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!

This week's prompts

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

Middle School – 24 stories

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

Valentine's Day – 78 stories

Set your story in a confectionery shop.

Middle School – 40 stories

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

Valentine's Day – 36 stories

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

Valentine's Day – 26 stories

Stories

“Nutella, it's not for you” by Esther Beshirová

Submitted to Contest #133

"This is the best chocolate ice cream I've ever had. Taste it! I wish they had it in the Czech Republic," Stella sighed. Thomas took a swallow. 400,000 tons of Nutella. That's the amount of hazelnut cream consumed by humans to this day, with a lot of help from those who are no longer with us. That's approximately 24,242 Czech Tatra 815 trucks fully loaded with the thick sweet paste. If you lined them up in a row, you'd have to circle the globe four times to see them all. And Thomas thought he could literally see his girlfriend, Stella, con...

Read story

“A Heart Full Of Love” by Rebecca Himmel Glassman

Submitted to Contest #133

My family and I live in the house that once belonged to my elderly Uncle Arthur. Somehow, it was left to me. I'm not quite sure why. Maybe, my uncle knew that no one else would want this old relic of days gone by. Or maybe he understood that my generation preferred the fast paced excitement of the big city, to the peace and quiet of the country. Maybe he knew that no one would appreciate the sentimental value of the house, and would just sell it for the fortune that it was worth in today’s market. Or maybe my uncle knew me better than I...

Read story

“The One I didn't know.” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #133

Darlene’s First Thoughts After She Discovered It This boggles my mind. I cannot believe what I just found, a box with something very special in it, something very, very special. It is fitting that the box is shaped like a heart. On a Flight Too Late She was one of my grandmothers – the one I didn’t know. Betty lived on the other side of the country, the west coast, and rarely left work and home to visit family living on the east coast. She was a chemistry researcher attached to a university despite her being long p...

Read story

“Memories In A Box” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #133

Wendy is in her home cleaning the attic when she comes upon an old treasure box. She opens the treasure box and finds an old heart shape box. Wendy takes out the heart shape box, looks at it, takes it down stairs and shows it to her mother. Julie, Wendy's mother looks at the heart shape box and realizes the box belongs to her mother. Julie tells Wendy "The box belongs to Grandma Rose." "How do you know it belongs to Grandma?" "I found the box. I opened it and saw the pictures." Wendy puts the box on the table and asks her mother ...

Read story

“Chocolate Heart” by Mark Nero

Submitted to Contest #133

It’s funny what can be found in old attics when you are a new homeowner and especially in the attics of really old homes. There could be rags or riches… Gold or garbage but what there would always be an abundance of memories. I was recently divorced and had decided to move to the country, in the attempt to leave a horrid part of my past behind. My ex-wife and I didn’t have any children, unless you counted the evil chihuahua that never liked me. They say that dogs are good judges of people, but I think that worked the other way around as w...

Read story

“Make Sure They Know” by Callie Wright

Submitted to Contest #133

The cafeteria was a roaring sea of pinks and reds. Heart-shaped boxes exchanged hands all over the bustling room. Candy and chocolates, tiny cards, squeals, and laughter; it was expected, but very nearly unbearable for the many students left empty-handed. Aubrey was one of these students. She and her best friend sat at their usual table, ignoring the pastel gaggle of giggles at the same long table, just feet away, ooh-ing and aw-ing over a tiny convenience store teddy bear someone’s boyfriend had bought them. Aubrey rolled her eyes...

Read story

“The Box” by Joy Arnett

Submitted to Contest #133

Ruth Emory's attic was proof that when things were out of sight they were also out of mind. She had been de-cluttering up there for almost a week. She had made it through a mountain of boxes filled with old dishes, discarded pots and pans, clothes and half finished knitting projects gone awry. Now that the great wall of boxes had been reduced there were only a few pieces of furniture left. There were 2 rockers, Jim's roll-top desk, a bright yellow kitchen step stool (circa 1950) and an ancient floor lamp that was mostly brass and weigh...

Read story

“Billet-Doux: Stronger Than Death” by Kathy Johnsey

Submitted to Contest #133

The hearse pulled away from the grave site. One petal from the red rose she was holding fell to the sidewalk. The rose was from the casket spray. His casket. Gone. Dead. "Passed away" they kept saying. Cindy could not believe it and did not want to believe it. In the ground. Covered up. Cold and dark. Still wearing his class ring. The class of 1976. Silent. Once so full of life and now lifeless. So young. Nineteen. His birthday was twenty-two days away. He would never be twenty. His life was just starting. Then it was snuffed out. For no r...

Read story

“Small Hearts” by Olivia Case

Submitted to Contest #133

It was a Tuesday morning and, shut in by the inevitability of December rain, I had decided to shuffle some artifacts in the old attic. There was no one coming to the house for weeks and I felt a hazy sense of something waiting to be discovered. I donned a moth-eaten sweater and ascended up the house, expecting any manner of dust and termites–the ladder had grown rusty with neglect, and the attic itself had lain untouched for years. At the foot of the ladder, an old fear returned; as a child I had frequently prayed for safe passage when ...

Read story

“The Tin Box” by Ariel Searcy

Submitted to Contest #133

Annaleigh is standing underneath the willow, peering towards the house as the branches of the tree coincide with the whipping of her long copper hair against the wind. The baby blue paint is peeling away from the old body of the farmhouse, falling onto the sun bleached flooring of the wrap-around porch. Although she stands twenty feet away, she can still hear the dissonant rattling of the fan blades that hang lazily above the line of rocking chairs facing towards the east side of the house. Sucking the last ember of her cigarette before thro...

Read story

“The Timepiece” by Russell Susko

Submitted to Contest #133

The strange and inexplicable events of the previous few weeks were not to end as I had expected.As I arrived at my destination, I steered my roadster onto the grassy off-road of the sparsely inhabited village bearing the baffling name of Ernshire Passage. I rechecked the property’s information sheet. “Here, at long last,” I said aloud while shutting the car down. I hopped out and took in a broad view of the expansive space.A thick stone wall, patched by moss and topped every few segments by a carved stone urn, traveled off to each side for a...

Read story

“Heart-Shaped Box” by K.J. Hanson

Submitted to Contest #133

My mother had told me when I was young to marry for love, but she should have been more specific. I married a man I loved deeply, so deeply that I couldn’t notice the fact that he always had one foot out the door. He told me he loved me often; it’s the thing I wanted to hear the most. Maybe that’s why he said it. If he was capable of falling in love, I’m certain that it would have been with me. But he was too removed from his own body to let himself fall. He dipped his toe into family life and would wade in the shallow end from time ...

Read story

“The Ring” by TMK M

Submitted to Contest #133

Tori watched as they ran inside excited to be home. She was looking for forward to some time alone. Afterall, they had been with her for 1 week uninterrupted. She turned to head home when Steve said, “hey do you have a min? I need to talk to you.” Tori hesitated for a moment. “Sure,” she said following Steve inside. She sat down on her grandmothers old recliner, eager to know what he wanted to say. They had been divorced for more time than they had been together. They communicated but not like this. Steve sat down next ...

Read story

“The Greatest Gift” by Cameron Chen

Submitted to Contest #133

A puff of cold and snowy air gently wound its way around the many woolen-clad patrons as though even the molecules of the outside air and the snowflakes suspended in it had an interest in the chocolates enshrined behind the thick glass of the display case. Had the patrons turned to see the source of the cold emission, they would have seen the shop door slam-shut behind a tall man in heavy work clothes that could have belonged to any one of the rougher trades about town. Had they noticed, they would have seen his heavy hands, like anchors, pl...

Read story

“A Lovely Reminiscence ” by Olena Y

Submitted to Contest #133

Ding! Ding! The scent of heaven pulls me in. I push the door completely open and take a step into CocoRiga. From the street view, the shop is practically invisible. It stands on the corner of Saints Avenue, smothered by corporate buildings, offices, and city giants. Inside the confectionary shop, an ambiance of sweet beginnings lingers, accompanied by timid, instrumental music in the background. It’s Valentine’s Day, and the number of couples I’ve seen continues to grow. Intertwined hands sway back and forth as another pair leaves the store,...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

204

Contest entries

121

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 ⭢