Category: Short Stories
This category is for your Bonanza Short Stories from 500-999 words in length.
Tiānyì (by PatD in PA)
Summary: Written for “Hop Sing’s Chinese New Year Challenge 2026,” honoring the year of the Fire Horse.
Rating: G/K
Word Count: 1,350
Just One More Day (by Annie K Cowgirl)
Summary: “The whole town’s plum full of yellow bellies,” I muttered under my breath as I prodded Chubb into a ground-eating gallop, leaving the disgraced major in the dust. Hoss rides out, determined to find Joe before it’s too late. A WHIB for the episode “Five Sundowns to Sunup” and a sequel to my previous story, “The Fifth Sunup” from Hoss’ point of view.
Rating: K+
Word Count: 699
Part of the Five Sundowns to Sunup series, links include within.
Your Time Is Gonna Come (by Annie K Cowgirl)
Summary: I dug my fingernails into the flesh of my palms as the ground reeled beneath me like the deck of a ship in a summer squall. A trickle of dust and small stones rained down as the walls of the Ophir Mine creaked and groaned like an animal in its death throes. A WHIB for the episode “The Philip Diedesheimer Story”.
Rating: K+
Word Count: 755
Hooked on a Feeling (by Annie K Cowgirl)
Summary: One minute he was standing there and the next, he was sprawled face down in the dirt….Booth Shannon’s thoughts after the shootout between him and Little Joe. The Trap. Rating: T (for mentions of blood) Word Count: 834
Three Thousand Six Hundred Seconds (by Pat D in PA)
SUMMARY: A short piece written for the Michael Landon Birthday Literary Challenge 2025. (536 words, rating G/K)
Remember Me, Remember You (by BluewindFarm)
Summary: The unimaginable is never easy.
Rating: G (845 words)
Double Trouble (by JC)
Summary: A glimpse into the future with grandchildren on the Ponderosa. Ben gets more than he bargained for when he offers to keep Joe’s twins while their parents are away. (Part of the Jacob’s Ladder series, links below.)
Rating: G WC: 520
Adam’s Journal — She Walks in Beauty (by JC)
Summary: Adam’s version of events surrounding the unforgettable Ragan Miller. Written for the 2025 Pernell Roberts Birthday Literary Challenge.
Rating: T Word Count 574
Bake Shop Girl (by JC)
Summary: The seeds of a memorable friendship are sown during a chance encounter at a Boston bakery.
Rating: G Word Count: 646
In a Spirit of Enterprise (by Tavia42)
Summary: Little Joe should have known he couldn’t get anything past Hop Sing. This story was written for the 2025 2nd Quarter Chaps and Spurs Challenge.
Rating: G | Word Count: 889
A Burning Question (by Bonanzagirl)
Summary: An important question comes up after Little Joe’s first saloon visit.
Rating: PG Word count: 2080
Again, By Grace (by JC)
Summary: A moody portrait of the Ponderosa patriarch, seeking grace amid grief
Rating: T Word Count 793
A Journey Changed (by AC1830)
Summary: A missing WHN scene at the end of A Journey Remembered.
Rating: G, Word Count: 745
Little Boy Joe (by JC)
There are definite advantages to being the youngest Cartwright. And who would know that better than Little Joe?
Rating: G Word Count: 657
Always Maddie (by JC)
Summary: In his thirteenth summer, Joe meets a girl for all seasons.
Rating: K WC: 783