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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#122: Spree Season

What comes after Thanksgiving? Black Friday, of course! Though this massive shopping occasion originated in America, it’s since become normal practice in many parts of the world. And did you know the reason why this jolly season has such a bleak name? (Hint: it’s got nothing to do with sales and discounts!) Apparently, the police once used “Black Friday” to refer to the bumper-to-bumper traffic and crowds congesting streets as people rushed through their holiday shopping.

With this origin story in mind, here’s our gift to you this week: five prompts inspired by this strange and exciting intermission in the end-of-year holiday season. (And if you’re looking for actual gifts with a writerly flair, we’ve got 60 gift suggestions for you.)

This week's prompts

Write about a character who’s stuck in a shopping mall.

Christmas – 27 stories

Start your story in the middle of a traffic jam.

Thriller and Suspense – 27 stories

Write a story about a limited edition item going on sale.

Thriller and Suspense – 11 stories

A package arrives at your character’s house, but they didn’t order anything. Write about what happens next.

Thriller and Suspense – 59 stories

Write about a character who won’t (or can’t) shop for the holidays.

Christmas – 25 stories

Stories

“Agoraphobia” by Kendri Petersen

Submitted to Contest #122

This story contains intrusive thought mentions and detailing of panic attacks. My pills lay sprawling on my nightstand. I must have knocked them over in my sleep. I pick up the bottle and scoop in the white circular tablets. “Fluoxetine,” the label reads. I pick one off my nightstand and pop it into my mouth, swallowing hard. I place the transparent bottle back by my lamp. The gray cotton of my pajama pants pools at my ankles as I walk to the kitchen. I find the wooden chair at my kitchen table, the same one I have sat at for as lon...

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“A trip to the mall” by Hanna Eriksson

Submitted to Contest #122

I always try to get my Christmas shopping done as early in the year as possible. It works perfectly with adults since they often still need that thing they wished for but didn’t get last Christmas. Unfortunately I got a nephew a couple of years ago. Don’t get me wrong, I love my nephew. Like me he likes doing jigsaw puzzles so everytime I come over to visit my sister and her family we do a puzzle together. But the thing with kids is that they are unpredictable and they seldom wish for the same thing one christmas after another. And that’s th...

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“Glowing Golden, Beaming Blue” by Dmitriy Galashin

Submitted to Contest #122

Of course, of all the workaholics employed by the Mall’s cinema, I was the only person who volunteered. Boss brought those giant paper snowflakes and cheerfully announced that the decoration had to be done after hours. Perhaps too cheerfully. And “after hours” means “deep night” if you work at a movie theater. No wonder I was the only one eager to embellish the place. I proudly adjusted my Cinematrix badge and grasped the broom, waiting for the last person to leave the auditorium. There is always someone with the obligation to sit thro...

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“Monument of Consumerism” by Don Tucker

Submitted to Contest #122

It was my own fault to even be in this situation in the first place. Every year I do this to myself and every year I always promise that I will never do it again. Every year I promise that I will change, turn over a new leaf, call my Mom more, read a book, something. This year proved itself to be no different. I stood where I have stood for as long as I can remember, the mall on Christmas Eve. I have an uncanny ability to end up here, some sort of gravitational pull that lures me every 24th of December like a moth to a flame. &nbs...

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“10 Weeks Later” by Vardaan Pandey

Submitted to Contest #122

(The story contains specific references to a mental health condition and substance abuse. Reader discretion is advised.)This story is a dialogue between Francis and Alice, a separated couple currently going to the hospital to meet their 18-year-old daughter, Megan. Francis is a 41-year-old advertiser, while Alice, also 41, is a freelance writer, unemployed 300 out of 365 days every year. Their daughter is a college student and an excellent soccer player, attending one of the best colleges in the country on a full sports scholarship and being...

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“Drive in Silence” by Allyne Betancourt

Submitted to Contest #122

We’ve moved a couple of feet in the last five minutes. No matter what time I return home to Culver City, I can’t seem to escape the south bound 405 gridlock. I thought traffic would be northbound the Monday after Thanksgiving. People should be back at work and school, but I still see the Mall parking lots congested with anxious shoppers waiting for a spot to open. I hate to shop; sales cannot entice me to fight my way through the crowds. Black Friday lasts too many days. It’s Monday, three days later. My mind flits ...

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“Bottleneck” by Maureen MacLennan

Submitted to Contest #122

Bottleneck They were in the middle of an argument; it was the kind you had as a married couple with a young child. You didn’t say anything frightening within earshot, and you adjusted your tone and volume but kept the words. They’d been doing it for well over a week now and she was exhausted. “Mommy when are we getting to the mall? How’s Santa going to know what I want?” Her son was squirming in his child safety seat and she didn’t blame him. Traffic had ground to a complete halt ten minutes before. She turned to look into his big brown eye...

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“Traffic Troubles and Dad Drama” by GE Chris

Submitted to Contest #122

“Don’t make me stop this car!” Helen’s squeaky voice pierced the loud noises coming from the backseat of the van. Immediately, her children fell silent, fearful of their mother’s wrath. She had been tense for the entire six hours they had been on the road, and they didn’t dare make it worse when they had several more hours to go. Rubbing her temples, Helen stared out the window at the sea of red taillights, the never-ending line of traffic that was promised every Thanksgiving weekend. This year, Patrick had convinced her to go vi...

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“The head of Johhny Burns” by Matt Allen

Submitted to Contest #122

We knew we were in the right place when we pulled up to a Shelby Cobra in the drive-way and what looked like a time-capsule for a house. My business partner, Josie, was unimpressed but he was new to the scene of these types of antiquity situations. It wasn’t an original Shelby Cobra, mind you, but that’s what made it special. When we got out and sized it up, it was signed by Caroll Shelby himself. Once Josie saw that, his eyes glazed over. We were in the right place after hours of searching the L.A. hills. I was excited the second ...

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“Horat: The Tarot Of This World” by Silence Corinthian

Submitted to Contest #122

Have you ever had a stare down with the grim reaper, on the brink of death not once, but twice, Crenshaw couldn't believe he'd doubled back and let karma bite him in the ass not two but three times.He was sure he had his eyes on the prize, until he found himself lying on the coach both in physical and emotional pain due to Silence.She was long gone, it was 16 weeks and two days since his last intimate encounter with her and there was still no sign of her coming back.. No phone calls, no text messages, no appearances. He didn’t want...

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“Black Friday Mystery Package” by RJ Johnston

Submitted to Contest #122

The alarms went off at the same time, the one on the night stand blared "It's THAT time of year again!" and "Black Friday Sale STARTS NOW!" then; "Trust Us! You'll Want This Deal of A Lifetime!"The ads were relentless, escalating in fever pitch with each one, the voice sounding more manic...Black Friday had Finally Arrived!!! He thought just as the ad synced at the same time and shouted with almost religious fervor. Weird, he thought groggily trying to wake up. He reached over and slammed his hand down on the OFF button...Too damned early fo...

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“The Invasion That Fizzled” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #122

The Invasion That Fizzled John Pritchard sat in his living room waiting impatiently for his buddies to arrive so they could start watching the Giants football game. He had laid out the snacks, put the hors d’oevres in the oven and stocked the freezer with plenty of beer. Then, all of a sudden, someone rang his doorbell--and it wasn’t one of the gang John expected. In fact, he didn’t se...

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“For Fear Of It” by Nix ♞

Submitted to Contest #122

I hear the doorbell. I hear a voice. I hear plop.I'm assuming it's a package. Is it a package? Why would it be a package? I haven't ordered anything, have I?I go to my laptop and sign in to my account.Email or mobile phone number:XXXXXXX@yahoo.comPassword: XXX-XXX-XXXXI click on Orders.Nothing.The last thing I purchased was a non-ticking light-up clock for bed. My old one was dim, loud. The ticking... the ticking put me on edge. The darkness... oh, the darkness hurled me off it.Tick. tick. tick—But enough. The point is I haven't ordered anyt...

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“Daughter of the Lake” by Jami Henry

Submitted to Contest #122

Jami Henry November 30, 2021 I’ve never been much of a talker. Maybe as a child, when my words slipped from my tongue carelessly; when the red wire beneath my mother’s pillow didn’t sting as bad, and district units weren’t obstructed by the malicious Tyek Thane. But now, the quiet of midnight is my only escape. Times like these, I have no recollection of her hatred for me or the unsettlingly stillness of our bland corridor. Though, as painful as the lashings were back then, the blindingly loud thoughts in my head interrupt the calm and revi...

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“An Angel's Gift” by Bernice Cabral

Submitted to Contest #122

Smack dab near the center of a small town in middle America was a blue house. Not too big, or too small. The sort of house in which middle class couples raise their families. Well-kept, unpretentious. It's pretty front door usually decorated with a pretty wreath, color and foliage based upon the season. Helen Carter opened her particular front door, on this particular day, to exchange her particular wreath from autumn's crimson, gold and rust leaves, pumpkins and gourds, to one of white, silver, and blue in recognition of the impending Chris...

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$250

Prize money

149

Contest entries

104

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 03, 2021 EST

Won by Laura Jarosz 🏆

Title: No Forwarding Address

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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