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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

150+ Historical fiction Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Whether you’re looking to step back into ancient civilizations, the 19th-century, or anywhere in between, our collection of historical fiction stories is here to keep you riveted.

Historical fiction Short Stories – Page 10 of 10

Bound Beneath the Black Stone

Submitted to Contest #324

Albie Lathazus is dead.Mother Grishaw frowned at the body: the corners of her thin lips turned down in distaste. The other elders of the coven argued vehemently behind her, their contradictory remarks weaving through the air like Ariadne's thread.“Didn’t have the decency to wait to die…” murmured one of the newest members of the coven.“Good riddance,” echoed her counterpart. The sentiment carried around the chamber in whispered assent.“We should burn the body and be done with it!” croaked the eldest witch of the coven. Her gnarled fingers cl...

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Between the waves and me

Submitted to Contest #324

CW: Suicidal intention The wind blows my curls into a looser constellation and the sand between my toes shifts with every twist and turn. I open my eyes and look out over the vast ocean that reveals itself in front of me, interrupting my dance for a brief moment of wonder. The sky is streaked with various hues of pink and purple, like something out of a fairytale - a dreamscape, a space between past and present, away from the linearity of time. There is no worry here, no sadness or pain; there is only light, and breath, and sound. The salty ...

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The Woman Who Challenged Gravity

Submitted to Contest #324

My childhood was a kingdom built on whispers, tales of valor, tradition, royalty, and scandal woven into the very air I breathed. A haze of cigar smoke clung to the image of a defiant political figure, while hushed voices hinted at royal blood coursing through my veins. There was always a shadow, a darker figure, the man who erased eighteen minutes of history in Washington. These weren’t just stories. They were my inheritance. Power. Secrets. A kaleidoscope of intrigue, hidden deep in my DNA. These stories came to life with a simple DNA kit ...

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Stranded

Submitted to Contest #324

CW: Physical violence, mental health He watches the saliva dry sticky on the barrel, a pronounced bead on the front sight starlike from the lurid glare above. Colm sits on the warships tight rectangular toilet, the yellow walls battling the bright white of the roof light to make a perfect beige concealing the stains of piss over the walls but not the smell. Three heavy bangs sound on the door seeming to shake the whole toilet."Colm!, Quit wanking and get out I need a shit."Colm jumped out of his torpor and stuffed the gun down his trousers, ...

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Whence the Sea They Come

Submitted to Contest #324

October 11th, 1968This morn I stood upon the precipice betwixt security and folly to watch them come in with the high tide. It was a precarious position, what with the mischievous wind that assaulted such ferocious intent to upend my perch, but it afforded the clearest view without exposing my existence. The sea from the south raged against the cliffs, sending torrents of monolithic short lived giants to dash themselves in self-destructive fits of fury upon the rocks, an age old battle of centuries waged in victories of millimeters.To the no...

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If the Tide Returns

Submitted to Contest #324

It was hard to pinpoint exactly what about Billy made Sarah Bedingfield fall so quickly in love with him. They shared shy glances in school. At lunch, Billy purposely sat so that he could always have a clear line of sight on Sarah’s face, even sitting askew from the rest of his friends if need be. Under the broiling yellow sun of a North Carolina spring, the two were finally pushed together by their respective friend groups. A date was made–a night at a jazz concert in the big city. The forty minute drive to the theater was spent in great te...

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Souls Lost

Submitted to Contest #324

July 22, 1884 Seventeen moons have now glistened over our heads since we watched The Mignonette fade beneath the dark waves, and nearly two weeks since we fed upon the turtle. Our cracked mouths are too drained to muster many words, and the blazing sun and incessant jostling manage to exhaust us and simultaneously hold us from sleep to remain in this purgatory of discomfort. Young Parker has been unconscious for two days, drifting into the abyss with settled contentment in his breath. His taut skin is bronzed and leathery, like a roasted por...

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The Unmarked Shore

Submitted to Contest #324

The Unmarked Shore - A Reimagining Found On: 10th September 1974‘In the early evening of September 10th, 1974, a female body was found in a beach hut on Monmouth Beach in the popular seaside town of Lyme Regis.’Locate InternationalThis isn’t her real name. Nor her real life. But it could have been. An attempt to remember someone the world let slip. *** The Cobb’s ancient spine shuddered under the gale, the Channel washing over the seawall. On Monmouth Beach, Victorian huts with peeling, pastel painted facades, salt-rotten had succumbed. A pa...

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The Cave

Submitted to Contest #324

In the mornings, the ocean is nothing but a wall of foam. Wave after wave of this quivering white froth only reminds me of the gritty porridge they served in the sickbay. At the highest point of the island, looking out from the cliff of jagged black rocks, I see nothing but ocean. Foam turns to dark water, and it all disappears into the mist after that. I watch the waves pummel the rocks. Beneath the sound of the water, an odd crunching noise rings out behind me. I whip around to find those beady little red eyes staring back at me once again...

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LePrince

Submitted to Contest #323

CW: Grief and tragic accidental death. To be a beautiful extraordinary person in love, that is one of life’s greatest gilded lies. So many fail, but those who succeed are truly worse off. I chose a life of joy and heartbreak and scars. Many years ago I never understood that to be young was to be inherently dumb. I’ve lost a lot due to my youth. I remember being young so vividly, back before the golden walls of LePrince arena were even built. Yes I’m that old. I live through memories that were created half a century ago. Sometimes I wish I co...

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Symmetry

Submitted to Contest #323

Quenl slides impatient fingers along the edge of the saffron woollen mantelet around her shoulders. She is damnably cold. The carved stone bench underneath her vacuates the warmth from her legs, the hem of her scarlet cotehardie heavied by wet grass. Her clothes from gown to hose are a palette of fire. The castle blots out most stars. She fusses with one of her rings, the message wound inside the band and name written on it. RAFF. A set of hands pounds her arms from behind. Quenl leaps to her feet, rounding on the stranger slipperily. Josie’...

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A Tent on the Border of an Unnamed Kingdom

Submitted to Contest #323

Another step and she will no longer be home. It is tempting to freeze, but her fears would not be honored in any case. It is better to choose than be chosen for. At least that is what she tells herself. The tent is lavish. Unsurprisingly. Tub, dresses, furniture, rugs. The finest there is to offer. Ornate and frilled, a show of power and wealth that is out of place in the desolation surrounding them. Outside, snow drifts to the branches of barren trees, the sky beyond them a bleak shade of grey. Inside the tent, erected for the sole purpose ...

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Prophet From It

Submitted to Contest #324

Whether you consider the shouting match he’d just had with his wife, Zakutu, over her treatment of Vashti, his new concubine, the cheeky Babylonian Ambassador who had just offered Marduk’s help in relieving the devastating summer drought they’d been suffering, if only His Majesty would be good enough to authorize a new temple to his chief rival’s god, or the stifling heat in the main audience hall of his spacious palace, Senachreb, by the grace of Ashur and Ishtar, King of the Four Corners of the World, not to mention his magnificent capital...

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"Oh God, Why?"

Submitted to Contest #324

“Have a lovely holiday in Sicily, sir.”, said George to histutor, Mr, Martin “I am sure we shall, young sir. Mywife is Sicilian, you see, and she has family there. Her niece isgetting married, and in Sicily, a family wedding is a commandperformance. A Sicilian wedding is nothing if not spectacular.”It will be hot there, I hope. I shall lie in the sun, drink wine,eat olives and bread dipped in oil, and let the sun bake therheumatism out of these old bones.” “I hope I shall visit itsomeday, sir” “Goodbye, George. I must say that I am fortu-nat...

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The Maiden's Ritual

Shortlisted for Contest #323 ⭐️

“Brother, please wait!” Eanna cursed the cloak he had just started to latch for tangling his arms, the bench he had been peacefully dressing on suddenly becoming an obstacle between him and his brother. “Why?” Columban asked cheerfully. “Surely you don’t deny me the right to pick my bride.” “Of course not. It’s just…” Eanna got both the unruly cloak and bench under control and stood up to face Columban. “Doesn’t it strike you as a slightly… extreme solution?” “What’s extreme is expecting me to marry any of the presented options ‘for th...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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