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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 9 of 10

The Demon Sphere

Submitted to Contest #325

Urum Laetificus heard the rush of the breeze on the other side of the his prison wall, and imagined what it would feel like against his skin. Gentle, tender, cool. He got goose bumps dreaming of the world outside and its sensations-- its colors, smells, and adventure.But Urum Laetificus knew of the outside only as adream. He was isolated. He did not simply feel it. He knew it.Laid as an egg by his harpy mother and cursed for his father's transgressions, Urum was to be trapped inside his egg for 10,000 years, waiting to break out of his shell...

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Judith

Submitted to Contest #325

CW: References to violence and sexual assault Judith Spring had been a whirlwind season for Judith. Senior year in her exclusive prep school had been filled with college prep and selection details. Debutant season had, as expected, largely featured the ever-popular Judith. Her horse, Blaze, had required even more care as the show season was approaching, and she enjoyed her training sessions with her magnificent honey-colored stallion more than other aspects of her life.But now, on Sunday afternoon, the day was perfect for reading. She had fo...

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A Sentimental Sketch

Submitted to Contest #324

A Sentimental Sketch The following diary entry belongs to William Hodges, Captain Cook’s painter on his voyage to discover Terra Australis. August 5, 1774 ― Georg saw my drawings of Sophy, and I told him all about them. ― I was on deck appreciating the sun’s slip beneath the clouds on the horizon. The beauty of the sunset on the main, so rosy, soon stirred up a longing to return to the previous week, if not a sharp melancholy about my future with Sophy that would not be. So I took out her sketched profile in a bid to sooth my heart―and savor...

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The Breathe Beneath the Waves

Submitted to Contest #324

Orabilia went down to look at the sea in the morning, as she was wont to do. The day was cool and crisp, fitting for the season. As she approached the shore, a strong, cold gust of wind swept over her, and she drew her furs tighter around her shoulders. The chill was nothing unusual—but what the wind carried was. It brought a stench like rotted eggs and the decay of countless plants and animals. Then she saw them: sea ducks, dead by the hundreds, strewn along the beach. Live flocks were a familiar sight, their cries echoing above the waves, ...

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Three Men For Three Dollars

Submitted to Contest #324

It was nearly sundown when the cowpoke rolled into the drowsy little town of Augustus, chewing on a straw of wheat. Strangers were none too strange in this little corner of the West; a great, black steam engine split the earth only five miles to the East, and to the South were the coal mines where men came to find work. People came and went with the howling wind, carrying whispers of the war in the South, all while Augustus never changed. Stagnant as the murky ponds found along the Platte River, and as plainly as the horking toads within. So...

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D-Day Frenemies

Submitted to Contest #324

Günter Weiss stared across the dark waters of the English Channel, his fingers trembling around the cold steel of his rifle. The wind bit into his face as it carried the smell of salt and damp earth. He had been staring for what felt like hours, waiting for the inevitable. Somewhere out there, beyond the fog and the endless waves, they were coming. He could hear them before he saw them the faint hum of engines, the distant thunder of planes. It was June 6th, 1944. The day the Allies would come to reclaim Europe. “Verdammt,” muttered Otto, on...

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Welcome to the life of a pirate

Submitted to Contest #324

Good evening dearest readerOnce upon a time, a captain was mutinied by his own crew members and forced to walk the plank into the sea, where he swam to a nearby island. But make no mistake, I'm not talking about the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow.My name is Elizabeth Collins, born in 1928, and I'm the daughter of the renowned Regency romance author Georgina Buckingham. I never knew my father, and my mother never spoke of him. I was educated at boarding school for most of my life and spent my free time with my close friends Alice, Charles, and...

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Keeper of the Duskveil: The Legacy of Blood and Water

Submitted to Contest #324

I sat in the chair my grandmother seemed to occupy her entire life. It embraced me with the memory of her shape. For a moment, it was as though her arms were wrapped around me – holding me tight, keeping me safe. I was carried back to memories of childhood, curled in her lap for a bedtime story. She would stroke my hair, or pat my leg in time with the rhythm of her words. That chair and her lap had always been one of my most favourite places in the world.Returning from my reverie, I became aware of the house around me. The air felt heavy, bu...

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Not The Rescue She Expected

Submitted to Contest #324

The sun was high and bright, glittering off the waves like a thousand tiny diamonds, the gulls and sea birds soared far overhead, cawing softly to each other, the waves lapped about the rocks with a childlike enthusiasm, and the young, scantily clad woman chained to the rocks sighed heavily.The ghost next to her frowned. ‘You’re not like the other sacrifices, you know.’‘I’m sorry,’ the young woman said. ‘Would you prefer it if I cried and screamed and begged to be released?’‘Well, no, I guess not. It’s just incredibly disconcerting, having y...

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Contact on Route Michigan

Submitted to Contest #325

[NOTE: The following story depicts Infantry Marines in combat. Foul language is used.] “Hey, Sarn’t, do you see that fuckin' pile of trash over there?”“Everyone, hold and set security! Over where, brother?”“See that lone tall building?”“Yeah, off on the right side.”“Directly below that, about a meter off the road.”“Yeah, I see it. What about it?”“I smell a fuckin' IED.”“What’s telling you that?”“Looks like some fresh turned dirt around it, and it seems pretty fuckin' loose and breezy 'n shit.”“Yeah, it rained last night, so that trash shoul...

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On the Cusp

Submitted to Contest #325

On the Cusp A kiss on my lips wakes me out of a deep sleep. I bolt upright in my bed.“Who’s there?” I call out to the darkness.For a moment, I forget where I am. Feeling for the bedside lamp, I snap it on. I glance around the dimly lit room. No one is there. But the kiss was very real, tasting spicy and exotic.Was I dreaming? No. Too real to be a dream.My third-floor hotel room is in an ancient stone building near one of the city gates in Siena Italy, a hill town in the heart of Tuscany.Leaving my bed, I pad over to the open, screenless win...

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Let There Be Light

Submitted to Contest #324

Ra watched the Nile River glittering orange and red as the Sun slowly left behind the World of the Living and descended into the Realm of the Dead.He used his oar to push his barge over the precipice and then sank into the deepness of the Underworld. The Nile flowed slowly and smoothly here, its waters darker, more ancient. While in the world above the Sun followed the flow of the Nile from a distance, here they almost touched as he travelled the long path through the Gateways of Night.The Sun here was dimmer, simmering down to faint a golde...

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Save your breath

Submitted to Contest #324

The morning sun has just started to rise, casting shimmering constellations on the wet parts of the boat’s gunwale. The sea was calm, and so was she. Yawning at the sight, she stretched her sore body, waiting for the familiar to pass and the unfamiliar to begin. Setting sail at this time was unusual, especially for a boat of that size, and even more peculiar was the fact that she was alone. Nevertheless, she did not allow this sense of solitude steer her wrong; if anything, it strengthened her resolve. And she was not alone, not really. If n...

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Land, ho!

Submitted to Contest #324

George looked out over the ocean. As far as he could see, there was nothing but deep gray sea, teeming and rolling under equally gray, cloud filled skies. He felt his spirits plummet. He had hoped to see faraway, distant shores, some sort of mark on the horizon. The mark of Terra Firma. Mother Earth, land. It wasn’t to be. At least not yet. He didn’t know exactly when that momentous occasion would occur. The moment when one of the sailors on board would yell triumphantly “Land, ho!”George had almost forgotten what day it was and how long he ...

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The Tidekeepers

Submitted to Contest #324

The diving bell shuddered as it settled into the trench, and Dr. Sarah Hawthorne knew immediately that something had gone catastrophically wrong. The seal had fractured along a hairline crack that the inspection had somehow missed, and now the communications array crackled with static before going silent. Through the single porthole, she watched her tether cable snake downward, severed and drifting in the current. The backup oxygen system hummed to life. Eighteen hours, maybe twenty-four if she remained calm. She keyed the emergency beacon a...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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