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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

“Evanora & Lucian” by Laurentz Baker

Submitted to Contest #21

I believe in the supernatural. The things that happen that are not easily explained. And against my better judgment, I will tell about the time I met a fifth cousin. I saw the headlights before I heard the knock. Who is this at eight o’clock at night. I thought to myself. It’s not a delivery truck. Fed Ex or the Post Office. They do make deliveries in cars. Christmas or not, I haven’t ordered anything that would be arriving this close to the holiday. Christmas is in two days for crying out loud. They knock again. “Hold on,” I say not l...

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“We wish you a merry doomsday” by Marte Van Der Linden

Submitted to Contest #21

There had been some discussion about the dress code for the Christmas party. Mike from Financial Exploitation had suggested ugly Christmas sweaters but he had been shouted down by the eco-conscious millennials from Propaganda. Jess from Inhuman Resources was all for science fiction, Dylan from Nuclear Acquisitions wanted horror, and Ana from Hacking said they might as well drop the dress code altogether because there was no way in hell she would change out of her ripped jeans and oversized hoodie anyway. In the end, word had come down from o...

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“Emma, the stranger” by Ariga Arkian

Submitted to Contest #21

The doorbell rang. The family was decorating the tree. They looked at each other.-Bella, can you open the door, please?Said the mother of the family.Bella, the seventeen-year-old daughter, opened the entrance door. A lady with pure white hair was standing there, her back to the door.-Hello?Said Bella.The old woman turned around.-Oh hi. Is this… Jean's family’s house?-It is.Replied Bella and looked at the woman hesitantly.-Oh, my name is Emma.She reached her hand toward Bella Jean.They shook hands.-Who was at the door, Bella?Called father fro...

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“Eerie-Cheery christmas” by Tiana Gabel

Submitted to Contest #21

“Having a jolly ol’ time?” My older sister Janice hits me on the back of my head with a pink folder as she runs past. “Hey,” I yell after her, my hands tightening around my own baby blue folder. She smiles teasingly, moonwalking easily across the pine wood. “Don’t ruin Christmas for everyone.” I try to move to chase her, but crossing the hall suddenly feels a daunting task. The family portraits stare down at me, their faces cast in menacing shadows. A draft whispers about my ankles as I take a careful step, my eyes glued to a wic...

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“A Magical Wintersday Eve” by K. R. Dimmick

Submitted to Contest #21

“Welcome to the Fairy Grotto.” I greeted the new patrons entering my pub. “Happy Wintersday to you all.”“Yeah, same to you,” one of them muttered as they pushed into the bar, tearing the edge of one of my wings as they passed.It had been a quiet night so far. The only customers were a group of ten elves sitting in the back corner. They’d been here since I’d opened up. They were nice and polite and they’d ordered just about everything on the menu. Elves held their liquor well however, so they wouldn’t be a problem. This new group, though… wel...

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“Careless on Christmas” by Mia Hunter

Submitted to Contest #21

(Genre: dark comedy)Jen clutched the kitchen knife so tightly that his knuckles went white. He had been hiding behind the counter for the past fifteen minutes, trying to hear what the dubious group was planning to do next.“How about we bomb them? We can drop five bombs and finish the rest off with our guns.” Said the guy with the fruit soda.“I think it’s doable, that way, we won’t have to face the army either as none will be left.” The beer drinker added.“I don’t know man, think about all the innocent lives lost.” The man with the water said...

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“Christmas Nightmare” by Angela Coffey

Submitted to Contest #21

Bang! I hit my head against the steering wheel again. The stress was kicking in and you’re fired was ringing through my head. Who does that man think he is firing me and especially right before Christmas. The worst part is I have to tell Kimber that we can’t afford Christmas. This year was so hard. Our oldest daughter who is just five had to have heart surgery back in June. Her heart was not pumping blood properly. We noticed that she was getting pale but the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong. Then one day she collapsed as she walk...

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“A Surprise Visitor” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #21

A Surprise Visitor It was four days before Christmas. There was a knock at our front door. I knew that because our Amazon parrot started to say “Hello”, repeating her message several times. She only did this when there was someone knocking at the door or when the phone was ringing, which it was not. We don’t usually get drop-in visitors around Christmas, so I figured that it must be someone selling something: air duct cleaning, a tankless water heater or meat for a freezer that we don’t have. But it wasn’t that. It...

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“Love On West 4th Street by Patric Quinn (Word Count: 1900)” by Patric Quinn

Submitted to Contest #21

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“A Golden Christmas” by Anna Brittain

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #21

Heavy flakes fell unrelentingly from a leaden sky, so I could barely see where I was placing my feet – treacherous indeed as the mountain pass was perilously close to the edge, so I was grateful for each reassuring creak revealing I was on firm ground. The only signs I was near the forest were the tree-tops, which poked out of the monotonous whiteness like witches’ hats, and the cries of woodland birds sketching charcoal patterns in the sky as they made their way home. The icy air felt like a blade against my face and I wished I too were nea...

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“Saving Silver Heights” by Morgan Douglas

Submitted to Contest #21

Rhonda Khaleesi looked around her dusty little office in dismay. For she knew that if she didn’t have but one customer this season, that she and her beautiful old Victorian style inn was going to be shut down. Quite frankly Rhonda was surprised that the Inn had lasted this long. The most recent visitor only stayed for a night before hightailing it down highway 95 on their way to Las Vegas. Rhonda had lived in Tonopah, Nevada all of her life, and she was constantly reminded of the good old mining days of the town she had grown to love. Everyo...

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“Taproom Reversal” by 𝛦ǀ𐌉𝓪 𝕽. 𝖩. 𝙎.

Submitted to Contest #21

It was three days before Christmas on a cold winter night in 1899. The city of Brooklin had the holiday spirit in full swing, there was no holding back. Carolers prowled the streets every night, skies lit up with the collective glow of Christmas lights, snow danced across the frost bitten air and stores were jam-packed with every holiday supplies imaginable. It was on one such festive night, that a bartender sat alone in his pub. Technically he didn’t close up until ten o’clock pm, but the place was deserted. A single lonely drunkard sa...

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“Good Neighbor” by Emma Lee

Submitted to Contest #21

Prairie Lee’s shapely bald head shone high on the second story of the grey house in the cul-de-sac. He watched the Johnsons scurry out of their home, pack their luggage in the back of their white Honda CRV, and drive away with laughter trailing behind their open windows.Next were the Morrisons. Like bride and groom, the grey-haired couple linked arms and walked down their front steps. Donning trench-coats and scarves, and with an air of royalty, they drove off into darkness on a dusty black sedan.Then it was the Irish man, who, in a top hat ...

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“The Power of Christmas” by Melanie Christensen

Submitted to Contest #21

It was Christmas Eve night, and Simon sat down in his old leather chair. The chair had been in his family for over forty years, and he felt comforted every time he rested on it. This Christmas season, he needed the extra comfort, as he felt that this would be his last Christmas as the owner of the Deep Wood Inn. Just like the chair, the inn had been in the family for over forty years. It used to be an escape from the hustle and bustle of the city about 50 miles north, but now had seemed to lose its charm to people. Travelers seemed to be mor...

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“My Dearest Jovie” by Lizzie Ross

Submitted to Contest #21

Christmas is a lonely time of year for many - I've always thought so. In the way that the push of "family" reminds you of exactly what you don't have. The bitter cold seeps like acrid honey into my old joints, this time of year. Most mornings the pain makes it hard to even get out of bed. Christmas has always reminded me that I have never had someone to take me by the elbow and guide me in those painful early hours. I have done my best to not let my own experience with Christmas turn me bitter, like those other old ladies you see in the supe...

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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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