

When that Seraph agreed to transport me to a “White Space”, I didn’t expect the name to be so appropriate. Here, a single, homogenous void stretches in all directions. Looking down, my gut drops. I wouldn’t have been able to tell I was standing on the ground without feeling it pushing back against my boots. The unsettling lack of a shadow doesn’t help to improve my disorientation either. This definitely tops the list of strange places I’ve been to. Sorry, Cheese Canyon, your charming gouda walls just can’t beat this.  The Doors don’t s...

11 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Tatum

Submitted to Contest #95

August 2nd, 2018 “Why didn’t you make a reservation?” Alyssa demanded. “I wanted to see how far we could get!” Ben said. “The more ground we cover in a day, the more time we’ll have in L.A.” Alyssa glared at Ben, her hazel eyes like the depths of a dark forest. Danny and Molly were quietly agitated in the backseat. “I also didn’t think it would be so hard to find somewhere to stay,” Ben quietly admitted. “It’s a long weekend!” Alyssa snapped. “Yeah, in Canada! Not in Texas!” Ben said. “Technically, we’re in New Mexico now,” Molly muttered...

11 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

One Decision Too Late

Submitted to Contest #95

Introduction This chapter picks up two years "The First Circus" left off. from when Kat and Jaime were teenagers. Kat’s POV The Circus returned for the next two summers. That last year, I was fourteen, and Jaime was sixteen. The Circus was only in town for a couple of nights, it was such a short time, but I looked forward to it every year. Not because of the performances, I was getting bored with those, but because I got to spend time with Jaime. We were sitting on hay bales in the stable next to the jail, talking. The hay smelled swee...

12 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The bake off

Submitted to Contest #95

Due to Covid, my hospitality recruiting business, in South Africa, had died and I had to rely on my previous caring experience to earn foreign currency. As I boarded the plane for my new job in the UK , I wondered how my daughter would be. At 23, she was still living at home, had 7 months previously had a child and now was going to be on her own. We had not been apart at all for more than 12 weeks; I am a single parent, and we have a beautiful bond. We are the kind of mother and daughter, that despite the huge gap in ages are friends too. ...

10 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

'Walking to him with you tattooed in my heart'

Submitted to Contest #94

My reflection stared back at me through the mirror; I observed the woman in the mirror dressed in a beautiful white dress. My golden locks styled in the perfect low bun as it was neatly tucked under the extravagant veil. My eyes dropped towards the gigantic stone that branded my ring finger. Somehow that's all it was, a giant rock that would brand me forever.I walked over to the window to stare at the display outside. It was perfect; everything was just as my eight-year-old self had envisioned when I watched a wedding back then while making ...

11 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Black Sand Cowboys

Submitted to Contest #94

“Easy. I’m not afraid of a volcano. And I’m good with ponies, anyhow.”“They’re not ponies, they’re —”“Look, I get that you’re all touchy about it, but, come on, this ain’t a horse.” The cowboy touched the brim of his baseball cap like a sombrero — the European rolled his eyes — and squeezed the horse with his shins, steering him to the right.“Callum don’t leave a dare,” said the other cowboy with a sly smile. He ran a hand through his bleached curls and turned his horse to follow Callum. The European was left to wonder disdainfully how Ameri...

7 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Savage Science

Submitted to Contest #94

“Live in 3..2…1”, said Serena and started talking, “Welcome to the ANN news. Today we have two very special guests with us. On one side we have Mr. Robert Stewarts, the Head Of WASA, the Western Aeronautics and Space Administration and on the other side, we have Mr. Henry Geller, who is a middle-class, common man. The debate is whether WASA’s work is worth the money it gets from the Government. So, Mr. Robert, let's start the Debate. Robert starts, “I really don’t understand why such a man has been made sit in front of me who has no knowledg...

12 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

James in Jail

Submitted to Contest #94

Kat’s POV “I can’t let you go. I can’t break the law.” I told James. He sighed and laid on the cot with his arms folded behind his head, looking up at the cigar smoke-stained ceiling. I studied him for a few moments. He was the type to become better looking with age, his features were tanned and rugged, and his eyes were still as deep blue as ever. When I had first seen him in the Inn during my engagement party, I had felt the butterflies in my stomach, something I hadn’t felt for any other man. I shook my head and forced myself to loo...

12 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The Bandit's Treasure

Submitted to Contest #94

Most summers as a child, my family would make its way down to my grandmother's house in Mexico.The house was not what it once was. Before my grandfather died, they had had not only pigs and chickens but also cows and a small stable of horses. My grandmother, to make ends meet, had sold off most of the livestock and even sold off tracts of land.Nevertheless, the now small house still had its charms for me. In Mexico, many houses are built around a central patio. The patio is open to the elements and is surrounded by covered corridors. The roo...

18 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Welcome to the Neighbor's Hood

Submitted to Contest #94

At the Trump International Hotel Washington, a large group of red-faced men sat their doughy bodies in overstuffed winged chairs, drinking Scotch from crystal tumblers.“What is the matter at hand?” Harrison Jefferson Livingston, III asked, blowing blue plumes of cigar smoke out of the corners of his mouth. He tapped cigar ashes directly onto the Persian rug. “National health care?” replied a voice to his right.There was a brief pause before the group started to chuckle—the chuckles quickly turned into loud guffaws as the joke hit home. ...

104 likes 13 comments 13
Read story

Anxious

Submitted to Contest #93

I doubt if my rib cage can endure the heavy beating it was receiving from my heart. It was more like Tai Lung trying to escape from Chorh-Gom Prison from the Kung Fu Panda movie, it was a brutal adventure going on inside of me.The black suit Hermosa bought me on my birthday stared blankly at me ‘in disgust’ I guess. It’s just a piece of fabric but at this moment it felt as though it seems more human than I was, how disrespectful of me to try and wear it for the first time since she bought it for me, and to make it worst she will be in attend...

9 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Dramatic Meet

Submitted to Contest #93

                       Today was the last day for Alex who will marry tomorrow. His closet friends and cousins were preparing the bachelor night party for him. On the other hand, the bride’s friends and relatives were also arranging the party for the bride. How would they expect they will meet in one place? There were two people who didn’t like to attend party at both sides. Junie was feeling bad to go there becau...

10 likes 0 comments 0
Read story
RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

Bring your short stories to life

Fuse character, story, and conflict with tools in Reedsy Studio. All for free.