#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

“For Want of a Key” by Michelle Nugent

⭐️ 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...

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“White fluffy powder” by Sam Kirk

Submitted to Contest #23

Wu, short for Wuzhou, and his parents moved to Norway from China when he was only six years old. His parents named him “Five Continents” because they wanted him to travel the world. They envisioned him to be an explorer, a conqueror, and a citizen of the world.Even though Wu’s father's name was Aiguo, he did not consider himself patriotic. He felt no affinity towards China and swore to move anywhere in the world just to provide the best future for his family. That’s why, when the opportunity arose, Ai packed up his family into three small su...

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“Footprints ” by April Beaulieu

Submitted to Contest #23

This year, it was going to be a somber Christmas. It was two weeks before Christmas and here we are, celebrating the life of my dearly departed mother. Even though she was 92, nothing prepares you for the loss of your mother, even when you’re rounding 70 years old yourself. The family had gathered for an impromptu Christmas Dinner. One less gathering to do in the coming weeks, I suppose. However, the ache in my heart was heavy and growing. I did not feel like spending much time with the extended part of my family, especially unde...

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“The Corundum Conundrum” by Tori Routsong

Submitted to Contest #23

Aminta watched her boyfriend drum his fingers on the steering wheel, impatient as ever. As far as she was concerned, however, the blizzard was a godsend. She’d promised herself she’d confront him as soon as they got to the restaurant; if they never got to the restaurant, there’d be no confrontation. She and Fideo could sit in this car for the rest of their lives and Aminta would be perfectly happy. Fideo clearly felt otherwise, and he flicked on and off the windshield wipers as if that would make any difference. “We’re going to miss our res...

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“3 Tic-Tacs” by Madeline Harrington

⭐️ 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...

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“Not How I'd Imagined It” by Edgar Beck

Submitted to Contest #23

Everything shook.Lysa’s eyes were failing her. The gash in her back bled profusely, and the pain was getting to her head. She forced her eyes open. She remembered being hauled onto Pa’s cart, a deep red trail following her. Now she lay on the floorboard, rocking this way and that. Winds howled past, piercing her with their chill. Lysa shivered like a newborn in winter. Plumes of smoke rose in the distance, further darkening the gray sky. As the cart rumbled onward, they shrank into the horizon.Her tired eyes shut again. She saw only darkness...

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“The Revenant's Journey” by Jason Gretencord

Submitted to Contest #23

Grayness. My entire vision is immersed in a pulsing gray vortex. A thunderous cacophony resounds in my head as I flail around. Gradually my sight focuses, and a landscape sprawls out around me. First comes an evening sky, enshrouded by a ponderous layer of clouds. Snow is falling onto the ground, disgorged by the sky as bloated projectiles that splatter over everything in the vicinity. I hold out my hand and catch a few, but I feel no chill despite the brumal winds and vision obscuring snowfall. Looking at my hand, I notice that the sn...

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“Snowbound Memories” by Courtney Myers

Submitted to Contest #23

When the coldest months stepped their icy feet upon the Isle of Mixed Blood’s shores, the winter brought with them took no prisoners. Though the Stormshield Mountains along the northern coast often blocked the worst of the weather, bulbous and rolling clouds of dark gray yet carried a frigid chill that helped birth raging inland snowstorms. What fiery colors remained of the autumn were soon buried in snowdrifts or encased in crystalline ice, and invasions of frozen flakes whipped through the air for days and sometimes weeks on end before any...

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“Coming home” by Sam Kirk

Submitted to Contest #23

“You’re driving like a maniac! Slow down and stop changing lanes every other second” – Paula said to her husband.“Do you want to take over?” – Mark asked his wife.“We just switched. I drove for the past five hours” – Paula replied.“Longest five hours of my life. If it were up to me, you would not be driving at all” – Mark said, changing yet to a different lane.“Do you have to be an ass?” – Paula asked.“I don’t, but you insist on making me out to be one way too often” – Mark said and honked at the car that suddenly slowed down.“Plus, it was y...

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“Love Conquers” by Unknown User

Submitted to Contest #23

My name is Olivia James and this is the tale of my afterlife, or at least so I thought. It all started on a Monday afternoon in the middle of November, I woke up that day to see the beautiful pristine snow, silently falling to the ground. It was such an amazing sight to see, the sun’s rays were beaming off the freshly fallen snow, and it gave me joy. I was so excited to see the snow I hurriedly got out of bed and put on my winter coat. As I stepped out of my house onto the porch I could immediately feel the crisp winter air, just the th...

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“Fairy Footprints” by Samantha Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #23

As I walked through the freshly fallen snow, my mind drifted to thoughts of the past week. I recalled New Year's Eve, spent at my cousins' house. Family and friends were surrounding me, much like the snowflakes currently drifting through the air enfolded me. I felt like I was walking through a dream.As a walked, I watched the white specks float and dance around me. Each one was a masterpiece, with delicate curves and sharp edges. I could hardly even hear my footsteps. When I glanced down, I snapped back to reality. The reason I could not hea...

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“Tracks” by Been Jee

Submitted to Contest #23

Four Hours That is how long it has been since I started walking from the wreck. I would have thought that I'd run into another road soon, but this highway seems to go on forever. I haven't seen any cars to help me, but even if I did it would be a worthless effort. The white out was just too thick, I'd have a better chance of being hit by a car than catching their attention. I knew it was a stupid decision to text Abigail while I was driving in the storm, but she gets worried easily and I just wanted to be there for her and our unborn son. "H...

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“White Blanket And A Draft” by 𝛦ǀ𐌉𝓪 𝕽. 𝖩. 𝙎.

Submitted to Contest #23

Mabel gently awoke. It was the light that had coaxed her from her sleep. Through the window, an erie pinkish-white glow emanated from outside, disturbing the usually flashy-dark night. She looked over at her older sister, Sarah, still asleep on the cot next to her. That’s when Mabel noticed the silence. Undisturbed, muffled silence. This was New York in the middle of January, 1942, noise should have been what woke her up. But it wasn’t. Mabel quietly rose from bed and tiptoed to the window. Her family’s apartment was near the top of th...

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“Gear Change” by Pauline Breatnach

Submitted to Contest #23

Being late February there was an extra sliver of light in the evening. An intense orange glow lit up the western sky as the sun sank beneath the horizon.Sally and her mum, Anna, took one last look at what was left among the remnants of Christmas bargains.Ever since Sally had begun to attend St Nicholas's Girls School six months earlier, she had looked longingly across the street at the 'Cool Dude' shopping centre. With some money left over from her Christmas presents she wanted to have a peek.On Wednesday afternoons, Mum came by to pick up S...

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“The whisper” by Soraya Raza

Submitted to Contest #23

Tom had always been a curious boy, in the sense of inquisitive and also, oddball. He had been a studious, quiet child that no-one really noticed. He did not interrupt people's stories with his own, peppered refrains; he waited to be spoken to and listen intensely to people as they interacted, always holding back.He was a day-dreamer, wandering through the school corridors without whim or care, brushing past his fellow students in teh lunch hall or in class, but could any of them even close their eyes and recall what he was wearing or his eye...

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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...