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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

“Frozen and Furry Foes” by Murray Burns

Submitted to Contest #283

Frozen and Furry Foes“Competition reveals character and tests mental fortitude.”                                                                           -Oprah Winfrey“Ar...

6 comments 6
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“Christmas Tree ” by Korinne H.

Submitted to Contest #283

The day I arrive home from college, my family does not come to the door. I find them in the kitchen. Rising quickly, my mom fumbles an apology. “Oh, honey! I wasn’t sure when you’d get here.” I told her, twice, but that's ok. She hugs me and asks about the trip. “Good,” I smile, “no traffic.” My dad is already out the door, popping the trunk. He’s more of a doer than a talker, that's ok. There is no sign of my little brother in the kitchen. There is no sign of him anywhere, actually. That’s ok. Eventually, they trickle to other par...

13 comments 13
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“The Spirits Inside The Walls” by Carol Stewart

Submitted to Contest #283

Like the spirit, it rises: the flesh and breath of bricks and mortar. You smell it when it rains, when the room is lit up yellow and the world outside is grey but full of bright umbrellas. Or when it lingers autumnal like logs in dampened woods speckled gold upon troweled earth. Likewise in spring when the grass is freshly mown, April-showered, refreshed. But on days like today, you smell it too. And mild as it was before the sky darkened over this Christmas, it hits you pure, crisp and clear as the season itself.You step from your old child...

21 comments 21
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“A Christmas in Japan” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #283

Maybe I was just trying to escape from my problems–'doing a geographical’ as the self help people say these days. Or maybe I just wanted to have some fun. Regardless, in my early 20s, I decided that immersing myself into a foreign language and culture would be a therapeutic escape. After digging through a mountain of application paperwork, I landed a scholarship to study geology at Hiroshima University. After my first busy year of study, and facing the butt end of my savings and my student visa, seemingly out of nowhere, I was offered a...

17 comments 17
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“Mona Lisa Bouquet” by Hannah Lynn

Submitted to Contest #283

A huge bouquet greeted her from the coffee table without a card or explanation. The flowers just sat there looking gorgeous and mysterious like the Mona Lisa. Kate felt relief wash over her. Maybe they were a peace offering. Maybe she wouldn’t have to go to the consultation with the attorney after all. The fork in the road was ahead of her, with the road endlessly shifting like a warped nightmare. Sometimes a few steps away while other times so far on the horizon that the fork was barely visible.  Kate reached f...

10 comments 10
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“Dog and Pony” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #283

Young Ryder entered the living room early Christmas morning to see a large box lying beside the tree. It was too large to fit among the other presents. There were holes around the top. Ryder stared in awe as he thought he saw the box move. He whispered, “A pony? Santa brought me a pony?”He ran to the box and peered into one of the air holes. A Beagle puppy stared back. Its wagging tail thumped. It whimpered, begging for release.“Mom! Dad! Santa brought me a pony!”Ryder’s parents, Paige and Levi, entered. Still in pajamas, they were bleary fr...

17 comments 17
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“Yet To Come” by Kay Northbridge

Submitted to Contest #283

At the tender age of fifty-six, having given my last three slices of bread to a street urchin, I choked on a piece of Cheshire cheese whilst dining alone by candlelight in my kitchen. As I tell this story you may make certain assumptions. You may think that having spent thirty-three years apparently making provision for others to have a smooth transition into the afterlife, I would have arranged a spectacular send off for myself. You may think. But actually, when my time came, I was far from ready.Daily dealings with the mortality of others ...

8 comments 8
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“Mallory” by Rebecca Hurst

Submitted to Contest #283

Paxo stared at the blank screen for several moments before lighting a cigarette and pouring another Glenmorangie. How many fingers? Who knew. Depends if you’re talking toddler's or boxer’s fingers. It was such a difficult time of year to settle. Christmas Day was done, thank God, but it was not quite the time for resolutions. The little writing table was set parallel to a window which looked out on a cemetery, and within this Hammer Horror backdrop, nothing moved. The tombstones listed and leaned like a mouthful of bad teeth, but even t...

11 comments 11
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“Thank You, Jesus, for Cancelled Flights” by Scott Taylor

Submitted to Contest #283

As the snow swirled outside the airport windows, two strangers found themselves stranded together, their holiday plans grounded by the relentless winter storm. Little did they know their unexpected meeting would lead to a journey that would change their lives forever. Cold crept in from every corner around the chair where I had been sitting for several hours. When the screen flickered ‘canceled,’ I let out an expletive overheard by a lady engrossed in something on her phone. At some point, I knew I'd have to call my agent and concoct a belie...

6 comments 6
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“Thirteen Dots ” by Laurie Spellman

Submitted to Contest #283

The Ferris wheel lights spun behind her in a blur, making me dizzy. At sunset on Christmas, I met Barcelona Cortés, the mind-surfer, at the Santa Monica Pier. Her fiery red hair burned more vividly than the bonfire on the beach."You look like someone staring at the screen too long. Did you get lost in the code like me?" Barcelona teased."I guess…I have been lost lately. But this isn't real; it's a dreamscape. I designed it, and I've never been to Santa Monica.""What is real to you? Is it the things we touch? The things we feel? Or is the spa...

12 comments 12
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“Texas” by Sandy Burch

Submitted to Contest #283

My car broke down in Clovis, New Mexico. I called Emmit and he was there before the tow truck, which had to come from Amarillo. “Yeah, sis, you’re screwed. It’s the timing chain.” Emmit rolled out from under the hood and shook off his jacket. He grinned, his perfect teeth revealing that he was delighted by this opportunity to strut around like a rooster and save the day. “Why’d you get a tow from Amarillo? I got a friend back home.” “Insurance,” I said, curtly. I was grateful to see lights flashing down the road.   I stalked to the...

4 comments 4
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“Fragments of Us” by Elizabeta Zargi

Submitted to Contest #283

Autumn, 1991. Ottawa. I hadn’t seen Sophia in months, and it felt like a lifetime. We’d known each other through our families—Slovenian immigrants who had somehow found each other in the maze of life. I was visiting for the weekend, a brief escape from the hustle of Montreal. We were planning to catch a film and maybe hit a few clubs. But before any of that, Sophia had to stop by Bouclair, where she worked part-time. I waited outside the store, hands buried deep in my pockets, when I first saw her. Kaitlin. She stood by the door, her jet-bla...

8 comments 8
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“Whispers of Grace” by Keshav Mathur

Submitted to Contest #283

For the last few months, every time someone asks how I’m doing, I force a smile and say, “I’m doing good.” But I see the way their eyebrows twitch, how their eyes linger on my face, silently asking for something more. It’s like speaking a different language—one where “good” never really means good.My friends aren’t much better. They keep asking, “How’s the family holding up?” and I nod and say, “We’re doing good.” Yet their silence always stretches a beat too long, as if they’re waiting for a crack in my composure—tears, anger, anything that...

2 comments 2
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“Cold Subway, Love Reunion” by Scarlet Ibis James

Submitted to Contest #283

The bitter December wind whipped around Julie as she descended into the Union Square subway station, her coffee clutched tightly in her red, green and gold-mittened hands. Christmas lights twinkled overhead, strung across shop windows like tiny stars fallen to earth. The holiday season in New York always filled her with a peculiar mix of joy and melancholy—like a snow globe someone had shaken, leaving glitter suspended in the air. Today, that feeling sat heavier in her chest than usual. Something is off. The platform was crowded with holiday...

8 comments 8
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“Stranded Christmas” by Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #283

The last-minute Christmas preparations always brought out the worst in people, and Jack Reynolds was no exception. He'd delayed leaving until the late afternoon, hoping to avoid the worst of the holiday traffic. Although he lived two towns past his hometown, he had been postponing his departure as much as he could. His truck was packed with thoughtful gifts, carefully selected—vintage history books for his nieces and nephews who shared his love of storytelling, a rare first-edition map for his father, and hand-crafted pottery from a local ar...

8 comments 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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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