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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#283: Seasonal Twists

Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ReedsyTwist to share your stories (and potentially get featured on our social accounts)!

It’s Christmas week, and if you’re celebrating, I hope you’re surrounded by everything that brings about festive cheer: twinkling lights and decorations, catchy holiday pop songs, the aroma of family recipes passed down through generations…

The familiarity of tradition grounds us in a world that’s always on the move. But as every storyteller knows, change is what makes narratives interesting. This week, let’s shake up some cozy Christmas traditions and add a little surprise to them. What will your characters do when the unexpected takes center stage?

This week's prompts

Write a story that ends with a huge twist.

Dramatic – 84 stories

Write a story about two characters who surprisingly end up spending a holiday or event together.

Short Story – 53 stories

Write a story about someone’s first Christmas after a major life change.

Short Story – 54 stories

It’s the most wonderful time of the year — except your character can’t shake the feeling that something’s off.

Short Story – 37 stories

Write a story with the line “I wasn’t expecting that.”

Dramatic – 65 stories

Stories

“Every Miracle Is A Blessing ” by Janae H.

Submitted to Contest #283

There I was again, slowly walking with my arms crossed to look out the window. Watching the snow piled on top of each other, one flake after the other. This winter storm didn't seem as if it was going to ease up as I hoped for. Although, home was the last place I wanted to be. My husband and I flight has been delayed for over two hours now. I slowly made my way back to where my husband and I were sitting, which was at gate B30. Howard’s eyes stayed glued to the departure screen as the delay time for our flight continued to climb by the...

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“Merry Christmas?” by Charlie Freiton

Submitted to Contest #283

Brother, who was sixteen back then, was peacefully sleeping next to me. The only sounds in the room were his rhythmical breathing and the cracking of the burning wood coming from the furnace. Grandma was in the kitchen, preparing the delicious Christmas Eve dinner. I waited for it to be ready with a grumbling stomach - perks of having to fast all day.The scene was too peaceful, too cozy. A small feeling ran through my mind: something was off. And the most frustrating of it all? I did not have any evidence to justify this hunch that made my h...

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“Home for the Holidays” by Melea Wolters

Submitted to Contest #283

Crystals fall around me, landing on the heads and eyelashes of children running to go see the latest toy in the window. The smell of pine and chocolate in the air. Parents drag screaming children away from the jolly fat man while teenagers drag their parents towards the apple store. I long for a time when I too would be climbing my way over other kids to see the new Barbie dream house or beg my parents for a new phone claiming that “Anne got one so I should!”. Anne. I should give her a call. She moved away after high school to what most woul...

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“Holiday Deal” by Jessica Buford

Submitted to Contest #283

Elaine sipped her cup of cocoa at the coffee shop that was just down the street from her home. It didn’t matter what she ordered at the Magic Mug, it was always the perfect temperature. The whole cafe was perfect. It was small, but never too crowded. The music was cheerful and never too loud. If it was cold outside a fire roared in the hearth and left the patrons with a rosy hue on their cheeks, and if it was hot outside the air conditioner blew a cool breeze on customers’ faces the moment they walked in. The place always smelled of freshly ...

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“The Christmas Incident on Mount Major Highway” by Jill K

Submitted to Contest #283

There are bluffs along Mount Major Highway where you can pull over and admire the Ossipee Mountains and the deep blue waters of Lake Winnipesaukee, a vast freshwater lake formed at the end of the last ice age. There are other places where the road twists and narrows, and your eyes dare not leave the road, not even for a second, no matter how thrilling the view. The week before Christmas I was driving along this highway toward my sister Julie’s house. I was thinking about the holiday itinerary we had planned, much of it involving old m...

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“Xmas Spirit” by Nolan Pierce

Submitted to Contest #283

“Has anyone seen Ed?” The question echoed through the house. “I think he is in the bathroom.” He was. Edward had been feeling rather solemn at the Christmas party. He felt distracted. He kept looking behind people while they spoke as if he was looking for someone, or something, else. Now he found himself in the bathroom, staring directly in his own eyes, trying to rally himself to the remainder of the evening. I’...

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“Welcome Home, Orpheus” by Dmitriy Galashin

Submitted to Contest #283

“I can’t put a finger on it, but something is off. Call it a hunch, a sixth sense—something is out of place.” “Pete, NASA doesn’t exactly operate on hunches.” “Alright, call it an intuition, a subconscious analysis of accumulated information—whatever, something is wrong.” “Look, it’s been a long flight. The longest in human history. But since we are almost done, since we are landing in forty hours, and especially since you are the First Pilot – I suggest you stop freaking out, OK? Sure, anxiety kicks in, thoughts are swirling. How it’s gonna...

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“Vengeful Night” by Oscar Wrzosek

Submitted to Contest #283

December 24th, 1997 Christmas used to be my favourite holiday. When I was a kid, I loved helping to put the decorations up. I loved setting out cookies for Santa. Of course I loved getting all the presents on Christmas Day. Christmas just has that special euphoric feeling that no other time of year has. At least that’s how it felt for me. I wish I still felt that way. A couple of years ago, my entire life changed in less than a minute. My little brother, Jarrod got hit by a car while crossing the road. We rushed him to the nearby hospital, b...

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“Graceland ” by Calla Conway

Submitted to Contest #283

The child came folded neatly in the mail, addressed to the man, no return address. Initially, wrongly, the man assumed it was a Christmas card from his worried mother, perhaps trying to keep a small light of hope flickering on his first Christmas without his wife. When he opened the envelope, the boy had been tightly folded, pleated flatly, a crease going right down his nose and mouth. The man stood dumbly in his kitchen, staring back at a flat blinking eye before he turned the uniformly creased letter over to another matching brown one. He ...

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“Hello, Baby!” by Natalie Dokter

Submitted to Contest #283

The parking lot was empty. Blessedly empty. I’m not too keen on having an audience for the birth of my second child. Yes, you read that right. I gave birth to my second child in the parking lot. In the front seat of a car in a parking lot, to be more precise. It started something like this. The year was 2022. The baby, a girl, was due to be born January 1st (and I was really hoping she would be, what a cool birthday!) The day, December 19th. Two weeks early, if you didn’t catch that. TWO WEEKS EARLY. That evening my husband and I h...

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“Job description, role (un)clarity” by Laura Camacho Frias

Submitted to Contest #283

[Continuation of Story Submitted to Contest #281 "Becoming"]I wasn't expecting that.My boss's smile was getting creepier and creepier, and I was losing my patience. Maybe it was because I had finally woken up to all the news of blood, job change, and world domination—this last one had not been mentioned, but the part about blood drainage and corporate vampirism made me think about it."I'm sorry, I'm what?" I asked. The cut on my arm was completely healed, and I still held the ceramic piece I'd used to prove my point."Part of the management t...

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“Technomancer 5: Love in Nuevo Laredo” by KC Foster

Submitted to Contest #283

From one of the nearby shelves, a can dropped, hitting the floor sending a clanking sound resounding through the empty grocery store. Masa cringed and held her breathe, trying to calm her racing heart. Not now, not now. Fearing an attack, she clenched her jaw and looked over the edge of the shelves. She locked eyes with Arion and relaxed. He stood strong, watching over them all and completely unphased by the sound. Masa was glad he had joined their group here. Arion had fought for her right to fight, unlike Leron, who had argued for her not ...

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“A painful escape” by Monika Denham

Submitted to Contest #283

The pain, like the violent rush of molten lava winding down a hillside, was almost too much to bear. He sat up in bed, pressing his clenched fist to his chest. The tips of his fingers, with their long and neglected nails, bit into the skin of his hand, the fist knotted so tightly not even a grain of sand could have escaped. A burning, oppressive poker relentlessly prodded his heart, penetrating deeper and deeper into the struggling chambers; the merciless onslaught made him gasp. He coughed, hoping it would chase the searing prongs from his ...

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“Mister Know-it-all” by Jim Norton

Submitted to Contest #283

Mr. Know-it-all“I wasn't expecting that!” And it almost cost me my job!Some stuff you need to know before I tell you how “that” happened. I was 29 years old. I got my bachelor's degree in English education from New Jersey State College. I had been teaching for four years in Hackettstown High School, New Jersey—seniors. I know everything there is to know about teaching seniors in public high schools! Don't give me diagramming of sentences, nor did we have 25 vocabulary words every week— but I did demand my students learn how to write a ...

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“Grandma's Chair” by Madelyn Bush

Submitted to Contest #283

I stare at Grandma’s chair, memorizing the shades of maroon and gold that work into a dark green, all swirling and turning into a paisley-like pattern. The floorboard beneath the chair has worn down from the chair’s feet scraping as my grandma would move it an inch or so at a time as she sat and stood. My parents bought her the chair when she lived with them, before she moved to Ohio to take care of her disabled sister. None of us wanted her to go. That was 8...

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$250

Prize money

293

Contest entries

123

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 03, 2025 EST

Won by Maisie Sutton 🏆

Title: Can You See Me Now?

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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