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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#19: Talking Shop

While Black Friday and Cyber Monday might be behind us, there are still weeks of shopping ahead as many of us gear up for Christmas.

While Hallmark holiday movies might have us believe that holiday shopping is a relaxed and cheerful activity that involves dipping into quaint shops with a hot chocolate in one hand and a bag of goodies in the other — we know the truth. Often, holiday shopping is a chaotic, several hour-long excursion through a packed mall, where you down cups of coffee just to keep yourself going. Or maybe you prefer to shop online, from the serene comfort of your couch. Finally, perhaps you avoid the whole thing altogether, because, like the Grinch, you know that "Christmas doesn't come from a store."

Whatever the case, it's clear that shopping can conjure up a range of emotions in different people. And your challenge this week is to capture those very emotions in a short story about... shopping!

This week's prompts

Write a short story about someone in the middle of a very long and busy retail shift.

Funny – 41 stories

Write a short story about someone searching for the perfect gift for their partner.

Romance – 60 stories

Write a short story about someone watching a convincing infomercial.

Funny – 20 stories

Write a short story about a shop that takes place over a span of years.

Narrative – 41 stories

Write a short story about someone based on their shopping list.

Character – 49 stories

Stories

“That one dress” by Tiana Gabel

Submitted to Contest #19

I push aside the curtain, the steam from the shower instantly sinking in the cold bathroom like some sci-fi cryogenic pod had opened in the tub. Get some green lights in here, and maybe some holographic nylon clothes for me and this would be a perfect set for a supernatural skincare commercial. I scribble the additions on a 4 by 6 card crammed with ink. Two more items Christmas-listed. I grab a towel, the artificial orange ruining the sharp feel I wanted, but it will have to do. My hair wrapped and twisted up to dry, I turn gracefully my fin...

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“Night Shift” by Terry R Barca

Submitted to Contest #19

I was lucky to get this job.Not because these kinds of jobs are hard to get but because this is exactly the kind of job that suits my mood.It’s not that I don’t like people, there are one or two that I wouldn’t set fire to if I had the tools. It’s just that people get me down. They seem to be comfortable in this world; I’m not. They rush around, and they seem to know stuff; stuff I don’t know.I’m not dumb, on the contrary, I have a good education bought and paid for by loving parents. Much and all as I’d like to, I can’t ...

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“What Can You Buy An Angel” by Annette Spenner

Submitted to Contest #19

What can you buy an angel? I have a day to figure something out. I walk aimlessly around the crowded mall. Sure, I could go inside the jewelry store. It’s beckoning me inside with precious metals and sparkling jewels. That just won’t do. She is precious enough and her eyes sparkle brighter than any of the jewels in the window. How could they ever compare? My angel deserves better than that.I continue on my quest. The crowds are thick. I’m finding it difficult to walk through them. People are so rude and unsmiling. Why are they so a...

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“Tuesday Evening, 8 P.M.” by Natasha Arnold

Submitted to Contest #19

6. December 1992 Stowe, Vermont When the Prodigal Son stumbled back into Holland’s Holiday Cards, Rosco’s dreams of managerial status were dashed. Rosco didn’t anticipate Richard Holland’s return; in fact, Rosco was mildly surprised to hear that Richard wasn’t dead underneath a bridge from an overdose. Richard and Rosco were as polar opposite as men can be. Both men were classy, but Rosco earned his class and Richard was born into it. Although Rosco wasn’t a Holland, he was informally adopted by Mr. Kingsley Holland, the founder of Holland’s...

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“Driving Home for Christmas” by Daniel Clark

Submitted to Contest #19

We drove for miles, laughing now and then to break the tension. The radio pumped out Christmas songs and the heater stopped our toes from freezing.“It’s definitely a good idea” you kept telling me, repetition making you sound less and less convincing. “We’ve waited long enough…”Your voice trailed off and we both retreated back inside our memories, mine full of dazzling lights, the smell of roasting chestnuts and an embrace warm enough to thaw the thickest of icicles.The roads were filled with people driving home for Christmas. In a way, we w...

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“I don't get paid enough for this...” by Spicy Ghost

Submitted to Contest #19

I don't get paid enough for this. Those seven words always seem to dance around my head this time of year. Of course, everyone says it's the most wonderful time of the year, but do they mean it? Really? Do they mean it? Everyone is like: 'Why are you so sad? Cheer up! It's Christmas!' and I play along until THIS happens. By this, I mean the craziness that is Christmas shopping. I am currently standing behind a register and watching people beat each other up to buy a pen. A PEN! What is wrong with you people!? Can't we just act like civilized...

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“A Sisyphean Shift” by Megan Charlie

Submitted to Contest #19

‘Barb’ pinned the name tag she’d been forced to borrow after forgetting hers at home onto the poorly designed maroon and lime polyester shirt. One last tug to ensure the hairnet properly contained everything and she was ready for her shift. As ready as she ever was. Only twenty minutes after clocking in, she was cornered by the shift manager, Larry. He invaded her space until she was sandwiched between his clipboard and the industrial meat slicer she had been cleaning. “Hey-” his eyes darted to her name tag “-Barb. You’re ...

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“Hard Work Has Its Perks.” by Rima ElBoustani

Submitted to Contest #19

Work is hard. That’s what Dad always said. He wasn’t wrong. Work is hard. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t get to benefit. The benefits are what I like most. Right now, I work the aisles at your local Supermarket. Right around Christmas, there is so much Christmas cheer here, it’s catching, like some kind of addled insect you just can’t shake. I don’t know why I’m happy at Christmas. I just am. Located all over the supermarket are Christmas decorations, Christmas chocolates, Christmas food. Anything you can think of, they had it. It was my...

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“Echo” by Carmen Friesen

Submitted to Contest #19

The first time he saw her, she couldn’t have been more than nine years old. Even with her horns, she didn’t even reach his shoulder. The old shopkeeper felt a strange fascination with her the moment he saw her, standing outside his shop, half-hidden beside the door. He watched her from behind the counter as he sanded a wooden cylinder, the beginning of what would become a magdal drum, and waited while she gathered her courage. He hoped she would come in. The shop was too quiet for his liking. She was unlike any infernabeast he’d ever seen – ...

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“Beyond the Bucket List” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #19

BEYOND THE BUCKET LISTThere was something about the interlinked lines of shopping trolleys that always reminded Lydia Lewis of the snake game on the old Nokia phones. She entertained bizarre notions of them weaving around the car park in some clanging conga dance after the supermarket had closed. That might make a good story. Actually, no, it wouldn’t.But at the moment she wasn’t thinking about old phones or phantom trolley dances or her fledgling writing career (though she thought in her gloomier moments that, to borrow an uncomfortably exp...

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“Three Gifts” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #19

Dominic would love that, thought Anita, looking at the window display. He’s always saying he wishes he could find just the “right” case for his new phone. The funny thing was, Dominic, who had been her significant other since they met at a friend’s wedding in June, wasn’t a remotely fussy or picky man. If they were eating out he always said, “You choose,” and was just as happy with KFC as a smart little restaurant serving fusion food. He wasn’t scruffy, but made no secret about getting his clothes from the man’s range at ...

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“The Cable Chair” by Matthew Wright

Submitted to Contest #19

- 1 - It was hour 288 inside the WIRE and Ricker was low. He blinked-in-match with the consentium, finishing off yet another thought-job, the 18th that hour. The small Blinks were the faster of the jobs Ricker could manage on the schedule he had set for himself, fast and sure, they just didn’t pay well. He was a Speed-Freak, a Blinker, one of the last of the Fast-Boys that worked the way he worked. He powered through using older, less-burdened-with-innovation tech, his console keeping up with the latest XIEOS models despite its many fla...

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“A Hero” by Alexandra Spivot

Submitted to Contest #19

Hadashi had been sitting in his parents’ booth at the black market for what seemed like a decade, but in reality, it had only been 7 hours. Christmas was always great for the Kei family’s business, “Tree Bombs and the Sort”. They sold anything from exploding evergreens to machetes. This time of year, everybody wanted to kill somebody, and the Keis always had just the thing for the job. Hadashi had been in the booth all day and itching to do anything other than attend to all the yelling customers. Today had been pretty normal. Aft...

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“The Right Gift” by Sophie-Dominique Waddie

Submitted to Contest #19

He was so easy to love, both physically and emotionally. Rachel loved the feel of his body and the embrace of his arms. He was so easy to read – his face could not hide his feelings and he never made any attempt at disguise. He was what he was; he was who he was. Put plainly and simply, he was kind, thoughtful and gentle, and more intellectually able than he recognised, which gave him a self-deprecating attitude, usually enchanting and occasionally irritating. Rachel saw so many wonderful qualities in this one man, w...

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“Retro” by Pauline Breatnach

Submitted to Contest #19

Mikey swept the shop floor at 8 a.m sharp, just as he had always done. Lighting the brazier was next. Having set it up the night before, he just had to strike a match to get it started. Years of practice meant he had it down to a fine art.The 'For Sale' sign creaked in the wintry gales for a few weeks now.Today Mikey would have to wear his heavy coat, all day long, as snow flurries were forecast. He scrolled down one more time on his tablet and saw that the temperature wouldn't rise beyond 3 degrees.The shop doorbell clanged loudly...

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$50

Prize money

211

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 13, 2019 EST

Won by Kelsey Marlett 🏆

Title: Man-Eater

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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