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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

“The Christ-mouse Present (a festive tale for cat lovers)” by Alice Guile

Submitted to Contest #19

This story is dedicated to the author's beloved, handsome long hairedpussy-cat, Tommy Fluffy-Ruffles, (who can't hunt) and also dedicated to anyone that loves cats. My name is Tom, although my owner calls me Sir Tommy Fluffy-Ruffles. My owner’s name is Alice, and she could not decide between calling me Tommy and Sir Fluffy-Ruffles, so she asked her boyfriend who said ‘Why not both’. I’m not very keen on the name but there’s not too much I can do about it. Alice is a wonderful owner, apart from her unfortunate habit of standing on the door st...

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“The Perfect Gift” by Andrea McIntyre

Submitted to Contest #19

The Perfect Gift Christmas is my favorite time of the year. It’s a magical time filled with love, laughter, hugs, gifts and most of all SNOW! My least favorite thing about Christmas is the gift shopping because finding the perfect gifts for your loves one can be challenging. We all want our loved ones to tear open their present and see the look of excitement and pure joy when they open their gift. We never want to see a disappointed frown or disinterested look when they see their gift. That’s why I’m slightly stress while driving to the mall...

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“The Magic Typewriter ” by Maddie S

Submitted to Contest #19

Jacob sighed; he was struggling to find the perfect birthday gift for his wife. It wasn’t helping that his 8-year-old twin daughters were helping him shop. With his mother-in-law’s sudden illness he had to bring both the twin with him because his wife wanted to take care of her mother. It had been a hard year for his wife. First her father past without warning and she lost her dream job as the top writer for the city’s newspaper. Now eight month later her moth...

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“...and this is why we can't afford to have more babies” by Karen Iseminger

Submitted to Contest #19

She reached for her phone… as if it mattered what time it was. Her hand touching everything on her bedside table except that blasted phone. Where in the hell was the damned phone and why in the hell had she decided her alarm clock was no longer necessary… there was a time she need only open one eye and glance at the time displayed in that garish red, disjointed, digital font. But not now.Now she had to blindly search for her phone and bring it to life just to know the time. Again… not that it mattered.She finally found it ne...

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“The Wrong Road” by Shannon Meyers

Submitted to Contest #19

Faelyn had been traveling for about so long she couldn't keep track. She had been searching for the Orphan Village of Haela. There, many children lived in a neutral society. They were housed and fed and educated. No race attacked the place of peace for everyone had representation there except of course the Angels. She happened to enter Karathor quite by mistake. Haela was very much to the south, and she had gone north. She knew nothing of direction but rather went wherever her feet carried her. She was just beginning the see the outline...

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“Uro Club” by Lauren Tobin

Submitted to Contest #19

Bob slumped on the rust colored velvet sofa, pillow wedged behind his aching back, eyes scanning the worn edges of the cushions, threadbare from 37 years of people, dogs, and grandchildren climbing all over them. Well, grandchildren were people too. He knew that of course, Ruth reminded him of it every time the little hellions were about to descend. A noisy lot they were, always circling the room in battle mode, imaginary weapons at the ready, chairs, tables and the old sofa serving as mere objects off which they could launch themselves into...

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“Pops and Pete’s Play Palace” by Natalie M.

Submitted to Contest #19

“You ready, Pops?”My father nodded and smiled at me. A dream we had shared since I was a boy was finally coming true.Three. Two. One.With a cut of a ribbon, “Pops and Pete’s Play Palace” was open.When I was a boy, my dad and I would lay on a grassy hill near our house while staring at the clouds. We starting doing that daily when I turned eight. At the time, I did not know that the yelling I would hear at home was my parents fighting. I only thought that my dad was always watching TV, I would have never thought that he was actually watching ...

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“The Star in the Window” by Kate Strong

Submitted to Contest #19

1939 It was only the shop down the street, only the one that had been visited by the SS more times than she could count. Brita closed her eyes and remembered the one day when Hans had been out shopping in the street and had come so close to entering the forbidden tailoring shop that Mr. Hopkins and his family had been running for more years than she could count. The silence in the streets now was unnerving. No barking dogs to shatter the stillness, no children running and playi...

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“The Impossible Quest” by Jane Pait

Submitted to Contest #19

The Impossible QuestByJane T. Pait “I can’t wait to get to Mama Irene’s house. It’s Christmas and I am positive that she will love this year’s present. I’ve finally figured out what she really likes after many years of gifting.” Our family is rather large, so Christmas shopping is always a challenge. I could buy the perfect gift for everyone, if I had a million dollars. Truthfully, I have always been able to buy fairly successful gifts. Everyone seemed to be happy with my choices. Except for one person, and that pers...

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“Jasper” by Gabrielle Marie

Submitted to Contest #19

She gazed up at the ceiling, eyes sweeping from cobweb to cobweb. In her mind she could picture what it would look like. Books lining every wall, a lamp over by that window seat, maybe an antique cash register on the counter. Was that too much? Excitement mixed with a deep fear of failure. What would it cost? Could they afford rent, plus all the renovations? Her sights fell on her partner, her teammate, her husband. Even from over here she could see the joy in his eyes. He was always the visionary, and she, the planner. “I want to open ...

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“In General” by Connor Monaghan

Submitted to Contest #19

Working in a general store isn't that bad, at least that's what I tell myself. Seriously though, it has been so long since I last stepped foot outside this wretched, dilapidated shop. You know, I really wanted to be a cashier for a lousy shop, but it was all ruined by my father. "Get your ragged tail up and make somethin' of yourself," he'd yell at me. "I'm not going to live and work in this dump anymore! You old man! Not to mention, you wouldn't even pay me anyway," I'd scream in return. He would then storm out and proce...

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“The Broken Bonds” by Hailey Dixon

Submitted to Contest #19

The cruel heat of the day was beating down on our backs. I slid backward as I blocked one of my teammate’s punches. We were training for the upcoming battle. What battle you may ask? The one against the wicked Queen Rune. She killed my mother and turned my sister against me. I don’t care how long it takes me, she will be the one to perish. I take a quick look at the trees. Outside of the so-called queen’s kingdom, it was kill or be killed. They were the perfect targets in their preoccupied activity. That’s when I noticed a familiar silver-ey...

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“The Gift Shop” by Frances Ippolito

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #19

As a child, Octa loved going to the zoo. Her parents, both exceedingly loving and nurturing, had paid for years of family memberships so that Octa could spend as much time as she wanted watching, observing, and studying the captive animals. Octa, like many children, was fascinated with the natural world and all the variations of life that existed. At each enclosure, she would press her face against the wall, misting the glass with her hot breath while she searched the plants, trees, and fabricated structures for camouflaged or shy creatures....

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“Sweet memories ” by PASCALE DENANCE

Submitted to Contest #19

My childhood was not a happy one. My parents were far too absorbed in their compulsive relationship cycle – quarrelling and making up in turn – to have any kind of energy left for me. I had to seek happiness elsewhere. I read Jane Eyre and David Copperfield very early and found comfort in the company of the eponym protagonists, whom I looked upon as fellow sufferers. We lived in a village called Oleron. Walking to school by myself, every day I went pass a small shop that sold sweets only. I would enjoy staring at bright colorful candy in the...

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“Nan Cunninghams” by Linsey Denham

Submitted to Contest #19

Nan Cunninghams by Linsey Denham December 13th 2019.When I was a child in the sixties, we lived on the outskirts of a rough neighbourhood in Edinburgh which had its own little row of shops, for the locals. My mother once parked my elder brother, in his pram, outside one of those shops and didn’t remember that she was missing something (him) until she put her key in our front door. Can you imagine? Yikes.In my childhood days, those shops included a grocer, a hairdresser, not one but two chemists, an optician, a bank, a dry-salter and our fav...

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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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