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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

“BURIED PAST” by Ashika B

Submitted to Contest #17

The dining table is brown in colour. It is made of solid wood. There are five solid chairs. The table is full of dishes like roast turkey, turkey stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, corn, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie and bottle of red wine. &nbsp...

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“Table for Six” by A.w. Karambelas

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #17

In this household, Popiah is a Thanksgiving tradition. It’s our version of a turkey, you could say, but it means much more to Dan and Lina and Bee-Bee who haven’t seen their motherland for at least a decade. I’ve never prepared this dish myself. But today, Dan and Lina are off to run a last-minute errand, so here I am stuck with the prep work. My clumsy grip softens as I rub the delicate hide between my fat fingers. “Now. Lay here,” Bee-Bee instructs, leaning over my shoulder and indicating the floral porcelain before me. The paper is thin a...

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“Together, Forever” by Alaina Logan

Submitted to Contest #17

Sadie set the basket of rolls down on the table as the front door shut. "There," she whispered. "That should be it." "What's for sup?" Davy, her younger brother, asked. His frowsy brown hair hung in front of his soft green eyes. Sadie smiled down at him. "A beautiful rabbit stew Mama just finished cooking. Come, Davy. Let's see if we can mend your trousers any better." Looking up, she saw Papa standing in the doorway, taking his mittens off. "Good evening, children. Where is your mother?...

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“The Duke's Wedding Feast” by Emilie Conroy

Submitted to Contest #17

Tarian of Wales forced herself to think about the great feast that would follow her wedding to Alexandre, the Duke of Guyenne. She had little interest in the match, and had not been able to eat for many days. The promise of indulgence in the traditional celebrations almost improved her mood. Today she would become a Duchess and lose herself as long as life endured. Only her brother Drew represented her birth family. Duke Alexandre had commissioned a special gown for Tarian to wear o...

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“The Earl of Wittendale” by Hailie Durante

Submitted to Contest #17

Lightning flashed outside of Katherine Black's bedroom window. The dark, sullen clouds only added to her father's sour mood and her mother's horrid attitude. The tension in the house seemed to suffocate everyone in the manor, including all of the servants. Katherine already had to witness one of their maids being lashed for simply spilling a glass of milk on her twin brother, Remus. After lunch, Katherine had retreated to her chambers, where she could hear her parents discussing the reason for the foul mood they were both in. Of course, e...

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“Because we were Jews” by Teagan May

Submitted to Contest #17

My pretty blue dress didn’t look good on me. Even though I was a girl I hated wearing dresses. I tried to smooth it just wouldn’t flatten down. my small apartment in Germany was all we could afford. my parents spoke in hushed voices and all I could make out were the words “move” and “America“ I‘d heard of America I just didn’t know what it was. A country a sweet cake I had no idea. I was guessing a country because why else would move be in the sentence. My brother and I sat politely at the table eating our bread and soup as they spoke. My pa...

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“Guess What I Did Today!” by Christine Hungerford

Submitted to Contest #17

“Hey Dad—guess what I did today!” BlueJay the little Raptor practically cawed his story out to his father, Master Raptor, and anyone else who was listening at the gargantuan supper meal. “So I was going to climb this huge volcano, and the rocks threw up all over the place and crash-l...

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“Thankful Hearts” by Randi W

Submitted to Contest #17

Paris, France November 1944 Smoke rolled through Paris as the sun began to set over the broken city. With one hand carrying a bag laden with as much food as could be found, her other hand wrapped firmly around her five-year-old daughters’ hand; they picked their way under the cover of night to her father’s house. “Come along Annette, quietly now!” whispered Joan gently leading her young daughter through the rubble of the crumbled city &...

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“WELCOME TO WEST PODVOLOSTOK” by Andrew Grell

Submitted to Contest #17

The State Department got her booked on the Accela from Foggy Bottom to the City of Brotherly Love. Sybil was running late and wished that in the years she had been in the field, Amtrak would have had a little more bullet in their bullet train by now. At least the sandwiches were fresh and the booze wasn’t too watered down. She got off at 30th Street station earlier than she thought she would have arrived; maybe a tailwind, she thought, and wandered over to her old digs, walking down Canal Street, knocking on the doors of a few...

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“Just Like Everyone Else” by Sarah Harris

Submitted to Contest #17

“It’s high time you got out of the house,” Darrell said, taking his mother’s dark, lined hand in his own. She gave an affectionate squeeze.“You know I don’t like goin’ out without your daddy.”“Daddy’s been gone five months now. You’re sixty years young; you can’t just stop living.”“I’m perfectly content to stay here and crochet blankets for the kids you and that wife of yours better have.”“Her name is Hannah Beth, Mama.”“I’d know that if you’d had a proper wedding instead of eloping.”Darrell sighed. That was always going to be a sore spot wi...

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“A Moment In Time” by Anna Kubiak

Submitted to Contest #17

The heat in the car is on too high. The dry air burns my nose but I don’t turn it off. In the driver's seat next to me Ashley has been talking since our car pulled out of our driveway and away from the comforting lights of our home. She’s been talking about her family, the ones we are speeding towards, but I’ve drowned her out, opting instead for the quiet of my own mind preoccupied with details that are meaningless. My overactive imagination brings me back to past Thanksgivings. I can see my childhood self lost...

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“Pain” by Brandon Rodriguez

Submitted to Contest #17

I have tried my best to fit in, but I still feel as though I am that proverbial outcast. Never have I felt so much isolation with as many people are around. I know I am alone in feeling this way, since this family is so large. The matron of the family sits at the head of the table in a chair that resembles a throne, watching everything that happens, while I feel her heated glance of hatred occasionally shift ...

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“Bah, Humbug” by Barbara Eustace

Submitted to Contest #17

“Are they here yet?” Lord Lawrence Melchior demanded as Jones, with practised ease, lifted him into his wheelchair.“No my lord. It’s still early. You said you didn’t want them to arrive before 12.”“What time is it now? Blast these eyes. Wish I could see what’s going on.”“It’s 10.30 my lord.” Of course it was 10.30. 9 o’clock was breakfast and the news, either on the radio or read, 10 o’clock was the time when Lord Melchior was bathed and dressed, and 10.30 was the time when he was lifted into his wheelchair to b...

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“An Unexpected Guest” by Sara Grim

Submitted to Contest #17

Every Thanksgiving, my family invites my grandparents on my dad’s side to come over and eat a big feast. My grandpa puts on quite a show for my sisters and me every time he eats. Of course, he doesn’t know he is entertaining to us kids. But we laugh and laugh (after the meal) and recall all of it. Grandpa always burps out loud, and the burp never interrupts his meal. He doesn’t even say, “Excuse me” as if he did not burp. He has false teeth, and they go clickety-clack while he chews his food. This year I am nine years old. I never look ...

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“What's in the Menu?” by Max Koenig

Submitted to Contest #17

As soon as the clock hit 8 in the evening, the family dinner will officially begin. Everyone inside a magnificent, old-Australian country style mansion is busy preparing for the celebration.Mrs. Conman is in the kitchen, alluring aromatic scent of both musty and fresh fragrant flows along the open air, making one salivate. It’s no doubt whatever she was cooking must have been delicious beyond expectation. Mr. Conman with the rest of the family members were putting on their best suits, excitements unconcealed on their pale faces.What's the bi...

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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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