#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.

This week's prompts

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

Fantasy – 128 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

“Snowy Tragedies” by Jackson Manley

Submitted to Contest #23

The bright lights from buildings all around shined in the windows of my apartment, allowing me to see the snow outside. “I’m sorry, Mom. The weather has been unpredictable these days. We’re supposed to get up to six inches.”I can hear her sigh through the phone, her disappointment obvious. “Will you still be able to make it for New Years?”“I don’t think so. Some roads are already being blocked off.”After bearing a goodbye, I hung up the phone, sitting down on the couch with a blanket of guilt. This is going to be a long holiday, I thought to...

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“When Opposites Attract” by Ellie K

Submitted to Contest #23

I woke up to utter silence, no cars honking, no sound of pedestrian walkways beeping outside my apartment window. In the place of those noises, there was only emptiness. And I felt a pang of dread, a feeling driven from some lost instinct, drawn deep down from the depths of my soul. With increasing dismay, I pried open the curtains with my fingers. Outside, I saw only blinding whiteness. I saw the snow, and I heard nothing. White and silence, a stark contrast to the colorful, strikingly noisy city I normally resided in and relished. In my mi...

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“A Clean Sheet” by Bruno Lowagie

Submitted to Contest #23

Looking up from my work, I witness how the first snowflakes appear in the sky. As out of nowhere, they swirl down softly and invite me to get up from my desk. From where I stand, on the eleventh floor of a dull office building, I have a nice view on the streets below.“It’s not really winter until it snows,” my grandmother used to say. Celebrating Christmas without her for the first time in my life, felt awkward. It wasn’t really Christmas without you, grandma, I reminiscence in silence.The flakes are getting bigger and bigger, as if grandma ...

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“A curse and a blessing” by Sam Kirk

Submitted to Contest #23

“Bob, get ready to shovel” – Lisa called out from the kitchen to her husband.“What?” – he asked, flashing the toilet.“The shovel. Get it ready because it started to snow” – she explained.“I just got back from work. Barely had a chance to piss and wash my hands” – he responded.“I heard we are to expect even up to three feet of snow overnight” – Lisa added as she stirred the stew.“What’s for dinner?” – Bob asked, approaching the stove.“Nothing for you, if you don’t shovel and maintain the driveway” – she replied, placing the lid on the pot.Bob...

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“Gift of Snow” by Pamela Saunders

Submitted to Contest #23

Liz and Debbie walked together towards the shopping area through the deep new snow. Their feet crunched into the soft granules, making deep footprints. A few snowflakes were still falling, glistening in the sunlight that peeked through the heavy grey clouds. The bright white ground was dazzling, and the reflected sun made it feel too warm to be snowy, except for underfoot which was literally freezing. The world felt very quiet today, as so many people had opted to stay indoors, if they were not at work.Liz and Debbie talked together animated...

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“Silent City's Population Control” by Micaa Miles

Submitted to Contest #23

Imagine we are pigeons in the busiest city in the world. Acclimated to the bitter cold, snow has no effect on our feathers. Let's visit one of our city's inhabitants and observe. We happen upon one of the better citizens of New York City. She works every day, curbs her dog, cleans after it, recycles, pays taxes. She is a model citizen in every right and loves her city to a fault. She is waking up on a day like normal. She doesn't drive so the impending snow storm is nothing more than a few extra items of clothing to wear when she steps out o...

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“Walking in My Winter” by Lizzie Ross

Submitted to Contest #23

I'm finding it hard to admit these days, and I know everyone says to do so with grace, but I still feel nineteen in my head. I am old. I am in my own winter of life. It terrifies me and torments me, but I am in my winter. I watched parents and grandparents and celebrities around me grow old and wither away in their wheelchairs and their oatmeal dinners, but just as you don't realise the tide coming in on a beach, it is suddenly upon me now - it's my turn for the overboiled broccoli and the assisted living. My turn for the 'senior moments' an...

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“New Wonders ” by Kiera Bussiere

Submitted to Contest #23

Snow had never been anything special to me. In my hometown it always fell in sheets, blanketing the ground until all was white. As a kid I used to race out into the storms and play until my toes were numb. Every year I’d look forward to snow, impatiently putting on my snow pants at the first sign of a storm. When I got older, shoveling the driveway and driving on ice took the wonder out of it. By the time I was nineteen I was used to the frozen flurries and the ivory world they created. It was quiet, peaceful even. But it wasn’t anythi...

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“One Winter's Day in the Pig on Wheels” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #23

It’s fair to say that when you’re stuck in a traffic jam, and realise that you’re likely to be stuck there for quite a while, realising that your former neighbour (whom you were glad to see leave!) is in the car in front of you doesn’t make your mood any better. I’d have known that car anywhere. An old VW Beetle and sprayed a shade of pink that no car was ever meant to be, even though I’m not a follower of the Ford “as long as it’s black” doctrine. We nicknamed it the Pig on Wheels – and quite apart fro...

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“M25” by Pamela Saunders

Submitted to Contest #23

“Bye then” waved Nikki and John as they left the home of their friends, Julie and Chris. John drove away down the road towards the M25. For the last hour or so before they left, it had been snowing, and they wanted to get back before dark, and before it had a chance to settle and freeze over.Actually, it was beginning to blow a gale and the snow got thicker so that visibility was terrible. The wipers were working full time and John had to drive at only 20mph to be safe. Everyone needed their lights on but those really didn't seem to make a l...

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“Dead People Don't Talk” by Kaitlynn Flint

Submitted to Contest #23

Dead People Don't Talk 1/7/20Dead people don't talk. Or, at least that's what Robert McVan thought. He's worked for a funeral home, driving around the hearse, for more than three years- and not once has a dead person spoken to him. They're dead! They aren't supposed to talk. Did a dead person ever talk to you before? Exactly, dead people don't talk! But boy, was he proven wrong. It all happened during the worst blizzard in New York City traffic. He was driving to a funeral, coffin in the back, millions of family and friends fol...

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““CHANGE OF PLANS”” by Dawn Mandzik

Submitted to Contest #23

The snow started to fall. Large white flakes swirled and danced in the air. It was the end of the day, the end of a great day at Sugar Bowl Ski Resort. Mom had hung out at the Judah Lodge enjoying the scenery and holding the extra gear while the boys and Dad spent the day snowboarding. Carving the mountain in soft fresh powder that had fallen the night before.What a great way to start the year. And what a great way to end their winter break, Dad thought happily as ...

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“One Can Hear the Falling Snow” by ANDREW MAIR

Submitted to Contest #23

The snow sloshed my toes as I pushed my 11-year-old body up the street to another house. Tears began to well up under the surface as my anger at my father grew. ‘How could he be so heartless? I thought as I reached into my bag of folded and mostly wet newspapers. “He doesn’t care about me at all,” I said aloud. I sucked my gloved fingers to warm them, forgetting that this action may make them temporarily warmer but would result in colder appendages later. I hurriedly moved to the last house and threw my final paper...

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“Icicles” by Keeley Wamback

Submitted to Contest #23

Rosemary had climbed wooden ladders at least a thousand times before. She had grown up helping cats stuck in trees, helping her Dad any time he pretended to need assistance. Rosemary would say that she was comfortable with heights. Now that she is living by herself, she handles all household jobs, big or small, dangerous or safe. This was her first home, down payment made by her dad with her promise to repay him. She felt she was lucky to have found a place to live, especially next door to her parents. Rosemary adored her parents. Being an o...

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“What I leave behind” by Kalea Acuna

Submitted to Contest #23

For the first time in forever, it was just me and Jasper for the holidays. We had just moved out of our parent’s homes, and were ready to take the next step in our relationship. As much as we loved our parents, we wanted this Christmas to be special. Living in California, a white Christmas was completely out of the question. So rather than spend another Christmas in sixty degree weather with our parents, we rented a little cabin in Milad in the forest, hoping for a white Christmas. Our first Christmas with just the two of us. But it di...

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$50

Prize money

353

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 10, 2020 EST

Won by Angeliki P 🏆

Title: Pied Piper

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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#23: Winter Wonderland

This week's prompts

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

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

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

Write a short story about someone experiencing their first winter.

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