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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

“Not Anymore” by Jay Trifkofić

Submitted to Contest #21

The notes of the song ping hollowly through the smoke-filled air -- each note more adamant to stand alone. They would be the sole entertainers if not for the violent rapping of the wind on our fragile door.On the far end of the bar, one of the regulars sit. His eyes are unfocused but gazing in my general direction. If not for his lit cigarette, I'd think he's a stiff corpse. We've shared a few words. I think he's a contractor. Maybe a baker now that I think about it.He knows that I don't belong here.Hunching over in my seat, I draw my attent...

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“Old Fashioned” by Devin Ward

Submitted to Contest #21

5 gangsters in heavy, Mackintosh overcoats and matching fedora caps burst into the quiet, city bar. Right on schedule, this would be their third and final stop tonight. They were hefty and loud, more muscle than brains among them, and more ammo still. And there he was in the middle; the boss, Pinky Magazine. Despite a reputation for punching people to death, he was half as tall and musclebound as his guards, but what’s gang muscle for if not to compensate for… something. The mob half-stumbled, half-marched their way to the booth in the ...

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“Mary and Jo - a Christmas Story” by Allison Jean

Submitted to Contest #21

Santa baby, hurry down the chimney tonight The worst thing about Christmas is the songs. Crazy making earworms that burrow into my brain. My boss, Iggy, has the same dozen Christmas songs on a loop from December 1 until we close the bar at midnight on Christmas Eve. It's not like I woke up one day and decided to kill myself, and as many people as I could take with me. Or maybe I did. It's hard to remember. It just seemed like a good idea, one with no real downside. I’d been thinking about it a lot. When I would do it? Where I would do it?&nb...

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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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