#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

“Alaskan Winter” by E J

Submitted to Contest #23

When I was younger, in my teens, growing up in Florida I would spend my winters ( if you could call them that) running around outside in gym shorts and hoodies. The only places I had ever seen snow was on the television. Seeing snow, watching and feeling it actually fall from the sky was at the top of my bucket list. However, if you would have told me my first encounter with the frozen rain would be courtesy of the U.S. Army making my first station a base 5,000 miles away from home in Alaska I would have taken that dream balled it up, s...

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“Excerpts from Chance’s Diary” by Elaine Leet

Submitted to Contest #23

Day 1 Dear Diary, In my dreams I move like the wind through a crispy bright world that I cannot remember when I wake. Mama says not to worry. They are ancient memories our family is born with. I will understand someday. I’ve got my doubts.Day 90 Dear Diary, Every day the world below the blue is more green than gray and brown. The sunshine warms my back and my head when Mama takes me out. Most of our great extended family seem happy with this change, but Papa mourns especially when he warms himself in the sun and watches me ...

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“Winter Wonderland” by Abigail Bachelor

Submitted to Contest #23

“Olivia wake up!” Olivia opened her eyes and after a second, quickly jumped out of bed to look out her window. Heavy snow blanketed the ground. Olivia smiled. Perfect. “Olivia are you up? We’ll be leaving soon!” “Coming!” Olivia cried running downstairs to eat breakfast. Today was one day she couldn’t be running late…Are you excited? Olivia‘s mom asked as they drove to the landing strip. “I am” Olivia said smiling. “I’ve missed my cousin.” “I know. I wish we lived closer.” “Me too” Olivia agreed. And it wasn’t just so she could see her cousi...

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“Turn Around” by LouH Hamilton

Submitted to Contest #23

Johnathan scratches his head in frustration, the cars behind them honking loudly at 30 second intervals, which they had been doing for the last two hours. He rolls down his window, "We're all stuck you idiots!" "That's right, scream at strangers in traffic so they come and shoot us!" The woman in the passenger's seat growls, "and roll up that window it's a blizzard and its freezing!" Johnathan huffs rolls up his window. He looks over at Scarlet, bundled up in two coats and a blanket, facing the door and away from him, he laughs a l...

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“Struggles and Snow” by Lori Lorenz

Submitted to 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 ...

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“The Good-Bye Blizzard” by Varina Sidley

Submitted to Contest #23

“Shoot!” I exclaim as my car hits a snowbank on the boulevard. I take stock of the scene around me, two other cars have also hit the boulevard, but thankfully none of us have hit each other. I try to reverse and all I can hear is the squeal of tires spinning on ice. “I’m sorry Gram, I think we’re going to be stuck here for a bit,” I say, flicking on my hazards. My grandmother gives me an appraising side-eyed look, “I told you we’d be better off staying off the roads today, my girl. I’m okay, I’m okay!” She brushes my hand away from where I’v...

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“Some Boots” by Karen Haggard

Submitted to Contest #23

"Hey, babe, I'm gonna be late. Like really late. I don't know. This blizzard is crazy bad. I'm stuck on 95 in this super long line of traffic. I miss you too. Don't worry. What could possibly happen? You think there's a psycho out here in this shit? You're too funny. No, I can't see anything up ahead at all. Just a bunch of tractor-trailers and a few cars behind me. We're at a dead stop. Been like this for about an hour now. I'm gonna turn the car on and off every half hour, so I don't freeze my ass off and to recharge my cell. So I'll reach...

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“Warning Signs” by Mike Garrigan

Submitted to Contest #23

“I can’t see, Elaine. I’m pulling over,” I said. “What the . . . Why is it snowing?” Elaine said.Elaine had been texting, surfing the web, checking Facebook, on Twitter, and adding to her Instagram story since I had offered her a ride home fifteen minutes ago. When she gets on social media, it’s like she has horse blinders on. I mean, she didn’t even notice when it started snowing five minutes ago. The light snow had compounded quickly into a blizzard.“When did they call for snow?” Elaine said.“I don’t think they did,” I said. “Shi...

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“The Holiday Blizzard ” by L Wil

Submitted to Contest #23

I walk out of the Aspen county airport to see snow on the ground and continually snowing down with one of those carts that have gray carpet on the bottom, except this one has one giant stain in the middle of the carpet. How do you get a stain on a luggage cart? Also, I had to choose the only one with a jammed wheel. I wouldn’t even need this stupid thing if it wasn’t it being the holidays and my mother insisting I come home for a bit after my fiancé, who also happens to be my boss dumped me. I stand freezing on the little sidewalk trying to ...

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“Snow sense” by Olivia Fairfax

Submitted to Contest #23

I was in Yorkshire visiting relatives one New Year and had taken mother with me. She must have been in her eighties by then. We lived in London and rarely saw snow for more than a day. The snowflakes usually melted as they touched the ground. There seems to be a big difference in many respects between the north and the south of England. One of the most obvious is the weather. Occasionally one would see a bin with sand or salt or gravel in it, by the side of the road. Occasionally the pavements sparkled and we would pull our scarves tig...

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“Things Remembered ” by Emma Dollenmayer

Submitted to Contest #23

God, I thought. It had been months since I had seen her. Maybe even years. Embarrassingly, I couldn't remember how much time had passed. She was 17 years old. I knew that much. Was she 17 when I last visited her in the city? I don't know. I was anticipating awkwardness for at least the first half an hour, so I wasn't surprised when the only words spoken within the first 15 minutes of the car ride were "Hi" and "How are you?" Oh, and she muttered back "good" as an answer to my question. But was she good? I don't know. The snow...

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“Delays on the District Line” by Alyse Morrell

Submitted to Contest #23

“Do snowflakes feel cold?” The little boy looked to be about five-years-old, but seemed much smaller buried under his scarf and jacket. The swaddled boy sat up, leaning against the back of the subway seat, blowing hot air on the freezing window. “I don’t think they do. I think they like it,” answered his nanny, still scrolling through her phone, praying for service. By the frustrated faces of the other commuters, it looked as though they had ...

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“Joey and Loretta” by Joe Parrillo

Submitted to Contest #23

“Crapola!” Frank cursed. “I should be retired, lounging on some Caribbean island sipping beer or somethin’ out of a coconut, instead of being an Uber driver!” But with losing his wife to cancer last year, then his job, too, that he held for thirty years due to layoffs, Frank Brower had run out of options. At 67, and a thin resume, he wasn't exactly a hot commodity to companies hiring. Frank listened to the weather report on TV and it was all bad. He hoped he’d get no calls from Uber today but just as he was having that thought, tha...

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“It's Not Me, It's You” by Jessie Sweet

Submitted to Contest #23

Vanessa’s breath caught in her throat as she watched the car in front of them fishtail and skid off the narrow highway, down the embankment, and stop short of the icy river. “Dear Lord,” she said, leaning forward, gripping the dash. “Todd, we need to stop.” Todd chuckled. “They’re ok.” “I’m calling 911,” she grabbed his phone, raising an eyebrow at him as she made the call. They cautiously advanced thro...

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“Post Chiefs Blizzard” by Bailey Brown

Submitted to Contest #23

Suppose they were married. Suppose that neither one of them wanted to be married. Suppose that both were too stubborn to talk about this dilema and so it was swept under the rug along with other items they did not want to talk about like how whenever he sleeps, he takes all the blankets and then snores loud enough to blow his hair past the crown of his head. Suppose that whenever she speaks, her pauses exceed minutes of conversation but then gets upset when she is interrupted. Suppose that he had slept with her sister and the only ones who k...

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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...