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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 3 of 10

Honeysuckle Witness

Donn Prud

Weekly Contest #338

Newcastle was corrupt. Everyone knew it. Not a single person threw straight dice. And those that did, didn’t for very long. You couldn’t live in Newcastle during the 1990’s and not feel it in some way. Those on the outside assumed the immaculate corruption of New South Wales was limited to Sydney. Limited to the scope of the Wood Royal Commission. How could they not? The Luna Park Ghost Train fire of 1979 had cracked open the lid. A fire over land development that took seven people to the afterlife and a trail that supposedly led all the way...

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The room of demise

Corina P

Weekly Contest #338

Dominic arrived in winter like an angel amid hellfire. He was a case of the offspring born into impetuous conflict, the one delivered in the middle of a chaos. For all the miracles that stood before him, Dominic had been the one to inspire hope, his countenance so ethereal it almost distracted the villagers from present turmoil. He had turquoise bright pupils that dilated upon his mother’s gaze, like an ocean of endless waves, rosy cheeks that nested just between his lips, a smile timid and puerile en face every commoner that stood before hi...

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The Wandering Heart by Einen Lee

Einen Sings

Weekly Contest #338

“There’s nothing to do here, Aunt Margaret!”“Oh, my dear, you will need to learn to curb your exuberance! Ladies are expected to be demure, delicate and above all docile. I know it will be difficult for you. But you have time. That is why your parents sent you to me, to educate you and prepare you for your debutant ball.”“What if I don’t want to be a debutant?”“Coming out at 16 is the best, and some say the only way, to guarantee you get a shot at marrying into the higher echelons of the aristocracy.”“They’re all a bunch of stinky old fat me...

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Here the Hard Times Begin

Sophia Lago

Weekly Contest #338

Content Warning: Gore, Physical Violence, Mentions of Slavery I often used to believe that my carefree days ended in the Lion’s month of my twelfth year. My father, a man who would have no idling son as his own, enlisted one of his old generals with the task of beating me into shape. The man was Aischylos, who served under my father in the King’s army; he was a stout fellow with a limping gait, and I always thought his short, stocky build and unshorn striking black hair (of which he had much) looked particularly appalling in contrast to my ...

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Rebekka Oakly

Weekly Contest #338

Rebekka Oakly closed the book she finished reading about Annie Oakley. Her last name is similar, and she is a pretty good shot with an antique rifle. Rebekka has been a Temporal Researcher most of her life. Funny, but she knew this subject quite well. Rebekka wrote the book on Annie after meeting her and learning to shoot from her. In 1886, Rebekka was tasked with learning about her subject, Annie Oakley. She did! She travelled to 1885, and once a year for more than a decade and a half, she met Annie while she was working in the Buffalo Bill...

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The Avignon Palimpsest: The Testament of Brother Aldric, Anno Domini 1348

Weekly Contest #338

As discovered in the Papal Library at Avignon, transcribed from the margin notes of a palimpsest, whereunto this poor scholar’s confession was inscribed in letters so small as to escape notice for six hundred and seventy-eight years. 3rd of September, 1348I have been a faithful servant of Our Lord for thirty-two years, and in that span I have touched the sacred word made manifest in vellum and ink some four thousand times. I have scraped clean the profane, that the divine might be written atop it. I have illuminated the margins with such dev...

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Concordia

CC CWSCGS

Weekly Contest #338

Dr. Thomas Whitaker stood beside the narrow examination table and listened. The patient sat on its edge, jacket folded neatly on the chair, a blue tie draped over the back. His shirt was open at the collar, his feet not quite reaching the floor. There was, in his posture, something boyish, a grown man waiting to be told he was all right. The room held the familiar blend of antiseptic and tobacco. Somewhere beyond the door, a typewriter struck a few efficient keys, then fell quiet. The stethoscope was cool against his chest and the pulse was ...

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Custom Sealed Envelope

John Rutherford

Weekly Contest #338

The custom sealed envelope didn’t slip from the pages of the old 19th century book in a classic and dramatic cinematic style; it was simply discovered by the turning of the page. Why the envelope was in the book in the first place would puzzle people endlessly. One of those unresolved mysteries that would baffle the experts of calligraphy, and all things found in extraordinary circumstances, in unexplained places. The custom wax seal held a circular crest with the small logo of a 15th or 16th century three mastered sailing ship, with the ini...

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BUCK!

Theodore Bax

Weekly Contest #337

BUCK! Lovingly reimagined from Grandpa Van’s true stories about EARLY 1900's Alberta…a place that in 2026 seems far away and nearly forgotten… Oklahoma, 1950’s The Robinson family had many dogs. But most of us never knew the best one. When we came to know Buck, he existed only in Grandpa Robinson’s memories. So, pull up a chair next to your fireplace. Alberta can get cold in January! And listen carefully, for Grandpa had a soft and gentle voice. I’ll tell you the story of how he gave his best dog away. Since he was a part time...

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Orbit

H. M. Blythe

Weekly Contest #337

James Miller settled into the cockpit, restraints secured and final checks complete. He drew a ragged breath as his radio crackled.“Odyssey, this is Mission Control. We are go for launch. Do you copy?”James tightened his grip on the handles, his heart racing with anticipation. “Copy that. Systems green. Ready for launch.”“Odyssey, launch sequence initiated. Godspeed, James.” The launch controller took over and began the countdown.“Ten…” A soft hum vibrated through the capsule. James felt the engines begin to stir, rumbling quietly beneath hi...

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The Luck of Woodrow Romine: A Dog to Whom Things Happen

Nick Matsas

Weekly Contest #337

Woodrow Romine was born in the year of his Lady and Queen, 2020. Like all British before him, he learned how to fetch and poop in the backyard by the age of one despite the persistent distraction from squirrels, whose blood he discovered was the same colour as his black coat.His master, Lady Deanna, was an American but, like all the well-to-do on this continent, of fine British stock. She and Woodrow lived in Los Angeles, but her family had been in America since 1753 and, to this day, owns half of Alabama, which is like saying one owns half ...

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Almost Sew

Andre B. Corbin

Weekly Contest #337

I am the Teapot. Round-bellied. Bright. With a spout like a trumpet for pouring delight.I do not take sides. I take steam. I take heat. I take leaves and I make them behave when they meet. I take quiet and clink and a courteous hiss— and I pour out my portions of civilized bliss.That’s what I was doing (as teapots are sworn) when Captain Moon hosted his luncheon that morn.Captain Moon was a Cheesehead—cheerful and wide, with bulging-eyed watching and bulging-cheeked pride. He smiled like a rule, all polished and tied. He loved being host m...

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The Cultivation of Roots and Flowers.

James Scott

Weekly Contest #337

I have always been most capable of building beauty. Born with sparse little of my own, being crooked of nose and calloused of palm, I suppose I find myself more diligent in forging perfection. I chose my canvas early and marked it as life itself. Using my hands I delighted in carving landscapes and gardens into tightly cut lines and painting the results with flowering colour. Working and training every moment of my young life, I mastered the wildness of the world and tamed it to be pleasing to the eye. Roses have always been my favourite. So...

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“ChronoCipher: The Timekeepers' Gambit"

Weekly Contest #337

· In an uncharted poker dimension where cards are woven from fabric of time and space, the legend of the Timekeepers’ devices lingered like a ghostly melody. The year 2000 had witnessed the birth of these intricate replicas of the first IBM 5110 model, each armed with the enigmatic power to manipulate the flow of Unix time. Whispers echoed through the multiverse that these devices could unlock gateways to different periods—an intoxicating prospect coveted by time travelers and gamblers alike. · Eons shifted, and with every tick of ...

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Sugihara

Robert Kaku

Weekly Contest #337

April 20, 1939 – Tokyo, Japan Chiune “Sempo” Sugihara sat stiffly in the anteroom outside Ambassador Hiroshi Oshima’s temporary office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His expression was calm, but beneath it simmered anger and disappointment. His long-sought appointment as consul general in Moscow—an assignment he was uniquely qualified for—had been denied. Instead, he now reported to Oshima, a man he despised and suspected had blocked his appointment. A young officer bowed. “Mr. Sugihara, General Oshima will see you now. This way, please...

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