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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#129: Ski Season

For some of us in the Northern hemisphere, the cold wintery months of January and February come with the promise of the ski season — a light at the end of the tunnel of short, dark days. Whether you’re gallivanting around the Alps, or just taking a sledge to your local snowy hillside, there’s definitely adventure to be found at this time of year.

Whether you find the chill bracing, biting, or something else entirely, let’s thaw any ice that formed over your creative spirit this winter with the help of this week’s prompts!

This week's prompts

Begin your story with a character crashing into something (or someone) while skiing.

Adventure – 30 stories

Write about a skier who accidentally strays off-piste.

Adventure – 30 stories

Set your story in a snowed-in chalet.

Winter – 56 stories

Write your story from the point of view of someone learning or teaching an extreme hobby.

Narrative – 19 stories

Your character runs an inn for resting mountaineers. It’s a calm life, until they encounter a twist of fate.

Winter – 47 stories

Stories

“The Trouble with being too much alive.” by Joseph Lancaster

Submitted to Contest #129

Initializing. . . 23% . . . 84% . . . 99% Setup Complete. It happened suddenly; without the slightest whisper of warning. It felt as if the world began to Shift. There wasn’t an earthquake shaking the mountain, or an avalanche crashing from the sky, or even a strong gale begging the building to sway. It was a glaring, imperceptible change; Not great, or terrible, but frighteningly, Wrong. In a daze, Wyndi steadied herself on the tavern bar, streaks of her long black hair falling over her eyes. She stared across the cozy room, her frazzl...

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“The Reality of Our Inn” by Xylianna Clay

Submitted to Contest #129

I poured my husband a cup of coffee, the milk still steaming on the stove. I’d grated fresh cinnamon and sprinkled brown sugar in the pot. A special drink for a gloomy day. The clouds hung low, touching the mountain a bit higher up. The road was iced over, no matter how much salt we poured. There was salt on the windows too, and lined along all the doorways. Many people who visited the area later said they left it superstitious; the mountains could be an eerie place. I sipped some of the black coffee...

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“St. George's Hot Meal Thursday” by Bryce Benton

Submitted to Contest #129

I put my foot in my mouth the first time I ever met Jim, one of the regulars at St. George’s Hot Meal Thursday. “Hope your arm gets better soon,” I said, painfully unaware that his condition was permanent. His right arm was in a sling.“It’s not going to get better,” said Jim. With his good arm he scooped a slotted spoonful of pork and beans onto a depression in a mound of rice. He nudged his tray toward the turkey and gravy.Jim relayed the little of what he knew about his injury without any embellishment. I was still surveying the foil ...

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“Pizza Guy and Pizza Boy” by Trent Johnson

Submitted to Contest #129

I'm going to hot dog when I damn well please. This is what the lunatic businessman thought as he drifted away from his party, wooshing through the fresh white powder, into a thicket of trees representing something he'll always deny to be aware of: the unknown. An oilman, a marketeer, a real sunuvabitch, Kris Drimsuke knew it at all, or so he thought. After making Exxon Mobil millions upon millions of dollars with his penchant for taking advantage of the natural gas market, he was due for a vacation; the last one he went on was to Dallas, a ...

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“Mind of Ice” by Abigail C

Submitted to Contest #129

Specialty. Money. Business. Inherit. These words that go through Ledger’s head as he slides down the massive mountainside cause more dread than pleasure. This trip was supposed to be relaxing, a chance to clear his head, but as trees pass quickly out of his range of vision he can’t stop thinking about real life. Real life meaning his father and all he has planned to make Ledger’s life harder. All the things that are supposed to be needed and accomplished before he starts college. All the troubles with girls and social drama he’s had for the ...

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“A Matter of Balance” by Jessie Chapman

Submitted to Contest #129

It had been a good day. A hard day, but a good one. She had thought about nothing else but finding her rhythm on the slopes, taking them wide and slow so she could feel the rise and fall, the edge of her skis cutting into the snow. Open your arms, embrace the mountain, let yourself go, and feel your own weight bring you round. Open your arms, embrace the mountain, and fly.At times, she had owned the piste, carving a faultless triumphant path right up to the muddled queue for the next lift. At times, she remembered where she was, far away and...

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“Lost In The Dust” by Dawson Holloway

Submitted to Contest #129

Dust rode the tender earth, and sailed with the violent wind. Immortal and endless, pushed into the sky by the magnitude of the spinning Earth, the dust ruled the air and the ground. Blink’s house looked so small. Blink felt so small. “Get out of the window, honey, I don’t want to have to clean your breath off of it again.”Blink glanced back in his mother’s direction, and back to the window. He flared his nostrils, and dropped his jaw, letting the air flow through - HWOUGH“Shane, don’t you dare!”PTEW - a wad of spit flung free from his ...

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“Heartfelt Holiday” by David Russell

Submitted to Contest #129

This Story has instances of sexual innuendo that may be sensitive. Heart-felt Holiday David Russell WC 2,502 Tension filled the space shared by Rachel and Michael as cords from the harpist played to entertain diners at Vermont’s eloquent but quaint Stoner’s Ski Resort and Chalet. The soft, soothing tones from the harp contrasted the worry induced by a text message on Michael’s mobile device. A corner fireplace offered pleasant aroma from the smoldering logs within. "Who's the text from?" Rachel asked breaking their silence....

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“The evader” by E. Roux

Submitted to Contest #129

Silence. Utter silence. I was sitting in the living room on a large, brown couch with my laptop on my knees, a cup of hot coffee on the table in front of me and my gun carefully placed under some pillows next to me. White, fluffy snow has covered my sight from every window around. It’s almost a week since I came here. I was relaxing in my apartment in Paris when I got a letter from my mentor. I had been teasing him for not using modern ways of communication like emails, but he said that there’s no greater pleasure than writing on paper. On...

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“Ice Scream” by Sarah Winston

Submitted to Contest #129

"AWESOMEBALLS!" Snotsicles swung from his nostrils as eight-year-old Joey Henderson squeezed the belly of his puffy red snowsuit, jumping up and down in the packed snow."Here they COME! Heretheycome!" He waved frantically at the hulking column of contestants slumbering out through the frosty glass doors of Mount Hushmore's Ski Lodge Resort, trying desperately to grab someone's attention. Any one of them would do. All the Big Time Ballers were there, the Top SnoPros. Ice Screamers.There was Big Johnny McGlone, the monolithic six-foot-eight-in...

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“The Inn” by LaToya Rhodes

Submitted to Contest #129

I guess I will go clean up this lobby room. It is still in turmoil from last night's wedding reception. Where are the housekeepers? I guess they found their husbands and their happily ever after because I haven't seen them since. Future reference for self. Hire employees with work experience. As I was gathering up empty wine bottles, beer cans, and plates of left-over refreshments. I heard someone coming down the steps. It was a little early though check out time is normally 11:00 a.m. and it was only 7:00 a.m. I walked over to the steps to ...

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“Worm Burner ” by Francis Hill

Submitted to Contest #129

Eyes wrinkled as if squeezing out sand granules. The climbing troop leader sits revelling in his youth.“We climb zero six hundred, tomorrow,” the troop leader says.I nod. Back to reading ‘Ransom’ by David Malouf. “Gramps,” the leader taps my mahogany desk. “Listen. You listen?”I nod. Back to ‘Ransom’ where Priam and Somax are entering the Greek camp. “So, what I say?” “You will leave at six A.M to stomp on, stab with ice pics and conquer the lower slopes of Gyachung Kang.”“Ahh good,” the troop leader rubs callused hands. He of...

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“Tea at Ma's” by Jessica Barnes

Submitted to Contest #129

“More tea for ya, kiddo?” The gentle innkeeper, known to her guests as simply “Ma,” held up a ceramic tea kettle with a wrinkly smile. The guest, a reserved man in his mid-thirties, hated her use of the word, “kiddo.” In fact, the false familiarity disgusted him and he worked to suppress a wave of nausea. He had hoped he could ignore the old woman, but there were no other guests downstairs for her to bother with. This inn was quaint and supposed to be a hot-spot for local tourists coming to try their hand at the ski runs on Beatty Mountain. ...

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“Call to arms” by Greg Short

Submitted to Contest #129

The small town, Towns End, nestled at the foot of Mount Aldebrang, was a popular place to stop for rest for traders, making the journey through the mountain pass. The Inn had grown over the years, Tau’s father had added extensions, as had his father before him. The different wood and different workmanship gave the building character. It was late when the guest arrived. He banged the snow off his boots and entered. Tau was used to strangers arriving like this. The pass was treacherous, so successful merchants sent paid men to move their ...

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“An unexpected journey” by Wilke Kewitsch

Submitted to Contest #129

When you run the only inn at the mountain pass border between Iria and Catlin, you meet your fair share of oddness. One might even say that was to be expected, even. Only those crossed the pass that wanted to test their luck or those whose luck had run out. The pass connecting both countries was steep and dangerous, passable only on sunny days for the slightest snowfall would unleash deadly avalanches. After ten years of working in the business of pouring tankards, wiping tables, and breaking up drunken brawls, Anton had seen all: fello...

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$250

Prize money

182

Contest entries

92

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 21, 2022 EST

Won by Erica Vogel 🏆

Title: At the Whitemare

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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