Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#133: Chocolate Box

Next Monday is Valentine’s Day, which means chocolate boxes are popping up in stores everywhere. The sweet association between cocoa and romance began with the Mayans and Aztecs, but it only became a hallmark of Valentine’s Day when British confectionery giant Cadbury introduced the first ever heart-shaped gift boxes in the 1860s.

Today, chocolate is inseparable from this occasion in many parts of the world: in Japan, some give homemade chocolate to their loved ones; in Ghana, February 14th is National Chocolate Day. And we’re joining the fun with this week’s set of delicious chocolate-inspired prompts. Take your pick!

🥇 Winner

“Mythes” by Stephanie Kaye

Everything assumes such an immense quality when you are a child. You are a seed amongst the trees - waiting, waiting, waiting - for the soil and the sun to open you up, to release you from the feeling of smallness. And in that smallness rests another seed, one of fear or something like it - a lack of agency and hopelessness. My parents were trees. Especially my father. Every mornin...

89 comments 89 WINNER 🏆

Read story

⭐️ Shortlisted

“Hope This Helps” by Haley White

(Content warning: pregnancy loss) The first time you have a miscarriage, your loved ones might send you flowers. You might get a beautiful tree to plant from a loved one who has found peace in her own grief. Someone will send a box of chocolates - the finest ones they could find - with a note that says, “Sending love. Hope this helps.” It doesn’t, but you appreciate the gesture. You’ll take a week off wor...

23 comments 23 SHORTLIST ⭐️

Read story

“Love and Chocolate in Five Easy Steps” by Zack Powell

Content warning: Language and mentions of abortion.Hey there! It's your girl Tahlia here, and I'm back to bring you another slam dunk recipe. Valentine's Day is right around the corner, so today I'm gonna show you how to make your very own chocolate bars for that special someone in your life. Because, ladies, if your man is anything like my boyfriend Marcus, he's gonna want some chocolate. And if he's like Marcus, once he gets a taste, he'll probably want a little something extra on the side, if you catch my drift. Sadly...

41 comments 41 SHORTLIST ⭐️

Read story

“Do not burn yourself on the oven” by Maria Blackman

I knew that the new apprentice was repulsed by me but he should have learnt sooner to fear me rather than mock me. My eyesight was nearly gone (which made no difference as I could tell the difference between cinnamon and cassia with just one sniff, could roll a piece of marzipan into a flower or a star or a mouse with just my fingertips to guide the shape) but I knew when he curled his lip. It was as loud as the clomping...

14 comments 14 SHORTLIST ⭐️

Read story

“Slim Pickings ” by P.J. Lowry

When you looked at it from the outside, the confectionery shop looked as sweet as the items they were offering inside. Yet on this particular day, the inside looked like something out of a zombie movies. Most of the shelves had been picked clean, and whatever remained was scattered all over the place. To say that the pickings were slim was a total understatement, but this was to be expected by the shopkeeper. It happene...

15 comments 15 SHORTLIST ⭐️

Read story

This week's prompts

Write about someone going on a search for a specific type (or brand) of chocolate.

Middle School – 25 stories

Start your story with a character finding an old heart-shaped box in their house.

Valentine's Day – 79 stories

Set your story in a confectionery shop.

Middle School – 42 stories

Write a story about someone making a gift (chocolate or otherwise) for a loved one.

Valentine's Day – 38 stories

Write about a character who finds Valentine’s Day sickly sweet.

Valentine's Day – 26 stories

Stories

“Mythes” by Stephanie Kaye

Everything assumes such an immense quality when you are a child. You are a seed amongst the trees - waiting, waiting, waiting - for the soil and the sun to open you up, to release you from the feeling of smallness. And in that smallness rests another seed, one of fear or something like it - a lack of agency and hopelessness. My parents were trees. Especially my father. Every mornin...

89 comments 89 WINNER 🏆

Read story

“The Card-iologist” by Mister X

"Hiiiii. Welcome to Hallmark Greetings & Gifts. May I help you find something today?" "Well, uh, yes. I'm looking for a Valentine's Day card. For my niece." "Perfect. Our Valentine's day selection is over here.” “Are you sure?” “Am I what?” “Are you sure? I mean, these cards are assorted blues and yellows and greens.” “And?” “I was looking for Valentine’s ...

Read story

“A Kind Home” by Alex Sultan

This would be her masterpiece. With a chisel in one hand, a hammer in the other, Naomi paced the workshop. Her leather shoes tapped against the floor with each footfall. Candlelight flickered off a block of marble, taller than she stood, the stone a light hue of fading smoke. Naomi stopped and stared. She twirled the chisel around her fingers. It would be her masterpiece. She raised the chisel against the rock, breathed in, and readied the hammer. Then, with an exhale, she lowered her tools. Everything h...

Read story

“The Making of Chocolate ” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Step 1: The Selection and Harvest of the Cocoa PodsAlthough Jean-Paul had received several invitations from Brussels to Zurich, he decided to apprentice with one of the chocolatiers in Paris. Parisians had a particular passion for all things chocolate, even prescribing it from their pharmacies in the 18th century. Whether chocolate had any medicinal properties or not, Jean-Paul was wholly vested in learning its secrets. He arose early and ...

Read story

“Roses for Ruby” by Kathleen Fine

Simon meanders through Charbel Chocolatiers searching for the perfect heart shaped box for Ruby. He remembers she likes dark chocolate; she hates white. He read she once was forced to eat mouthfuls of white chocolate pretzels while filming a commercial as a child and has never been able to take even a nibble ever since. Simon plucks up a large, ruby-red, heart-shaped box with assorted dark caramels and determines this i...

Read story

“Hope This Helps” by Haley White

(Content warning: pregnancy loss) The first time you have a miscarriage, your loved ones might send you flowers. You might get a beautiful tree to plant from a loved one who has found peace in her own grief. Someone will send a box of chocolates - the finest ones they could find - with a note that says, “Sending love. Hope this helps.” It doesn’t, but you appreciate the gesture. You’ll take a week off wor...

23 comments 23 SHORTLIST ⭐️

Read story

“My First Valentine” by Francis Daisy

You know when you can no longer fit your clothes - as opposed to when your clothes no longer fit you, but that is a different story for a different day - but when your clothes no longer fit into your bottom left hand dresser drawer, you know that there is a problem. What in the devil is in that drawer anyway? It’s your dresser. You’ve owned this dresser for the last, do we want to think about age here? Okay, upper level math skills being tasked here - years married, plus the apartment, minus the year in storage during the teeny tiny apart...

Read story

“Love and Chocolate in Five Easy Steps” by Zack Powell

Content warning: Language and mentions of abortion.Hey there! It's your girl Tahlia here, and I'm back to bring you another slam dunk recipe. Valentine's Day is right around the corner, so today I'm gonna show you how to make your very own chocolate bars for that special someone in your life. Because, ladies, if your man is anything like my boyfriend Marcus, he's gonna want some chocolate. And if he's like Marcus, once he gets a taste, he'll probably want a little something extra on the side, if you catch my drift. Sadly...

41 comments 41 SHORTLIST ⭐️

Read story

“I Hate Everything About You” by Ivy Genesis

TW// strong language Fuck Madeline. And this time, I mean it. She fucked me once, fucked me twice, and now all she has left me with is her stupid heart-shaped box filled with all the lighters she stole from music producers, guitarists, groupies, junkies, models, and just people that we encountered in the avalanche of our existence. If I see a guy or a chi...

Read story

“Do not burn yourself on the oven” by Maria Blackman

I knew that the new apprentice was repulsed by me but he should have learnt sooner to fear me rather than mock me. My eyesight was nearly gone (which made no difference as I could tell the difference between cinnamon and cassia with just one sniff, could roll a piece of marzipan into a flower or a star or a mouse with just my fingertips to guide the shape) but I knew when he curled his lip. It was as loud as the clomping...

14 comments 14 SHORTLIST ⭐️

Read story

“No One Messes With Terry!” by PJ Aitken

The last 18 months had been a whole new level of stress for Terry with lockdown after lockdown causing his little corner shop to be on the verge of closing permanently. After months of only scraping by with his loyal customers popping in when it was safe, today was the day when lockdown six would be lifted and Terry can finally see his finances turn a corner. He’d woken up early to stock the shelves with his big sellers ...

Read story

“Sincere Feelings ” by Dream Girl

~ My anticipations of waiting for him slowly started to dwindle. He was nowhere to be seen or found and no one knew him except for me. It was as if someone like him never expected. Wish it would be a dream, but no it still haunts me up to this date. The fact that he left me all alone on a cold bed, on such a day still haunts me to this date. The only thing that stopped me from going crazy was this box tha...

Read story

“Sickeningly Sweet” by Allya Nosmada

I hovered over Nick until he opened his eyes. He smiled then laughed. “Morning,” he said softly in his deep handsome voice. “What is it?” “Happy Valentine’s day!” I said, giving him a kiss. He frowned. “I thought we talked about this, babe. We don’t celebrate V-day.” He moved me off of him and got out of bed, heading directly for the shower...

Read story

“Just Chocolate” by Maggie Gibbs

I frantically shuffled bags of candy around the shelf of the convenience store, hoping that by some miracle, a bag would be hidden underneath some Dove Promises or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. It was my fifth store that day and no one had it. I asked store associates at all the other stores I went into, and no one could help me.“We’re all out.” Those three words were the words I kept hearing. We’re all out. I felt my chest tighten every time, like the weight of my sadness would crush me from the inside out.

Read story

“Last Valentine's Day Part One” by Howard Seeley

Kathy’s heart jumped for joy when she read the text from Jack. “Happy Valentine’s Day, my love. I have something special planned for us tonight. I’m sending an Uber to pick you up at the house by 6:00 P.M Don’t be late.” When it came to mysteries and surprises, Kathy has always been a sucker. So, when she glanced at her watch, she was disappointed at what it read. Eight hours! Eight hours I must wait to see what Jack has planned. Anticipation overwhelmed her, and she began tapping her fingers on her desk. Should I cal...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

210

Contest entries

123

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 18, 2022 EST

Won by Stephanie Kaye 🏆

Title: Mythes

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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢