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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

“Confection Perfection” by Larrissa Howard

Submitted to Contest #133

Confection Perfection “What can I get you?” I ask. A woman with dark half-circles under her eyes and two toddlers hanging on her legs takes out her wallet and pulls out a 10 dollar bill. “Two lollipops and an iced coffee. Extra espresso.” she groans. She slaps her money on the counter and shouts at her toddlers who are running around the shop. I write the order down on an order slip and slide it into the kitchen. The woman drags her toddlers to the nearest table and starts rubbing her temples. I take the 10 dollar bill and put it into th...

3 comments 3
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“Roses and Chocolates” by Violetta-Valerie Gallee

Submitted to Contest #133

'Gosh... how come making chocolates is such a messy work?' I groaned as I looked at this mess of white and dark chocolate in front of me. 'Maybe if you weren't so chaotic there would be more chocolate in the chocolate moulds than in your face,' Elijah, my best friend, laughed as he wiped some of the chocolate off my face. 'Hmph, I'm gonna act like I didn't hear that!' I mumbled as I crossed my arms, which I regretted instantly because now I had chocolaty handprints on my arms. 'Yeah, sure,' he chuckled before he dripped some red food colo...

2 comments 2
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“Chocolate box” by RAKESH MATHUR

Submitted to Contest #133

Leon realised that he needed a bigger screwdriver to dismantle the crib. He roughly opened a cabinet, which disturbed a delicate equilibrium and a cascade of boxes toppled from the top shelf, bounced on his head, and lay in disarray on the floor.“Damn, woman!”, he vented his anger on an absent Sophia.His bedroom was already a mess. He had not bothered to clean it after Sophia had left him some days back, taking their infant son with her.“Never throws anything away,” he kicked a dented shoe box clear across the room. The kick revealed a heart...

2 comments 2
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“Confectionery Carnage” by Barbara Burgess

Submitted to Contest #133

PLEASE NOTE—if you suffer from arachnophobia then please do not read this story. Blood, guts, gore, graphic. Swearing. Adrian looked around the cages to make sure the doors were locked. After checking the inhabitants had enough food and water, he grabbed the jacket he’d stuffed between two terrariums, dimmed the lights, and headed for the outside world. Having secured the inner and outer laboratory doors, he ambled down the corridor and stepped into the warm sunshine, shielding his eyes from the glare. He needed a break, something swe...

12 comments 12
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“The Jar of Nothing” by Liz Mooney

Submitted to Contest #133

It was only 2pm, but it looked like twilight outside. The windows shook in their frames, pummeled by the wind and rain. I turned the page of the book I was reading, comforted by the weather. It matched my mood. It was only my first week in the new house. I was adjusting to living here alone. Life didn’t always go as planned, and I was trying to be okay with that. Thinking back on the chaos of the last year, I felt a tightness in my chest and suddenly found it hard to breathe. This was supposed to be the home I shared with the love of my life...

11 comments 11
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“A Giant's Pear Drop Tears ” by Matty Roberts

Submitted to Contest #133

Rosie waited for her father to take his lunch break. He marched to the front of the shop, locked the door and turned the sign to closed with a flick of his veiny wrist. He always took his lunch in the back room between the piles of musty papers, and he always closed the door so the smoke from his pipe wouldn’t drift into the shop. ‘Tony’s Sweetshop’ the white sign said above the door outside, but for ten minutes each day it was Rosie’s. Cherry drops and Bon-bons, Cola bottles and Gummy bears. Glistening rows of glass jars bursting with ...

3 comments 3
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“February 14th” by Regan Marie

Submitted to Contest #133

Here it comes again – Valentine’s Day. I honestly don’t know how I feel about it anymore. In elementary school, it was this exciting event where we’d write the names of everyone in our class onto pieces of heart-shaped candy and hand them out at the end of the day. In middle school, it was a trend to think February 14th was lame. And I had believed it was for a while…until Matt Hershey(yes, like the chocolate) asked me to be his girlfriend in the 7th grade. He gave me a teddy bear and a shiny red box of Russel Stover assorted chocolates. It ...

6 comments 6
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“Cherry Red” by Lisa Harrison Ross

Submitted to Contest #133

Bulllying....... Today is the worst day ever. Today, in case you were wondering, is Valentine's day. Every man and woman, boy and girl, asking each other, “Will you be my valentine?” Like elementary kids. The heart-shaped boxes, the candy hearts that taste like chalk and paste mixed together, it’s sickening. I hate it, and I make a point to show it to. I wear a black tee-shirt and jeans with white tennis shoes. The only thing that could remotely be made to look like Valentine's day, is my hair, which is bright red from where I dyed it last...

1 comment 1
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“The kind that have goo inside” by D A

Submitted to Contest #133

There was a man named Valentino who found Valentine’s Day sickly sweet. He really wanted to make an impression on the girl that he liked. He wanted her to know how much he liked her, which was a lot. He liked her in the usual way, of course, the way that imagines talking to her and making her smile and eventually holding hands and then kissing and getting warm and naked under covers and having sex and then taking a shower together or a bath with candles and also, and perhaps most of all, having chocolate things with ice cream afterward and f...

1 comment 1
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“This Is Me Trying” by Amanda Wisdom

Submitted to Contest #133

This Is Me Trying I remember this, I whisper to myself, as I hold the old, wooden, heart-shaped box in my hands. I brush the tip of my thumb over the engraving, written in a childish scrawl.  Written by me, years ago.  Misty-eyed, I read “To Mom, Love, Em.” The word “Mom” is much bigger, and slanted sideways. “Em” is extra small, and if you didn’t know this gift was from me, you probably wouldn’t be able to make out the name.  It seems so impossible, the world in which this tiny box was made. Years ago, more than a decade,...

4 comments 4
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“A House and a Heart and a Ghost and a Box” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #133

I have a house. There’s a box. Would you like-- Would you like to see-- I saw. I saw a ghost. I saw a ghost of a heart in the box. The parade came through and I chiseled a statue of the ghost. The ghost and not the ghost of the heart. Up to the steps came the parade. Turrah, turrah--tangle me up. That’s how it sounded. My ears play tricks on me, but never my mind. Never my eyes. I can see the fire trying to lick up the heart-shaped box and it won’t. It can’t because it doesn’t know the combination. Everything ...

8 comments 8
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“2/14” by Mia Rose

Submitted to Contest #133

The girl exits the shop and turns left. Her glassy green eyes watch the cobblestones pass beneath her sneakers. Endless shops decorated with bright cheery hearts and flashy displays surround her. The tinny Sinatra blaring from the speakers sounds like it belongs in a jazz club. A happy couple passes hand in hand and she averts her eyes from their goofy smiles as they enter a chocolate shop. Typical, she thinks. The girl tells herself chocolate tastes the same today. That she’s not missing the annual ritual of flowers, gifts, and puppy love...

1 comment 1
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“Again, Until It's Perfect” by Ayla Driver

Submitted to Contest #133

“Arlow, I got something to ask you. Wait, maybe I shouldn’t ask you. What do you think, Arlow? Should I ask you?” “I don’t know, Lance.” Arlow locked the club room, tucking the key into his bag.  The season had turned fairly cold, and the few students milling around the university campus were bundled in woolen hats and thick coats, a few with twined hands and smitten expressions.  Every year Arlow would often ignore the fact that it was Valentine's day. It was a sickly sweet holiday that often had him gagging as soon as he st...

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“Hungry For Love” by Jane Andrews

Submitted to Contest #133

Notes for American readers: I realise there are lots of references here to British chocolate (candy) bars which may not be familiar to American readers, so you might want to google Nestle Matchmakers to get an idea of what a Matchmaker looks like. (Maltesers have been on sale in the US since 2017.) A Feast is an iconic British ice cream on a stick and Tesco is a well-known and popular supermarket chain in the UK – similar to Costco. ‘Bake Off’ is known in the USA as ‘The Great British Baking Show’. The recipe for the cake Julie makes as a gi...

12 comments 12
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“Welcome Home” by Melody Hayes

Submitted to Contest #133

Surrounded by piles of old newspapers and trash, I ran the back of my arm across my sweaty forehead to keep flyaways from getting in my eyes. There hadn’t been much here worth saving, so I was mostly just stuffing everything my gloved hand touched into trash bags. I was attempting to push my foot forward through some empty cans when I lost my balance and ended up on my butt with an avalanche of useless objects falling on top of me. Disgusted, I started to dig my way out when something out of place caught my eye. Pausing in my effort, I reach...

2 comments 2
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$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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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