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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#17: All the Fixin's

Next weekend is Thanksgiving in the United States! And while people have their own various traditions when it comes to marking the holiday, one thing remains fairly consistent: you get together with loved ones and you eat.

And in between mouthfuls, you talk! In fact, dinner conversation can be an excellent and overflowing source of writing inspiration — from family dynamics and long-observed dinner-time rituals, to new-comer partners meeting the family for the first time. A family dinner can truly be mapped out using a story structure: with a beginning, followed by rising action, peaking with a climax, and then wrapping up with a denouement.

This week, each of our prompts challenges you to write a short story involving a family dinner.

P.S – Know some kiddos who will be excited to do some reading over the holidays? Check out this list of the 35 best Thanksgiving books to read with kids.

This week's prompts

Write a story about a family dinner from the perspective of an in-law who's married into the family.

Thanksgiving – 33 stories

Write a story about a family dinner that includes someone unexpected showing up.

Thanksgiving – 80 stories

Write a story about a "chosen family" dinner, where no one is related by blood, but they still feel like family.

Holiday – 40 stories

Write a story about a family dinner that takes place in any time period other than the present.

Historical Fiction – 30 stories

Write a story about a family dinner that involves some kind of reconciliation.

Nonfiction – 30 stories

Stories

“Skeletons” by Alicia Trevino

Submitted to Contest #17

It isn’t like they were having a nice time. They all know it. They’re sitting around the oak, dinner table ogling the delicacies set before them. Mother always thinks it’s the best idea to set up a dinner feast so fancy that you can’t tear your eyes away from it. Airily she would wave her hand and say, ”Margo, if I have to look at your brother's face one more time I shall throw up in that wastebasket over there. Put the fine china out.” Does she have the right to complain about her mother’s wishes?So she put the fine china out and ...

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“GHOSTLY THANKSGIVING” by Margie Ricca

Submitted to Contest #17

When ghosts showed up at my house for Thanksgiving dinner, I didn’t mind. I invited them. I have haunted this house for many years, although at the present time it is vacant. People don’t tend to stay long once I begin my ghostly pranks. Every year, all of the ghosts go separate ways to haunt some family’s Thanksgiving celebration. I thought this year, we should celebrate Thanksgiving by getting together at my house to swap stories of our most memorable or fun hauntings and talk about what we are going to haunt for Christmas, so we all met h...

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“What They Never Expected” by Brittany Minocha

Submitted to Contest #17

The saying goes, ‘expect the unexpected.’ But when it really happens, no one knows what to do or say when the unexpected shows up. They just stare, mouths agape with not a thought to their shocked minds. It was Thanksgiving Dinner, and my mother had invited both sides of the family to join us. Aunt’s Uncles, Cousins, Sister, Brothers, and the like. My mother was bringing out dishes and dishes with food; turkey, ham, stuffing, gravy, potatoes etc. The chatter of people quickly filled the whole house; laughter, and excitement. A true family g...

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“ All His Children” by C. Freshour

Submitted to Contest #17

It was a typical evening for Terry Gind; he sat in his favorite rocker in the living room after a very modest supper, looked into space with seemingly worlds of thought spinning in his head while the only sound in the room was the constant ticking of the old table clock on the television. He sometimes gazed out the window; the sun was setting much earlier now that it was November. At 5 o'clock it was already starting to get dark in the peaceful neighborhood where he had lived for 50 years. Terry was frail now, in body and min...

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“The Unexpected East-Ender” by Rose Leven

Submitted to Contest #17

Maybe, just maybe, Lily thought, if I sit here long enough I really will sink into the sofa. Still, maybe it was better to get it all out of the way in one go. If her parents insisted on coming to visit maybe it was better that it coincided with getting a bollocking from the head of Finance and then missing missing her bus, leading to a mad dash across London to be home in time. She’d only just had time to shimmy into acceptable clothes (“Honestly, Lilian. A lady needn’t look so dowdy just because she’s decided to enter the workplace.”,...

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“You, Me, Us, and Them” by Megan Rosevear

Submitted to Contest #17

"Jenna?""Yeah?""Door!""Gimme a- ah!" Jenna said, her shriek being cut off by a giggle. The five-year-old boy cradled in her lap sported a toothless smile and the biggest brown eyes she'd ever seen. "You weasel, don't pinch me! Pinching hurts, dude..."The boy erupted into more laughter, clinging to her as she tried to rise to her feet."Tash, help!" Jenna said, trying and failing to keep her balance while fifty pounds of dead weight toppled her over. From her vantage point on the bed, Tash looked quite cozy with her legs loosely crossed."Nah,"...

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“Well, that was something.” by Leaf Austen

Submitted to Contest #17

I let out a soft sigh as I turn off my car. I’m here. I never really liked these ‘family’ dinners, it almost always consists of someone getting drunk and starting something with someone before we were even done with the main course. There’s usually yelling, and the occasional spillage of food or drinks, sometimes staining an expensive suit or blouse. It’s a disaster really. I doubt this one will be different, but I couldn’t say no to my mother, I’ve never been able to say no to her. I pull the bottle of apple cider from the passenger seat an...

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“The Best Gift Ever” by Maggie McVey

Submitted to Contest #17

Ding! The phone on the counter chimes with a new text. Cara wipes her hands on her pants and picks up the device. The word "Lover" shows, telling her the text is from her husband. "All clear?" the text reads. Then, Cara hears the sound of the garage door opening and a car pulling up the driveway. Cara sends a thumbs up and quickly discards her phone to the side. Cara places the final strawberry on her three-tiered chocolate cake and steps back to look over her creation. It's not a traditional Thanksgiving dessert, but she's proud of her mast...

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“Unpleasant Surprise.” by Shay Bush

Submitted to Contest #17

It's a chilly evening in November, everyone in the family is gathering around the table in the backyard; decored by some yellowish hanging lights across the yard, white cloth on the table, gold accents in the dishes. It's Thanksgiving, the turkeys are looking good, the scent of my father's pasta is in the air, the sound of wine glasses hitting around and the drunken laughs of everyone, as I am sitting on a couch a little distanced so I can admire the look of my family enjoying the occasion.It was the first time in a long time since all of us...

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“A Christmas Healing” by Jane Kelley

Submitted to Contest #17

Picture, if you will, a typical Hallmark Christmas Eve. Imagine yourself as an invisible observer, like Mr. Marley, peaking in on a gathering, from somewhere above. It has recently turned dark outside so the quaint lantern- like street lamps have just appeared, giving very little useful light, but a perfect ambiance to the evening ahead. On the door of the big old stucco home is a wreath with twinkle lights sparkling all around. The driveway and street around the home are full of vehicles as varied as the cha...

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“Evelyn's Seat ” by Sarah Paris

Submitted to Contest #17

Sludging through the drifting snow, Callie’s heart was filled with apprehension and sadness. She felt her foot slip, which caused her to squeeze the large cardboard box full of individual egg custards she carried with mittened hands a little tighter than the already near death-grip vise she had on it. It was her grandmother’s recipe after all. Thanksgiving would not be the same without her grandmother’s egg custard, and if they couldn’t have the woman herself there, they should at least have something that...

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“Dinner With Dinah” by Hance Theodore

Submitted to Contest #17

The aroma of Mom’s famous three beans rice and stewed pork fill the room, and with it, comes a sudden rush of joyous childhood memories. Dad expresses his disappointment with my wife and kids not being able to make it, after I had explained they were visiting their grandmother. He then quickly goes on to insist we hold hands and say grace before we partake in the delicious spread laid out before us. I take a peek through one eye as dad says grace, and see Dinah, my eldest sister, fidgeting nervously in her seat, as my other sister, Anissa, t...

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“Lance and Dale” by Karen Waugh

Submitted to Contest #17

As a father, you want what's best for your children, even when they are grown and on their own. Isn't it true that a good dad puts his own needs secondary to what's important to his children? Doesn't he keep his promise and show up everyday? If love cannot be said in words, sometimes actions speak in ways that words cannot.My own dad showed me love in my life and I grew up knowing I was cared for. Sometimes a man doesn't follow his good dad's good example though. In spite of the fact I have my father's blue eyes, I don't see life in the same...

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“And you can't stay” by Anie Doe

Submitted to Contest #17

This was exactly one of the mornings when I woke up startled, almost jumped up because the light entering the room told me that it was later than it should be. With my heart pounding I check the phone. It is 10am. I let the head fall on the pillow again and try to straighten my thoughts before I start panicking. “It is not as bad as it might seem. I will not manage to clean the apartment, but well, it hasn’t been cleaned for a fortnight, so one more day is not going to make much difference. If I leave before midday, I will still manage ...

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“Hearth and Home” by Rachel Clark

Submitted to Contest #17

The embers in the hearth illuminated cyclically, a repetitive glowing and dimming that demonstrated the cruel ease of nature to give warmth and light and in equal time take it away. The comforts of the world are ephemeral, an introduction always to the inevitable absence of the feelings of safety and belonging. To Sophia, the warmth radiating from a fire was associated with the cooling coals, after being snuffed out. “Sophia, focus on your task. I need you to set the table for our esteemed guest,” Madame Lorna insisted. ...

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$50

Prize money

213

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 29, 2019 EST

Won by Ian Gonzales 🏆

Title: No Place Special

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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