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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#21: That Holiday Feeling

This is the fourth holiday season that our short story contest has been around! And it's become something of a tradition for the Christmas-themed prompts to very loosely relate to a favorite holiday movie. This year, we're challenging you to either write from the perspective of a movie's secondary character, or to simply reimagine the general premise in a whole new light.

Can't get enough holiday stories? Check out some of our reading guides:

Or maybe you're still searching for the perfect gift for a book lover, and don't want to add to their "to be read" pile? We've got a list for that too 🎄

This week's prompts

You live in a neighborhood where lots of people go out of town for the holidays. But lately, this has been resulting in an increased number of break-ins.

Holiday – 23 stories

Just before Valentine's Day, a long-lost relative you've never heard of enters your life.

Valentine's Day – 53 stories

Write a short story about a work Christmas party that goes... awry.

Winter – 26 stories

Write a short story about an inn-keeper wondering whether this will be their last holiday season in business.

Holiday – 33 stories

You are a bartender working a night shift when a group of people come in on a Valentine's Day pub crawl.

Valentine's Day – 33 stories

Stories

“The Guest On The Morning” by Frisca Amelia

Submitted to Contest #21

"Who are you?" Aria asked while frowning. She did not know the figure standing in front of her. "You forgot me?"The man actually asked back. Aria just silent. She really doesn't remember that person, who suddenly knocked early in the morning at his door. "You really forgot me?" asked the man again. "Whereas in the past, I often came to your father's house, we are still relatives. Aria tried to remember, but she really didn't remember met him before.'Maybe he just ...

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“The grinch who stole christmas ( And my life )” by Waddles Fishy

Submitted to Contest #21

What would YOU do if an Isabella O' Conner enters your life? Would you welcome her with open arms, or would you lock your doors and call the police? My initial reaction would be to call the police, but it turns out we were blood. Well, kind of. Let me tell you the story of how I met her.It was a somber afternoon. I had just finished my late Christmas shopping for my family, and was both physically and emotionally drained. I was driving in my maroon jeep, when I received a series of strange text messages from an unknown device. Just brush...

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“Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas” by Caitlin Vincent

Submitted to Contest #21

"Have a holly, jolly Christmas. It's the best time of the year! I don't know if there'll be snow, but have a cup of cheer!" Moments like these are why I got remarried again in the first place. Dancing across our tiled kitchen floor to Christmas music in our comfy red and green pajamas while baking cookies in the shape of Santa to hand out to all of the neighborhood kids. I've always wanted children, I've always wanted to be a...

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“Knock! Knock! Knock!” by Unknown User

Submitted to Contest #21

It was a snowy evening in Dallas, Texas and all I could think about was opening my many presents that sat nicely under the tree. I had been lounging around all day watching ELF on the holiday channel while my mother and sister worked on the Christmas dinner we'd be eating tomorrow. My sister came into the living room and plopped onto the cushion beside me.“I’m so tired!” She said letting out a groan.“Now you see why I never volunteer to help cook…” I mumbled under my breath with a smirk.I knew she heard me but she was too worn out to do...

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“Merry Christmas Mother!” by Antonio Forsythe

Submitted to Contest #21

England, the town of Acocks Green, the year 2019, October. On the eve of Christmas, I recall being awoken at 3:16 am, to the darkness of night, by a cold snap of air that sent shivers down the hairs of my neck down, leaving a cold crust that covered my entire being, the fierceness of it imposing upon me, so that I am compelled to wrap my entire body within my quilt, like an ancient mummy in a tomb. Except in winter, I would sleep only in my boxers as it was most comfortable for me. On this night in particular, I had been laying on my right s...

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“Christmas with the Family” by Jean Baptiste

Submitted to Contest #21

“Yeah mom, I know I don’t have a Great Uncle Carl, yet here he is, standing in my living room, with enough of our families DNA tests to convince me,” I said into my phone, glancing back into the living room to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating the man claiming to be my Dad’s uncle. “If you want to look further into it, then be my guest.” “Just be careful Alex. I’m going to ask your Grandma to check if she’s ever heard of a brother that was separated from her at birth,” she responded, with a not-so-secret worried tone in her voice. “Send...

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“Renaissance” by Aditya Ram

Submitted to Contest #21

Frost settled upon his windowpane, as Kevin gazed out of the window for the umpteenth time. The trees silently nodded their heads to the chilly winds. A dusty SUV and few gardening tools that looked out of use embraced the...

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“Elf Aura” by Geneva Savage

Submitted to Contest #21

“What’s your name, again?” That was the night I met Buddy. I call him Bud, though. Bud is much more chill. Seriously, who walks around in an elf costume and identifies themselves as Buddy? Without my help, the guy would still look like an overgrown elf on the shelf. While he gives off this completely delusional vibe, Bud really is the best guy I ever met. Before Bud, my life looked like any other billionaire kid’s life in New York, New York. Friends and bullies were one. S...

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“Santa's New Party Guests” by Humza Ahmad

Submitted to Contest #21

Rudolph was prancing around Santa’s workshop, excited about the spirit of Christmas. The snow was falling from the sky the way Rudolph nearly fell while carrying Santa’s sleigh across the night. The stars were shining and the night was young. “Merry Christmas” the reindeer sung. “Christmas party! Christmas party!” Rudolph cheered. To not have an annual Christmas party would be weird. Every year, after the toys are delivered to the kids who are good, Santa lights up the fire on the wood. Then, the reindeer sip their tea while Santa eats the c...

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“The Moonlight Pub Christmas Party ” by Mahalia Mehu

Submitted to Contest #21

Having worked the night shift, its up to Sam to get the pub ready for the Christmas party which also happens to fall on the pubs ladies night. Usually Audrey would handle the set up and design but this year she was in Austin to pick up and spend some time with her SEAL fiancé getting ready for their wedding. And to top it all off… she won’t be in to cover the day shift so he’ll only be getting 3 hours of sleep before he has to be back behind the bar. The day of the Christmas party dawns bright and sunny exactly the opposite of Sam...

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“Punch Bowl” by Bob Carlton

Submitted to Contest #21

No one had really taken the “no fraternization among coworkers” policy seriously. And when Boris Spivak had been fired for unrelated offenses three months after his affair with Margaret Gorp began, the point seemed moot anyway. Maybe in light of what happened last Wednesday we should reconsider.If anyone had noticed a change in Margaret’s demeanor after Boris left, they never mentioned it. She had retained her usual level of professionalism, though in retrospect she was perhaps a bit more reserved; however, she had never really been very out...

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“A WORK CHRISTMAS PARTY THAT GOES AWRY” by RADIUS HAVWAALA

Submitted to Contest #21

WORK CHRISTMAS PARTY GOES AWRY That afternoon Mackay was driving to Ellensmere School to celebrate a Christmas party thrown for teachers. The dark blue Corolla ate the distance greedily along the main gravel road until when he stopped at Doricma, a huge shop painted brick red next to the market where the marketers were busy selling tomatoes, grape etc. The December winds were howling as he cut the engine barely a meter from the main road. His hands swiftly flew from the steering wheel to engulf the girl seated next to him, pulling her ...

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“Keeper of hopes” by Adnan Ferizović

Submitted to Contest #21

When I opened this place, I had high hopes. Father was always against it, repeating the same old saying that "I will become treasurer of other people secrets, and grow too old for listening to them" and mother didn't really help with her vision of "dirty people" vomiting all around her Damask roses in the garden next to my pub, that was, oh what a coincidence, in my backyard. Looking at that from today's perspective, they were actually right, but parents will be parents. If you don't resist them you cease to exist as a person, and if I, by a...

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“The Christmas Coins ” by Averi Carlson

Submitted to Contest #21

Cold snow pelted Alberto Oste’s back as he trudged through a foot of solid ice. The weather had been harsher for months and it was growing worse in the days leading up to the holidays. Mr. Oste was making his way back to his inn from picking up a new shipment of potatoes and beans. An old but wiry man, Mr. Oste was hardworking and never took a day off. He had short graying hair he was short, shorter than most, but he had grown strong from lifting boxes for his business. He set down the box he had been carrying and pulled his weathered j...

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“Christmas at The Inn” by Jen Ponig

Submitted to Contest #21

‘Tis the season to be jolly, but we are not, not in the least. Our country has been pulled inside out. Wages have been cut in half. Businesses like mine suffer. Many people have locked their shops and restaurants because there are no patrons, or from fear of thieves. The banks have closed their cold doors. The hospitals and orphanages are too full to open theirs. Beggar children have multiplied in the streets during the day. Gangs of thugs patrol them at night. The spirit of Christmas is obscured by the hunger in our bellies. The Inn si...

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$50

Prize money

168

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 27, 2019 EST

Won by Oceania Chee 🏆

Title: This Simple Phrase

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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