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Discover weekly, the best short stories

Looking for a steady supply of teens & young adult short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.

150+ Teens & young adult Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Looking for the best short stories for teens? Our collection of funny, suspenseful, and relatable young adult short stories will meet your needs.

Teens & young adult Short Stories – Page 2 of 10

Are You Happy?

Weekly Contest #351

I recently volunteered for the second time as the coordinator of the Chaska River City Days Annual Photo Contest. The tasks were labor intensive, involving all the contest submissions, required communications, finding judges, working with sponsors, and keeping the contest on track. I received nearly 300 photo submissions this year. People loved the opportunity to share their special photos with others. While time consuming, the volunteer work was satisfying and, to some degree, genuinely fun as I interacted with an array of folks. I was tota...

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My Dad the Triad Boss

Davis Tan

Weekly Contest #350

“Kai Jie, what does your dad do?” That’s the question my English teacher gave me during Show and Tell in Primary school. The thing is, I didn’t really know or understand what my Dad did, so I just stood there and stared at her. “What job does your daddy have Kai Jie?” she asked me persistently. So I told her, “my Dad stays at home all day.” Thankfully, she dropped the subject after thinking that he was unemployed, so she moved on to my classmate to present. Technically, both of my parents worked; my Mother was a manager for a stage makeup ...

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A Spark of Hope

Weekly Contest #350

Sometimes people aren’t as good at things as others. It is important to be able to accept that you are not as good at something and be willing to improve. I don't understand. I don’t understand. Those are the words that repeat in my head. Over and over. Again and again. It is never ending. It all just keeps repeating. I should know, but I don’t. I should’ve known when my mom said that I could never be something. I should’ve just accepted it. I should’ve never questioned it. I could never be as good as my classmates. My family. My friends. ...

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Cosmic Roads - Back Road I - Sideways Saturday

David Cole

Weekly Contest #350

Warning: references to past violence, psychological abuse, and trauma-induced underage chain-smoking "I said I want my truck running by 3PM!" the disheveled customer in a rumpled jacket and faded bluejeans snarled, hurling Timothy's newly repaired radio past his head. "It's nearly four!" "Maybe ya shoulda thought 'bout that before ya ran that truck with a bad water pump," Timothy countered, swinging his glower between the now shattered radio and the customer. "I warned ya when ya called yesterday--park it n' we'll pick it up in the mornin...

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Dino

Weekly Contest #350

DinoI’ve always had a bit of a thing for dinosaurs. From my very first school trip to The Natural History Museum in the early 70’s where, I gazed open-mouthed at ‘Dippy’ the Diplodocus skeleton trying to get my ten year old brain to imagine a world in which this vast creature roamed and grazed the plains of what is now North America, I was hooked. I’d have to wait another twenty years to see this Jurassic wonder made flesh, or rather CGI rendered, in the groundbreaking Jurassic Park movies. Amazingly, I was able to beat Mr Spielberg to the ...

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Frustration

Andrew Venn

Weekly Contest #350

Include the line ‘I don’t understand’, or ‘I should’ve known’, in your story. IGNORANCE IS BLISS(“No it’s not, it ‘sucks”!) When I was a young kid(“not a baby goat”!), my education began at primary school, and the playground was segregated(“the boys had their half, and the girls had the other half”!) but nobody told me, although I did wonder why all of the girls were hoarded into one particular half, and the boys had their own particular half!Why could this be though? Were the boys that bad? The majority of us washed, “altho...

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An Open Letter to My College’s Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS)

Samantha Elfiqhi

Weekly Contest #350

An Open Letter to my College’s Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS)Dear TAPS, I hope this letter finds you. I do not care if it finds you well, or finds you horribly, or finds you in the form of litter blowing across a deserted parking lot because the students have all gone broke and gone home. I’m not able to reach you by phone. You’re unreachable by email. In person hasn’t worked for me yet either. I know you exist, you leave traces of your presence behind in all corners of our school yet you remain hidden. You’re somehow always on...

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With Hardship Comes Ease

Weekly Contest #350

“Lora! Breakfast!” Lora’s mother called out.Lora rolled over sleepily and put a pillow over her head, drowning out the birds’ cheerful chirping. The light faded to a dim glow, and Lora enjoyed the sleepy peace for a few seconds. But soon her haven of quiet faded away as the pillow was yanked off her head and the covers were thrown off. The chilly Stonebridge air washed over her ankles. Lora met her mother’s hard gaze and, reluctantly, sighed.“Okay, Ma. I’ll get up.” Lora said finally.Unspoken words passed between the two, and with a small sm...

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Why Didn't I?

Andrea Reyes

Weekly Contest #350

Author's Note: In this story there are themes of abuse, much cursing, and traumatic experiences. Please read with caution before going on with this story. Thank you.“I should’ve known.” Four simple words. Idiotic words belonging to a sentence of doom. Bringing forth wrath I could have never before have foreseen. But it wasn’t my own rage, no, not at all. I like keeping a calm head. Staying above the crowd in status, but remaining blended in, with no possible way to be the sore thumb walking around. Yet, once those words were spoken to me, my...

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I Can Explain!

Weekly Contest #350

“Right, just keep on driving. Don’t mind the flaring lights and the man screaming into the cone,” the cop yelled through the megaphone. My eyes flick to my rear-view mirror to see a cop practically sniffing my bumper. Who knows? With that nose, he might as well have been. I slam my emergency lights on, and my car skids to the side of the road. I flip open my vanity mirror and fix my curls. “License and registration,” the cop demands before my window can fully slide down. “Hello, officer!” I plaster on the biggest smile I can manage. “...

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Just Be

Rylie McAndrews

Weekly Contest #350

”The sockpololypse is among us. The fabric of time and space relies on fabric itself. An ankle-high Armageddon is on its way. Everything hangs on by a thread, but a hero with a thread count of awesome can save it all. He’s the knitted knight. He’s so handsome, lingerie linger behind his every single step. He’s even an activist and fights against soxism, foot massage-any and white shoepremacy. With his super-speed and style, he’s the only exception to supporting fast fashion! He has everything, but will this washing machine world separate our...

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Breakfast

Yunus Khan

Weekly Contest #350

My ammi watches over my shoulder as I grab the Purple Heart colored pencil from the pencil holder that I keep the 150 pack of colored pencils I got for my 5th birthday in March earlier this year in and add my finishing touches to the scene depicted in front of me of a dense jungle with beguiling plants that coil like 3-D projections of the seashells that my dad brought back from his work trip to the Pacific coast last week. A juice-filled sac, the same shade of red as rotting grapes, had formed on the outside of my pinky from the pressure I ...

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Elusive Repairs

Mally Henderson

Weekly Contest #350

Theo searched the wall of ‘MISSING’ faces until he saw the one he was looking for. He glanced around the small corner store for prying eyes, grasped the bottom corners of the poster, and ripped it clean off. Once again, he remained unnoticed, and slipped the paper into his satchel with all the others. The edge of it poked out like a signal, and he shoved it down as best he could. The door chimed as he fled the scene, weaving through the streets toward the very alley Oren Powell had declared as his workspace for the last three hours. Or four....

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My Mistake

David Murphy

Weekly Contest #350

Had I known that I was about to have my own personal Oppenheimer moment and to have the means to destroy the world, I would have kept my glasses on!But how was I to know? How was I to know that Jenny, the girl serving in the coffee shop, would be wearing THAT blouse? What made her wear that low-cut blouse today? Today of all days?I have been coming here, to Gerry’s Tea & Coffee Shop, every Wednesday for nearly five years and never, EVER!, have I seen her display cleavage. Yes, she has changed hairstyles, worn different necklaces, even...

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At thirteen I defeated the weight of silence in Rome and took to the streets

Anna Cuccuru

Weekly Contest #350

They attacked me with a brass knuckle, and I am only thirteen years old. I have always lived in Rome; I am a volunteer of the Youth for Peace who then organized a demonstration right where they attacked me to defend my friends. The voluntary association called the Community of Sant ‘Egidio of Rome gave me a hand to take to the streets in the Marconi area. On the day of my attack, a teenager punched me in the face while I was with my friends at the Tiber Marconi Park and in the neighbourhood, everyone knows me because I am a volunteer of the ...

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