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47 Best Dramatic Short Story Ideas
Showing 47 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
Everyday, you sit at your window to watch a neighbor play a musical instrument. You can't hear the music, but you're transfixed by the musician's expression.
A long-standing feud erupts during a funeral or wedding.
Someone you believed to be dead "comes back."
You find a well-kept, spotless leather bound book in the middle of a vast desert.
There is a fountain that truly does grant wishes to those who throw coins in it.
You're on a train when someone sits across from you and begins to cry.
While dozing by the fire in your winter cabin, you hear a knock at the door. Blizzard conditions have closed all surrounding roads, and the nearest neighbor is miles away.
You're kneeling in the dirt, working on your garden when your attention is drawn up by a person saying, "Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt, but..."
"Today is the last day," you decide, staring up at the 67-story building that has owned your life for the last 10 years.
You find your grandparent's old chessboard in the attic. Absentmindedly, you move a piece. The next day, an opposing piece has been moved.
There's an urban legend about a taxi cab that doesn't take you where you want to go, but where you need to go. One night, you step into this cab.
Write about the way the sunset looks from the perspective of two characters. One is sad, the other is happy.
"I love you," you said. Before you could hear a response, your phone died.
As the sun set, the desert wasteland glowed an eerie red.
The world's most important chess game is about to start.
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