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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#229: Mistletoe and Meet-Cutes

As someone who loves getting in the festive mood once winter arrives, you’ll likely find me curled up on my couch on cold December nights — with a cheesy holiday film on the go. What can I say? There’s just something about so-bad-they’re-actually-good movies that I can’t get enough of this time of the year (much to my family’s dismay). 


This week, let’s pull out all the stops and write stories that play with the common tropes in popular holiday films, from secret royals and sudden cases of amnesia, to disastrous celebrations salvaged by some last-minute magic. Whether you lean in to the warm fuzzies in earnest, or subvert your trope entirely, is up to you...

This week's prompts

Write about a festive party gone wrong that’s saved by some holiday magic.

Holiday – 24 stories

Write a story in which a cynical character gets amnesia on Christmas Eve.

Christmas – 28 stories

Write about a character who visits their hometown for the holidays and reconnects with a former love interest.

Holiday – 65 stories

Start or end your story with a character finding out the love of their life is actually royalty.

Romance – 19 stories

Write a story in which a character is stuck reliving their worst Christmas ever, over and over again.

Christmas – 35 stories

Stories

“Return of the Ghost of Christmas Past” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #229

It was his first Christmas without her.  She passed away in late summer.  It was a private ceremony, him and her two sons, Baker and Ranson.  Baker brought his wife Francine and their two children while Ranson brought David, his life partner which always agitated him. “It’s not natural.” He uttered continually throughout the service. “Are you going to be alright?” Baker asked during a private moment after the ceremony. “Yes.” He nodded. “I worry about you dad.” Baker looked him in the eyes. “I worry about what will become...

6 comments 6
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“The Diagnosis” by A.J. Williams

Submitted to Contest #229

A Thursday Night Sometime Before Christmas Rockin’ around the Christmas tree. At the Christmas party hop… I'm by myself in the front passenger seat of my mom's SUV, holding the paper with the doctor's diagnosis. It says "Epilepsy." It all started with just one seizure, but now it feels like I'm stuck with this for life. The rain outside is freezing, making the windows fog up. It's really chilly. Rockin’ around the Christmas tree. Let the Christmas spirit ring. Later we’ll have some pumpkin pie. And we’ll do some caroling… While my mom is ...

4 comments 4
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“Across the River” by Cheyenne Spicer

Submitted to Contest #229

Jamie stepped off the bus just as it was starting to snow. "Merry Christmas." He heard the bus driver say before closing the doors and driving off. Jamie was the only one to get off at this bus stop. He stood there scanning the short buildings that lined the only street in his small hometown. Nothing had changed, at least not for the better in the two years since he'd last been here. The buildings were looking more run down than they had before. He noticed that a few were missing, making the street look like a smile that was missing some t...

6 comments 6
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“"Echoes of Redemption: A Christmas Resonance"” by Ellys Watts

Submitted to Contest #229

Cold wind whipped through the desolate street, swirling snowflakes in a dance of bitter nostalgia. Charlie stood frozen, his breath visible in the frosty air. The neon lights of a flickering sign nearby spelled out "Bing's Diner," casting an eerie glow on the deserted sidewalk. The air was thick with an unsettling quietness, broken only by the distant wailing of sirens. Without warning, a surge of memories flooded Charlie's mind, dragging him back to that fateful Christmas Eve. The laughter, the warmth, all shattered like fragile glass. He...

2 comments 2
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“The Twelve Christmases” by Madelyn Grace

Submitted to Contest #229

Nana’s dropped the applesauce.            “Oops!” She laughs, tipping in her seat ever so slightly, one meaty hand pressed to her even meatier bosom. “Oh, my old girl hands. Oh, the applesauce!”            Iris continues to stare at her untouched plate of food, growing ever colder as time passes. She doesn’t move as her mother brings over the dustpan and brush, a roll of paper towel under one gold-bangled arm and a tense smile beneat...

4 comments 4
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“The Change” by Daniel Rogers

Submitted to Contest #229

"I don't have a reason. I just want it too," Anne Joyce said with a smile as she opened the top door of her double oven and put in her green bean casserole, wiping her hands on her snowman apron. The Joyce's kitchen was buzzing with activity. James, husband and father, bent over the table, brushing egg wash on rolls. "Does she have to have a reason?" "Ah, come on, Dad. It's more fun if we pry it out of her," Glenn said. "The Young One is right," Stan, the oldest twin by five minutes, said. "Isn't it the reason for tonight? To have fun?...

6 comments 6
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“Deceptive Coordinates” by Sumayya Mohammed

Submitted to Contest #229

Deceptive Coordinates “I can’t do this,” Lila squeezed her eyes shut and threw the folded paper in Max’s direction. It fluttered to the ground, and he stooped to pick it up before the mud could soil it. Paper wasn’t really the right word to describe it, as it was a thick, cream card with gold accents on the edges.  Max looked at her sympathetically. “You can’t put it off forever. Come on, you can do this, Lila. Whatever it says, it’ll be okay,” Lila could tell he was trying to sound as optimistic as he could. “You’ll get some answers,...

5 comments 5
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“The Humble Christmas Wish” by Cynthia Prokarym (Scott)

Submitted to Contest #229

The letter, handwritten in red, green, and brown Crayolas, lay on the little girl's Barbie Mermaid & Friends' table on Christmas Eve, waiting for someone to mail it to the North Pole. It didn't begin with the usual “Dear Santa." Instead, scrawled in large print was a simple request, one that would never reach Santa in time.Jenny Harris had drawn stick figures of her mom, her aunt Marjorie, a very fat Santa, and herself…gathered around a snowman that sported a carrot nose, two charcoal eyes, and a cherry mouth. There also was a snowball i...

3 comments 3
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“The Wish-For-All” by Sara Thomas

Submitted to Contest #229

I was standing in the middle of my apartment, penthouse, 94th floor, New York. It was time. I punched in the date. Wednesday, 23rd Dec, 2037. It wasn’t so much the day that everything went wrong in my life, as the day that everything went right. Terribly, horrifically right! The time machine in my hand was a small device that projected a larger Holographic Screen for ease of use. I’d designed it that way. Well, I’d imagined it that way in my head, then wished for it with my Wish-For-All. Which was the same thing right? I was the designe...

11 comments 11
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“A Christmas Worth Forgetting” by Rose Winters

Submitted to Contest #229

A Christmas Worth ForgettingThe doorbell clanged and the whole family moaned. Everyone except Florence, who headed for the door, exasperated. “Kids, be nice to Uncle Brian. I mean it. It’s Christmas Eve, for God’s sake.”“But he’s so mean.” Jillian plopped a bowl of mashed potatoes onto the crimson tablecloth, smoothing her Christmas-colored plaid skirt.“Not mean. Just crotchety. Do as your mom says. Play nice.” Jim leaned over the golden-brown turkey, carving generous slices, his black brows furrowed in concentration.“Dad, Uncle Brian’s tota...

4 comments 4
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“Of Duty and Ties” by M. Æ. Mohammed

Submitted to Contest #229

Elma sat on the porch, the warm breeze rustling her skirts as she watched Roth work in the fields. He had been a stranger to their quaint, quiet village, stumbling in one cold winter's day in a tattered soldier's uniform long after the war had ended and tight-lipped about his past. The villagers had feared him, whispering behind their hands about possible desertion but the war was long won and over by the the time he first arrived at their village. He could read and write, a rare skill in their small community, and slowly he won them over. E...

7 comments 7
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“The Gingerbread House” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #229

Having lost her own house, Mylee knew exactly what she wanted in this one, though being ten, she didn't quite have the words for it. She added a chimney for her fireplace, and then squeezed icing in hopeful, repeating swirls across the roof.Of course, kitchens and bathrooms were important, but for Mylee, the Hideout Closet, the Secret Attic door, and the Comfy Corner were absolute priorities. She needed places where she could escape and be alone. Staying at her Uncle’s apartment, crowded now with two families and a cat in just two ...

7 comments 7
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“Big Box Beauty” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #229

Paul used to love the holidays. For fifteen years he fooled himself into believing his marriage was solid and he had everything he wanted. Now he browsed eBay as though it were Tinder, scrolling through the pages and pages of action figures from his childhood hoping to find a present for himself that might lift his mood and bring him some holiday cheer. Certainly nobody else was going to get him a present, so he might as well treat himself to something that could bring him back to happier times. His mom, a dainty woman with only half a f...

4 comments 4
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“Christmas Ghost Story” by Heather Henderson

Submitted to Contest #229

“I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t until I knew you were sure about me.” She smiled as her blonde hair, which was studded by the stars in the sky behind her, fluttered in the winter wind. She’d never looked more radiant, more spectre-like. Taking my hand, she began to guide me up the hill.  She giggled as we ran, further and further, my ankle boots kicking mounds of grass and slipping on unseen slopes, never a stable step. The cold air felt good in my lungs. There was a crazed wildness to our being out in the dark like this, on some ...

2 comments 2
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“How The Grinch SAVED Christmas :)” by Vanessa Severino

Submitted to Contest #229

One cold wintery day in early November, five close friends gathered together in their church fellowship hall over pizza and soda to discuss plans for the annual young adult Christmas party. Mr. Cynical, AKA Jake Rayes, was at it again with his yearly rebuttals, on why Christmas parties were silly, irrelevant to the birth of Christ, and a huge waste of time, you name it. Jake thought of it. Once the itinerary for the evening was planned out, the group got started on their list of venues. Every year, each of five were assigned a particular...

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$250

Prize money

171

Contest entries

64

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 22, 2023 EST

Won by Aaron Chin 🏆

Title: The Gingerbread Cookies

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!

Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

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