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#23 Winter Wonderland

By the time the holidays have passed, and the first week of January is in full swing, it's impossible to deny one fact any longer: winter is here. 

 

Shorter days and colder temperatures often mean more time spent indoors writing. This week, we suggest you sit by a window and let the wintery world outside inspire your newest piece of short fiction.

🥇 Winner

Pied Piper

Winner of Contest #23 🏆

The boy should have known something was wrong the moment he glanced back over his shoulder, but he was too tired and wary and afraid to register the truth. He followed the sound of the keening pipe. Its unfamiliar melody, absurdly cheerful, jarred him from the carnage. It filtered through the pores of his skin and infused him with the strength and warmth he needed to run through the icy clutches of winter. The forest muffled the sounds within and beyond it as if the trees themselves swallowed noise—all but the tune of the unseen piper. Time ...

159 likes 120 comments 120
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⭐️ Shortlisted

Zenobia Harsch Has No Idea She's Dead

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

The snow’s out again. Like a huge stupid blanket that insists on suffocating all mankind. Zenobia Harsch has always hated the weather. Winters, she wants the heat and the lemonades. Summers, she begs for snow and hearths and haute chocolát. Pull and complain and do it again, that’s Zenobia Harsch’s motto. She is a tall and imposing woman with raven hair and smeared eyebrows that pull on her face and make her look a constant frown. She noticed people’s feet first rather than their smiles or the way their noses crinkled. Zenobia Harsch used to...

65 likes 5 comments 5
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Pine Trees and Other Drugs

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

Trigger warning: this story depicts suicide, depression, and miscarriage. I was eleven years old when I thought about suicide for the first time. I was sitting in the backseat after leaving a birthday party, and my mom was droning on and on in the front seat about our plans for the week and the scheduled time I had with my dad that weekend, and I imagined her life without me in it – I took myself out of the picture. In my vision, her worry lines faded away. Her speckled gray hair went dark again. I imagined she and my dad would still be toge...

23 likes 1 comment 1
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The colours of snow

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

With the first snowflakes came a heavy silence. The city hunkered down to weather the storm. Flurries of snow shot down the alleyways and settled in thick piles in the parks. Andrew stood at the window of his apartment on the sixteenth floor and watched the view disappear into a swirl of white. Lena watched the same snowflakes from her apartment, also on the sixteenth floor, but in the tower block on the other side of the street. They both stood in silence as the world shrank down to the size of a window and filled up with snow.The storm ble...

14 likes 2 comments 2
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Concerning Lambs

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

Smog diluted the orange lights, giving them an eerie tint. The motor-coach rattled over the uneven stones, alone in the reaches of the night. From far away came the singing of drunks, riding erratic eddies of the wind.It is dark, and Thaddeus Grey watches the moon.He has never considered himself a man of mystery, for the very simple reason that men of mystery tend to know what it is that they're doing, and to an extent, why. Eccentricity, he has long ago decided, requires a good amount of sanity to count for anything. Else you're just a schm...

14 likes 0 comments 0
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Axiom the Fourth

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

The problem was their clothes. Everything else was just downright freaky, but wearing the thin cashmere and cotton of the desert, while four feet of ice covered the dunes? Blackened appendages were only the beginning. Horrible things happened to people who strayed too far from the fires, which had begun to tax the endurance of the man who was supposed to maintain them. Coleman eyed him with more than a trace of concern, up there at the head of the marching order. From beside him came a nudge."How much longer, do you think?""Days. Maybe week...

13 likes 1 comment 1
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Snow Journal

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

SNOW JOURNAL - ENTRY 1Waking up to see snow is one of the most incredible things.And especially as a 13 year old girl who rarely gets to go outside. My name is Emily. And I'm an orphan.I don't get to go outside much simply because the hag that owns the orphanage isn't exactly the nicest woman. But I understand that if she let one of us go outside, she'd have to let us all go and that's probably not a good idea. Some of the boys here would give her trouble.My best friend Margaret, she's 17, says she is becoming poor. And that she might lose t...

12 likes 0 comments 0
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The Inescapably Fated

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

The cold and I are not best friends. Nor are we enemies. We are friends that catch up once every year but have no need or want to be in constant contact. When they arrive, I embrace them with open arms, looking forward to our much needed reacquaintance but when it is time for them to leave, we part happily and readily. We are currently towards the end our of encounter which is why I was rather begrudgingly putting on my shoes to go outside. Everything was crisp; the light, the snow, the air and sun. A white glow emanated from every angle of ...

11 likes 2 comments 2
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For Want of a Key

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

On a snowy day, it takes me 23 extra minutes to get to work. The accumulating slush on the city streets back up traffic so badly the buses run at least half an hour behind schedule, so I walk. The city is prettier after a snowfall anyway, the white blanket covers the dirt and the trash and the grime, for the first day at least.I don’t know how long I walked before I passed through the gate. I was listening to a podcast to block out the noise, and if the wax paper hadn’t slipped off my morning hash brown, I wouldn’t have turned to grab it and...

11 likes 0 comments 0
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The Nunavut daemon

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

   No word sets fear in the hearts of Nunavut tribes' elders like winter. For many other words come along with winter. Hunger, desperation, cold, death. Everyone recognizes it as the season when all evils break loose and plague the poor Inuit people. What they all fear, however, never bothered you in the slightest. You find yourself rather fascinated by winter, you might even consider it your favorite out of all the seasons. When winter comes and the air grows even colder than usual, an unimaginable force urges you to abandon ...

11 likes 1 comment 1
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3 Tic-Tacs

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

Last night’s fight had been a big one. Mallory felt the weight of it sitting in her skull like a hangover, waterlogged from crying and disoriented from the twists and turns of an argument that made little sense. It had been one of those fights when she eventually lost track of her initial point (and she suspected Jacob had, too) but rather than let it go, she seized upon new ideas and offenses along the way. Mallory was a flexible arguer. She was proud of that trait. Get her riled up about something and soon enough she’d have ten other thing...

9 likes 1 comment 1
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Birthday

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

“He should have eyes. Here.”“What’re those?” “Rocks.”“I can’t give him rocks for eyes.”“Sure you can.”“I won’t. Wait here.” I will. Wait here, that is. I think all I’ve ever done is wait—not that I’ve been at it long. I wasn’t, and then I was. And then I waited, and finally you came. You and your sister, tumbling and slipping and stumbling, working very hard to roll and shape and stack me. You’ve given me a good, sturdy body, just so. And long straight arms—though they don’t seem to do much—and a scarf around my...

8 likes 2 comments 2
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Too much of a coincidence

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

They passed a smattering of barns and medieval-looking dwellings with thatched roofs, the buildings becoming increasingly few and far between, only snow-dusted fields and trees visible in the car’s headlights. Jack slowed and pulled over. ‘ You sure this is it? It’s a lot more remote than I was expecting.’‘I did warn you it’s in the middle of nowhere,’ Martha said, ‘although I only remember visiting the cabin in summer before, and the last time was almost thirty years ago.’ Checking the map on his phone, Jack heaved a huge sigh. ‘D...

7 likes 1 comment 1
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Snow

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

I played it off as if it was Maddie’s begging that finally convinced me to go to the cabin. It’d been a year since I’d seen my best friend, and I just couldn’t say no. But Lou was going to be there, too. And that was the real deciding factor. We drove separately, because Maddie said it was about time I stayed the night with someone, and she didn’t want to impose by asking for a ride home. I snorted and responded with an inconspicuous thumbs down emoji, as I was too scared to tell her how I’d never felt sexual attraction, and how I’d never fe...

7 likes 0 comments 0
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Fall Away

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

When Issa arrives to the cabin, the only car there is her brother’s, and that’s enough to make her want to turn around and leave. It’s not that she wanted to be there at all, really, but when their parents had asked them to come it hadn’t really been a question. It’s just that Maximillian Lacey was a difficult person to be around in the best of environments, and this certainly wasn’t one of those.She turns her car off and sits there until the heat dissipates. Too soon, she’s shivering too hard to stay, and she’s forced out into the snow to g...

6 likes 0 comments 0
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Struggles and Snow

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

"I don't know why you won't trade this stupid thing in", she snarled. "Or at least put chains on the tires."He sighed. "People don't put chains on tires, Darlene. Unless they live in the mountains."The snow had started falling at 2:00, guaranteeing a messy rush hour commute. They were calling for at least 6 inches, but now, at 5:30, it looked more like a foot. Frank realized that things often looked worse than they were when they were piled one on top of the other. Struggles, and inches of snow."Well, do something!" Darlene snapped. Why are ...

2 likes 0 comments 0
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This week's prompts

You go for a walk in fresh snow. Suddenly you realize you're not leaving any footprints.

Fantasy – 127 stories

Write a short story that takes place in a winter cabin.

Winter – 76 stories

A busy city is quieted by a big blanketing of snow. Write from the perspective of two (or more) characters who live there.

Winter – 51 stories

Write a short story about someone experiencing their first winter.

Winter – 31 stories

Write a short story about people stuck in traffic during a blizzard. There's nothing much to do but wait, and talk...

Dialogue – 67 stories

Stories

Pied Piper

Winner of Contest #23 🏆

The boy should have known something was wrong the moment he glanced back over his shoulder, but he was too tired and wary and afraid to register the truth. He followed the sound of the keening pipe. Its unfamiliar melody, absurdly cheerful, jarred him from the carnage. It filtered through the pores of his skin and infused him with the strength and warmth he needed to run through the icy clutches of winter. The forest muffled the sounds within and beyond it as if the trees themselves swallowed noise—all but the tune of the unseen piper. Time ...

159 likes 120 comments 120
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Is This A Dream?

Submitted to Contest #23

You see, I woke up and the snow was blue. The snow was a bright baby blue. Why was the snow blue? No Idea.I mean, there was no way that something I’ve known my whole life could just change one day. Or could it... Oh gosh, now I’m just sounding delusional I really need some sleep. This is probably just a bad dream. --- I look over my diary entry in confusion.  I wrote it last night.  Jesus I must have been tired. I don't even remember writing that! Snow is not blue. I mean, unless you put blue dye in it or something? But who th...

91 likes 54 comments 54
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Zenobia Harsch Has No Idea She's Dead

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

The snow’s out again. Like a huge stupid blanket that insists on suffocating all mankind. Zenobia Harsch has always hated the weather. Winters, she wants the heat and the lemonades. Summers, she begs for snow and hearths and haute chocolát. Pull and complain and do it again, that’s Zenobia Harsch’s motto. She is a tall and imposing woman with raven hair and smeared eyebrows that pull on her face and make her look a constant frown. She noticed people’s feet first rather than their smiles or the way their noses crinkled. Zenobia Harsch used to...

65 likes 5 comments 5
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Cabin of Healing

Submitted to Contest #23

James neared the cabin, relieved that it was still intact after being absent for seven months.  The last time he was there, it was the middle of Summer. Everything was green, but now white. Last time he drove to the cabin, but this time he had to park a ways away, put on snowshoes, and make the journey.  Last time he made repairs to the place and prepared the place for a winter visit. “I hope I stocked it well,” he thought as he trekked to the cabin. His first visit to the cabin since he purchased it in the Spring last year. ...

33 likes 9 comments 9
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Walking Lightly

Submitted to Contest #23

“Listen up class!” Miss Glendale called out.  “Time to quiet down for there is a special announcement!” All the students quieted down, excited that another week was about done.  Their full attention was not on the teacher, with Henry standing next to her, holding a large place heaped with something that was covered with tinfoil. “Usually, we don’t do such a thing, but today is different,” she told the class.  “Henry has a treat for everyone before you all leave.” All of them became even more excited.  A treat to end the w...

32 likes 3 comments 3
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Last Ride

Submitted to Contest #23

The winter sky is above her. Clear blue with wisps of white clouds throughout. Her vision blurs as she tries to figure out her surroundings. Last thing she remembers is the drive to the park. Her sisters nagged her to go the park. To watch the snowfall. Well, snow is falling now. But her sisters are nowhere. She lifts her throbbing head from the ground. Squinting, she takes in the tall, skinny trees. Trees everywhere. Snow clings to every surface. She gets on all fours, ignoring the pain in her left thigh. Half crawling, half dragging her le...

27 likes 5 comments 5
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Pine Trees and Other Drugs

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

Trigger warning: this story depicts suicide, depression, and miscarriage. I was eleven years old when I thought about suicide for the first time. I was sitting in the backseat after leaving a birthday party, and my mom was droning on and on in the front seat about our plans for the week and the scheduled time I had with my dad that weekend, and I imagined her life without me in it – I took myself out of the picture. In my vision, her worry lines faded away. Her speckled gray hair went dark again. I imagined she and my dad would still be toge...

23 likes 1 comment 1
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Inside a snow globe

Submitted to Contest #23

  Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be inside a snow globe ? You know the ones children love to shake up and down to watch the flakes swirl in unseen currents.Well, first, it’s freazing cold. Second, it feels as if you are trapped, stuck in a tornado of snow flakes. It doesn’t feel like you’re been shaken up and down, but as if the world around you is turning around so fast, it is shaping a barrier from which youn can’t escape. Third, you wonder. There must be a whole world out there. Beyond the barrier and bey...

22 likes 6 comments 6
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One Word, Dysfunctional

Submitted to Contest #23

Autumn Hart and I were scientists for the United States of America. We were trying to make a wormhole to teleport us across the universe. It was the year 2030 and Autumn Hart and I celebrated because of our success in making the perfect wormhole. “It works. It works!” Autumn Hart cried. We hugged, celebrating that we were successful. However, our celebration ended abruptly. The wormhole wasn’t stable, and before we could find out what was happening, it sucked us inside. The wormhole spat us out five feet in the air. We landed on top of each ...

22 likes 0 comments 0
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Footprints in the Snow

Submitted to Contest #23

The only sounds you hear are your feet pounding against the pavement and your heart pounding in your chest. The only thing that matters is getting away. One thought is replaying in your mind, Don't let it catch me, don't let it catch me. You turn to see where it is, or what it is. You don't know why, but you know you must run. Run fast, run far. Even when you see nothing behind you but trees and houses, you feel something, it surrounds you, ensuring that you have one job, run. As you get farther, you recognize the neighborhood you're in, thi...

20 likes 6 comments 6
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Danny’s Delectable Diet Drink

Submitted to Contest #23

“Is it safe?”       Mandy swirled the purple liquid around the bottom of her chipped mug.  Then she lifted it to her face and sniffed.  Her nose wrinkled.       “Of course,” I assured her.  “I tested it on Boris this afternoon.”       Mandy looked over at my tiny teacup puppy.  Boris gazed up at her with his big fluffy face and then proceeded to vomit large green chunks all over the floor. &nbs...

18 likes 7 comments 7
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A Royal Execution

Submitted to Contest #23

It’s almost time for my midday break when my sister runs up to me, almost tripping in her oversized robe. Adelphie has to catch her breath, but whether it’s because of her excitement or the running I can’t tell. “Have you heard the news?” “What news?” A brown and white pigeon alights on her shoulder, carrying a scroll. “The prince is dead!” “The… wait, what?” “The prince is dead!” “Really? When? How do you know?” I reach towards the bird and Adelphie instinctively shrinks away, which hurts. Twenty years and she still doesn’t trust that I can...

18 likes 4 comments 4
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Father's Cabin

Submitted to Contest #23

I used to come to this cabin with my Father and Sister when we were young. Father would teach us how to cut a hole in the ice that was just outside of the cabin. I could see the frozen lake from my bedroom window. Sister and I used to share the room and Father always took the couch. The cabin never had heating, but Father used to bring space heaters. Father would make us hot chocolate (he would have a coffee, always black) and then he would make sure we were in the window so when he would go back out to fish he could keep an eye on us. Siste...

17 likes 6 comments 6
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Love's Heat

Submitted to Contest #23

'You're listening to Hyper Drive with DJ Doe! Drive safely everyone!'  The radio show host's voice rang in Chelsea's ears as she stared out of the window. She shifted her petite frame in the heated leather seat of her girlfriend’s Jeep and tried to settle in. It was going to be a long ride home in the traffic; all she wanted to do was climb into bed. Kelly sang along to the radio and tapped her steering wheel. They were playing It Never Rains by Tony! Toni! Tone! and Kelly was into it. She had taken out the bun she'd worn to work tha...

17 likes 4 comments 4
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The Snow Rabbit

Submitted to Contest #23

It was almost studying time. Momma made me sit and read these things called encyclopedias at least once a day. I grabbed my stuffie, Clunk, and pulled him close. His raggedy ears started tickling my face like they always do. Momma told me that he was what was called a rabbit. She had even shown me pictures of rabbits in one of the encyclopedias one time, and they looked so small and cuddly. I want to see one for real, but that was never going to happen. Momma says that they likely don’t exist anymore. She says there is probably nothing on th...

17 likes 9 comments 9
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