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#178: Happy Holidays

It's that time of year again! Whether you're observing a particular holiday, or simply raising a glass to making it through another year in one piece, December is a time for reflection, celebration, and taking stock. This week's prompts are, naturally, a nod to the season — and all the fun it can bring!

As much as we love the holidays, they can also be a difficult time for many; so no matter how you're celebrating this year, we hope that these prompts can provide you with a little festive escapism. Happy holidays, writers!

🥇 Winner

“Marie Antoinette” by Molly Kelash

Squat, beige and Soviet, the Marie Antoinette Apartments stood against the stale gray Minneapolis sky. Irony of the worst kind, he thought, blandly ugly and unconscious. He would take exquisitely self-aware irony any day over this three-story architectural monstrosity, “classed up” with tacked on ionic Greek columns, harsh blue LED Christmas lights wrapped inexpertly around them, canned Christmas classics pumping through the air.God, this place was only better than minimum security prison by a hair. But it was all he cou...

128 comments 128 WINNER 🏆

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Round the World at the Holidays” by Wendy Kaminski

Today is the Friday before Christmas. This would normally be relevant news to at least one of us, because I have Fridays off and I’d have the time to shop for traditional Christmas dinner – you know: ham and turkey, side dishes, pie, the works. I may be a little late to the scene on that, but if you put off something long enough, you avoid the rush of the better-prepared, is my motto. Only, it snowed last night, and I can’t get out of the driveway now. The door of my car is frozen shut, even. Good grief… I don’t hav...

92 comments 92 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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“Toure de Waffle” by N.M. Stech

The horror of the thing overwhelmed me. It was a monstrosity; an unholy union if ever there was one. What kind of psychopath was responsible for this abomination? I looked across the table at my friends, and I could see my feelings echoed in their faces. Neal looked down at his plate with the furrowed brow of man looking at a mortally wounded ally on the battlefield. Jordan, on the other hand, wore a look of pure di...

35 comments 35 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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This week's prompts

Write a story about a family (biological or found) coming together for Christmas.

Christmas – 44 stories

Write a story that takes place over the eight nights of Hannukah.

Holiday – 5 stories

Set your story at a work holiday party,

Holiday – 35 stories

Write about a cynical character realizing they do have something to celebrate after all.

Character – 49 stories

Write a story about an unconventional holiday tradition.

Holiday – 53 stories

Stories

“Marie Antoinette” by Molly Kelash

Squat, beige and Soviet, the Marie Antoinette Apartments stood against the stale gray Minneapolis sky. Irony of the worst kind, he thought, blandly ugly and unconscious. He would take exquisitely self-aware irony any day over this three-story architectural monstrosity, “classed up” with tacked on ionic Greek columns, harsh blue LED Christmas lights wrapped inexpertly around them, canned Christmas classics pumping through the air.God, this place was only better than minimum security prison by a hair. But it was all he cou...

128 comments 128 WINNER 🏆

Read story

“Round the World at the Holidays” by Wendy Kaminski

Today is the Friday before Christmas. This would normally be relevant news to at least one of us, because I have Fridays off and I’d have the time to shop for traditional Christmas dinner – you know: ham and turkey, side dishes, pie, the works. I may be a little late to the scene on that, but if you put off something long enough, you avoid the rush of the better-prepared, is my motto. Only, it snowed last night, and I can’t get out of the driveway now. The door of my car is frozen shut, even. Good grief… I don’t hav...

92 comments 92 SHORTLIST ⭐️

Read story

“Unfinished Business” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Five days after Yom Kippur, David Jacob Tomaschewitz prayed for better challah sales to ensure his foundering bakery made a profit for the year.Although business had been brisk for Rosh Hashanah, sales of Shabbat bread had consistently diminished, week by week, as other Jewish bakeries offered more than his meager shop—cookies! pastries! cakes!David’s father had founded the bakery decades prior, specializing in traditional Jewish loaves of bread, including mountains of bagels his loyal customers bought by the brown-...

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“The Evidence of Things Not Seen” by Thom Brodkin

If you knew you were going blind tomorrow, what would you make an effort to see today? An eagle soaring? Or maybe waves crashing on the beach? Certainly you would drink in the smiles of your children, memorizing their faces to help you through the dark days to come. Billy had no such warning, and even if he did, he wouldn’t have had any such list. Billy was the son of an unwed mother who died in childbirth. He had spent the first thirteen years of his life in forgettable foster homes and...

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“How to Win an Unwinnable War” by Zack Powell

This year it's my turn to host our family's annual war. That's why we're doing 75 along the highway now, me and Mom and Dad, who's sitting in the back seat loading our guns. It's one of the reasons, anyway.The timing couldn't be better; there's nothing I need more than a diversion from my own war with Jasper last month. That was messier than anything will be today. The way we turned the living room into a battleground, hurling books and words like live grenades. The way he packed what was left of his stuff and screeched ...

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“The Summoning Bell” by Rebecca Miles

-The Cutter’s Inn, 1844Winter trees reach with long dark fingers into an unresponsive sky as the figure strikes the match, eagerly bringing the hungry flame to the paper’s edge. Clouds mask the moon as they did a year ago and no reflection from the inky waters mirrors the man’s face, shaggy brows knitted in fervid concentration. He is alone, only thoughts and fears for company.The canal carves its quiet way through the night, secrets flowing through each of the 105 locks, linking this backwater to the smog and...

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“Happy Valhallidays!” by Michał Przywara

CW: sacrilege/irreverence.The snowstorm raged outside the little cottage, and a smaller storm raged within. The wife saw her husband rooted in his faded green armchair, glowering at the roaring fire. At his right hand stood a small table with a glass full of amber whisky. On the floor lay a half-filled bottle, and another beside it – empty.She knew better than to disturb him on this night but it still took all her effort not to step in and say something.The kids will call when they call, she might ...

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“New Year's Eve Annual Streaking Race” by AnneMarie Miles

TW: Strong language, allusions to sex, and nudity.Kissing Jamie’s knuckles, Willy said, “You do not have to do this.”Her smile begged his lips to linger. “If I knew what this was, it would be a lot easier to say no to,” she flirted.Willy chuckled. Keeping a hold on her hand, he cupped her cheek in his other, stroking his thumb over her freckles. “Ah, ah, now, that, I cannot reveal,” he teased, pulling her in for a kiss. Their lips moved slowly, but Jamie could feel th...

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“Astronauts Have Christmas Too” by Edward Latham

The gingerbread man floated in the middle of the room. Flight Engineer Nate pushed off the floor and glided expertly towards it; he opened his mouth and bit off its head in one quick snap of his jaw. A cheer erupted from the group of astronauts in the Harmony module of the International Space Station.The Christmas delivery had arrived last week and the walls were lined with snakes of green and gold tinsel. Protruding diagonally from one corner of the ceiling was a garish fake tree, full of baubles and sparkle. “Santa Cla...

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“The Party's Over” by Kevin B

We just love seeing what they’re doing over in wind-up gadgets. The wind-up gadget department is killing it these days. The winding. The upping. The gadgetry. We’re amazed. We’re marveling. The rumors that we here at bathtime toys are jealous of the wind-up gadget department, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. We are honored and overjoyed to be working under the same umbrella as our wind-up gadget colleagues. We are all here working towards the same goal. We are all part of the same beautiful quilt. Our square ...

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“Toure de Waffle” by N.M. Stech

The horror of the thing overwhelmed me. It was a monstrosity; an unholy union if ever there was one. What kind of psychopath was responsible for this abomination? I looked across the table at my friends, and I could see my feelings echoed in their faces. Neal looked down at his plate with the furrowed brow of man looking at a mortally wounded ally on the battlefield. Jordan, on the other hand, wore a look of pure di...

35 comments 35 SHORTLIST ⭐️

Read story

“Whispers from Pygmalion” by Delbert Griffith

Cyrus looked out of his window and rubbed his eyes. The marble statue of his dead wife had, amazingly, grown a recumbent child at her feet. He rubbed his eyes again. Still there. Either a miracle had occurred or he had drunk an inordinate amount of cheap wine last night. He hastily threw on a coat and some shoes, tramping outside to determine which hypothesis was correct. Neither, as it turned out. Cyrus be...

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“The Year Of The Cat” by Chris Campbell

Daydreaming, I sat looking out the kitchen window, as the smell of roast potatoes, turkey, and brussels sprouts filled the crisp and cold winter air feeding the rising damp of our unheated house. The light chill in the air caused some condensation to form on the window glass, so, to pass some time, I playfully traced the shape of a Christmas tree onto it with my index finger. Hunger pangs had me longing for something to eat, as the glorious aroma of the prepared feast swirled around the humid kitchen, out into the hallway, and sn...

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“It Ends With a Broken Heart” by Graham Kinross

TW: Self harm and stabbing.“Sign the confidentiality agreement here.” The agent pointed a long finger to a highlighted line. “Date it here,” said the man whose eyebrows were trying to compensate for his thinning hair.Arthas Jacques’ finger slid across the screen, leaving a scrawl that few would recognise as his name.“You know of course that you can’t tell anyone about our investigation,” said Agent Jones of the Martian Security Agency.“Yes. I understand.” His Martian capital accent was the typical mi...

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“A Day of Lark” by Steffen Lettau

"Twas the night before Christmas, And you know the rest, Hence why I am here standing In this frilly-silly vest!" At first glance, one would assume that Charlie Lark was drunk, but he hadn't even sipped once from the wine glass; the full cup teetered and tottered wherever his hand swayed, but not one drop spilled out. The red liquid danced with its partner, the lanky bookkeeper wh...

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$250

Prize money

186

Contest entries

63

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 30, 2022 EST

Won by Molly Kelash 🏆

Title: Marie Antoinette

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.

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