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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

150+ Adventure Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. From riding the high sea to climbing behemoth mountains, there isn’t any action that’s out of reach when it comes to adventure stories.

Adventure Short Stories – Page 9 of 10

Sleeper Car

Veronica Coldiron

Weekly Contest #344

An interruption in the track popped the chair up and I jumped awake in the middle of an aggressive dream. I don’t know what the dream was exactly, just that it jarred me. In the waning sunlight as I gazed past the window, green fields rushed by in a blur, and wildflowers, a streak of goldenrod. Stretching and yawning, I pushed my arms out to pull the knots out of my back, and my left hand grazed something hard.Once I recomposed myself, I looked left and beheld the long, lavishly built, black casket trimmed in bright, shining silver. I stood,...

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Kazoo Concerto Quartet

Mark Schofer

Weekly Contest #344

You knew it was within the realm of possibility. The last few months were a bloodbath of sorts. It was not as bad as expected, and it is still not over. The smell of smoke and fresh gunfire clung to the town. People were nervous and their mental health a tinderbox. The dark eyed juncos were now returning to the trees and a brave coyote wandered up the hill by the powerlines. I had not been grocery shopping in weeks. We stockpiled food before the violence broke out. We could see it coming for years. Being in Washington state, the violence was...

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Isa's diary

Ron French

Weekly Contest #344

CW: Refugee trauma Isa's diaryJanuary 6th, 1920Both the War and the Revolution are over. We have survived. We have peace at last. But now we are refugees. We pick our way down the steep, ridged, shaky gangplank, holding tight on to the rope railing. Father has pushed us ahead so my older sister and I would be the first to place our feet on free land. He has given Tamara his small but weighty box of valuables to carry, as he has the heavier bags. I shuffle down sideways, holding onto the swinging handrail. Tamara hugs the box close and has on...

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The 10K at the End of the World or: The Incident in Salinas

Charlie A

Weekly Contest #344

“...BILLIONS WILL DIE FROM ASTEROID ‘2156 KATE’ IN 2026…”“...SURVIVORS WILL ABANDON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH AND LIVE UNDERGROUND…”“...THE WORLD ABOVE US WILL BELONG TO THE DOGS AND CATS…” An excerpt from interviews with a manic depressive, possibly paranoid schizophrenic, January 13th, 2018 - Salinas County Gazette The detective was sweating under the lights in my room. It was designed to make me sweat but I was perfectly fine. The noise from the heater filled the room, though. I was very confused at first. “So six years ago, you met this m...

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The Man Who Could Not Find the Words.

Jim Moore

Weekly Contest #344

The fire had burned low, and the room smelled of tallow and winter apples. Beneath the blankets, the old man’s chest rose and fell as though each breath required permission.His granddaughter sat beside him, book open in her lap.“—and the mighty Beowulf seized the monster’s arm in his bare hands, and with the strength of ten men—”“That is not how it happened,” the old man said.She smiled faintly. “It’s a story.”“It is a story,” he agreed. “But it is not only a story.”She hesitated. “You were there?”“I was there,” he said. “For all of it.”She ...

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Benjamin Franklin and his runaway slave named King

H.e. Ross

Weekly Contest #344

I was told this story about Ben Franklin, you know the American guy with the string and kite. This was years ago when I travelled over East to the town of Woodbridge and some Black fella was going on about an old relative of his who lived in Woodbridge. I liked the tale and wrote it down as I could remember. I call it, Ben Franklin and his runaway slave named King. When Benjamin Franklin was a kid he got signed on as an indentured servant to his really brutal older brother who ran a print shop in Boston in the British Colony of Massachuset...

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A Long Five Minutes

Matthew Deng

Weekly Contest #343

A rebel by the name of Eric was fleeing a group of pursuing guards, and managed to hide in a nearby cabin that he found when running through a forest. He had been sending messages between rebel groups for months now and had managed to evade detection from the authorities up until a day prior. He had no idea how he was discovered, but for him, that was something he could think about another time. As of right now, he badly needed a place to hide from the pursuing guards who wanted him dead. “If they capture me, I will be lucky t...

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Jumping

John Jones

Weekly Contest #344

In the vastness of time, space, and reality, unusual things sometimes happen. Maybe it's a hiccup in quantum space-time, or possibly a powerful being with a sense of humor decides to have some fun with us. Whatever the reason, it happened. Just ask Greg Schank. Greg walked out of the car dealership with a huge grin. He had another outstanding month, selling more cars than the next three salesmen combined. It was the third month in a row he had taken the top spot. Another plaque was going up on the dealership's wall, with an obscenely fat com...

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Beaver, Antelope, the River, and Brave Me

Sophie Jhou

Weekly Contest #344

2025, Illinois campsite “I’ll get to you whenever I can…the camping area’s internet signal is really poor……I know right? The bathroom doesn’t even have electricity! I just really, really want to go home–” *No service* I sighed. I’ve only signed up for the fall camping trip because a new friend I made in university prompted me to do so. Now, she and a group of other college students are squeezing by the bonfire, insisting on staying outdoors in the cold air. I don’t understand how they find this fun, and I don’t understand how I’m supposed to...

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Eternal

Sophie Jhou

Weekly Contest #344

BEEP BEEP BEEP Sept. 21, 1999 1:47am“Told you the floating glass shelves are as fragile as a broken heart.”“Why would you ever buy art just to stack them in a boring wooden cabinet?” Eilam shouted as he frantically and miserably bounced around saving as many of his falling dolphin collections as he could with his body. Some are made of crystal, some of glass, and one of his favorites is made of volcanic ashes. We got it together in Palau on our honeymoon. “Besides, earthquakes aren't usually this shaky.I prepared to go back to my sweet dream...

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Endless Laundry

Maggie Grainger

Weekly Contest #343

She had become a person who spent $250 a week to complain about laundry. “And whenever I start to express any frustration about it, he says he helps out around the house all the time and I’m not being fair.” “Are you not being fair?” Mallory had been Jenelle’s therapist for three years. This was not her first time hearing about the mounds of clothing that accumulated throughout her house on a constant basis and it probably won’t be her last. “He’s being unfair for instantly going on the defense,” Jenelle signed and grabbed a tissue from the ...

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Desert of the Invisible

Tarek Khezri

Weekly Contest #343

Depending on who you ask, the desert is either a mystery or an opportunity. To Hamza, he believed in the former. He would rather enjoy the safety and comfort of home, yet he was finally of age and therefore needed to earn his manhood. But, can’t I earn it another way? he thought to himself with a sigh. He looked at his camel and stroked its face. “Do you think I can do this?” he asked. The camel grunted. “I don’t think so either”. Jinn, ethereal magical beings hidden to the eye, are spread across the world. Some cause terror and some cause h...

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Illumination

Jack Bean

Weekly Contest #343

They said that change is the only constant. This was their credo, indoctrinated from the beginning. Energy is conserved. It can neither be created nor destroyed, only changed. They understood that some changes happen very quickly, almost instantly, and others take time for the transformation to happen. They also understood that real transfiguration takes Work. Sometimes it’s messy. Sometimes, you need a little push from outside forces. They weren’t the first conscript to enter The Core and certainly wouldn’t be the last. Everybody joins the ...

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The Devil in the Duvet

Nick Matsas

Weekly Contest #343

If there is one thing all men do not know about women, it is that they are terrified of getting into any bed that does not have a duvet. As a matter of fact, most of us who identify as men have no idea what a duvet is. What is it? What is its purpose? Why is it named after every American's first European sexual encounter? "Welcome to Czechoslovakia. This is my son, Duvet. He eats dinner at 11 PM and has a permanent five o'clock shadow. He will ponder your abroad gardens."It is a mystery that burned with the first fire and has burned since. H...

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The Witch's Lock and Key

Jodie Fermin

Weekly Contest #343

“Let's see... where do I begin?” Arthur mused. “Perhaps I should start with the fact my father is a tyrannical maniac who cares more about power and image than his own son?” Arthur sighed as he stared thoughtfully into his tea.“Sounds like the average king.” Guinevere muttered softly. “It must have been tough growing up like that.”“You have no idea,” Arthur chuckled bitterly into his teacup. “I was supposed to sit quietly and look regal, while my father molded me into his version of the perfect successor.” Arthur paused, his gaze distant. “B...

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