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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

“All the Time in the World” by Patti Pierucci

Submitted to Contest #283

By Patti A. Pierucci (Author’s Note: The protagonist of this story, Dr. Anton Mellick, also appears in the author’s full-length book The Hand of Maud.) “There are really four dimensions, three which we call the three planes of Space,and a fourth, Time.” H.G. Wells, The Time Machine Mrs. Russell gave three quick taps on the door, then opened it and stuck her head in. “I’m leaving now, doctor. I left a pot of soup on the stove for you,” she said with a slight wave of her hand. “Good night; see you on Monday.”“Alright, then. See you in the morn...

2 comments 2
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“A Lively Souvenir” by Phil Martin

Submitted to Contest #283

A Lively Souvenir               We were on very good terms with our neighbors of about 4 years in our San Diego, California neighborhood. We invite each other over for barbecues and Joe and I frequently sit in front of a tv somewhere on Sundays to watch a football game or two.               Our wives Annette and Ellie are in a book club together, workout at LA Fitness, and enjoy poetry reading event...

2 comments 2
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“~Other Worlds~” by Jim Parker

Submitted to Contest #283

~ Other Worlds ~Wisty removed her prosthetic hand and placed it on the seat. She had it on for the last two days and it was wearing on her. Then turned to Shewuma and asked, “So. Chieftess?” Wu hopped up next to her and sat cross-legged. “My father was chief, and my twin brother and I were his only children. But we had the sacred lineage and were turned. We both had to give it up.” “Do you regret it?” Wu thought about her life and smiled. “No, not at all. I had Enoch. Now I have Debbie and Jimmy and David E. and Tippycat and the rest of the ...

3 comments 3
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“INVASION” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #283

“How long have we been working together as a team, Val?”“Twelve years, five months, two weeks and three days. Do you want me to break it down into hours and minutes?”Paul Jones turned to his partner, an incredulous look upon his face.“Are you actually, frigging serious?’Val Thorens broke into a broad smile, his eyes never leaving the giant screen in front of him.“No, you muppet. I’m pulling your leg”.Paul, standing, strode across the small room to a filing cabinet and yanked open a drawer. Retrieving a brown, cardboard file, h...

1 comment 1
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“Sentient” by Chris Broome

Submitted to Contest #283

Ben was a stay at home father who loved his life. He spent his days with the children he loved so dearly as his wife Sarah was the bread winner. He loved being the “soccer dad”, as he was jokingly called by his male friends. Life was good and Ben felt fulfilled. He often thought he couldn’t have wished for anything more.Sarah loved the freedom that came with being the breadwinner. She had a wonderful loving husband and he was committed to her and the children. She was a junior executive at a local law firm whose emphasis was tax law. Numbers...

3 comments 3
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“The Truth in the Shadows” by Cynethea Cunningham

Submitted to Contest #283

The rain poured relentlessly, drumming against the windows of the old Victorian house. Inside, Candace sat by the fireplace, flipping through an album of photographs that chronicled the life she once knew. Each picture captured a moment of joy, now tinged with the ache of loss. It had been a year since her husband, Alex, disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a wake of unanswered questions and lingering doubts.The police investigation had yielded no results, and the townspeople whispered their theories, each more outlandish than the las...

2 comments 2
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“The Capsule” by Stephen McManus

Submitted to Contest #283

Luther watched the eight women and four men shuffle quickly into the jury box. They pointedly did not look at him, finding something interesting to stare at on the floor. The windows forming most of the wall behind the jurors rattled as a summer storm blustered fussily outside.His orange polyester jumpsuit was stifling. Sweat beaded along his scalp line and dripped down his back. “Why can’t they make these out of cotton, or some fabric that breathes?” he whispered to his attorney.Without turning her large head, almost without moving her lips...

2 comments 2
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“Highway Murder” by Anuradha Dev

Submitted to Contest #283

Content warning: References to physical and sexual abuse"You should be kissed often and by someone who knows how." - Gone With the Wind by Margaret MitchelTwenty-year-old me shudders inside the soft cotton blanket while reading arguably the most romantic novel of the twentieth century. White lamplight illuminates the pages while I lay on my stomach, swallowed by the covers. My right-hand slides lower to cater to the throbbing between my legs. There's another bed on my left with covers folded. My roommate left for the Halloween par...

0 comments 0
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“"Frau" #ReedsyTwist” by Tucker Sloan

Submitted to Contest #283

Frau Trigger Warning: This short story contains some Language, Sexual Content, partial Nudity, strong Bloody Violence, Gore, some Substance Abuse, and Suspense. “I have an idea! I found some old board games in my late grandmother’s attic. One had this dice with six sides. One dot on two sides, two dots on two sides, and three dots on two sides. So, here’s what you do…” said the host of the Christmas Eve party, Sarah, but before she could explain the rules of the game, the front door of the cabin flew open, and snow blew inside with the blust...

4 comments 4
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“A Not So Normal Day” by Di Hodson

Submitted to Contest #283

It was a cold day and the grey clouds were laced across the sky. Sara was pulling into her driveway."I don't understand why the stores are so crowded, I can't believe that I had to stand in line for 15 minutes. And why is food so darn expensive nowadays?" Sara mumbled to herself as she carried the last of the grocery bags into her small kitchen.She took off her jacket, threw it onto the couch, and started to put the food away when she realized she left the trunk of her car open. "Oh man!", she exclaimed, not wanting to go back out in the col...

2 comments 2
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“A Very Twisted Christmas” by Stacy Parker

Submitted to Contest #283

This story begins like any ordinary Christmas story, with a group of friends sitting around a fireplace roasting smores and having fun. One thing I can guarantee you about this story though, is that it is far from any ordinary Christmas story. It begins with fun and games but ends with… well I will let you wait and see… It all began on Christmas Eve at a snowy lodge, where five close friends hung out on vacation together. All their families had always been quite close. Their parents stayed there with them as expected. Let me introduce these ...

2 comments 2
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“The space between us.” by Ann Sheree

Submitted to Contest #283

Snowflakes drifted outside the frosted window, but inside the Marquez home, chaos reigned. Layla had somehow convinced their younger cousins to turn the living room into a “snowball war zone” using balled-up socks, and Leo— Layla’s ever the reluctant peacekeeper twin, stood in the middle, arms crossed, dodging every attack. “Can you at least try to act like civilized humans for five minutes?” he groaned, but Layla’s voice piped up in his ear, "What’s the fun in that?" He shot a glare at the space next to him, where Layla stood, her mischievo...

6 comments 6
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“My Christmas Angel” by Dorothy Zelenik

Submitted to Contest #283

It was Christmas Eve 1967. I was working for a mortgage company. My first real job out of high school. I had just cashed my final paycheck for the year including Christmas bonus. There was still time for some last-minute shopping, so I headed over to John Wanamaker's department store on my lunch break. I got distracted while choosing the perfect tree ornaments for the office tree and discovered my purse was gone. As nausea set in, I searched the counters in vain and finally reported my missing handbag. I headed back to work sick with worry. ...

2 comments 2
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“'Tis the Season of Love” by R S

Submitted to Contest #283

I check my watch; 6:32pm it reads. It’s been thirty minutes and Jessie Wilkins hasn’t shown up. On a typical Christmas eve sundown, I’d have been in my grandmother's antique dining room with the eye-aching floral tapestry wallpaper. I’d be seated at the ornate table at the very center of the dining room with my mother, father, grand old Tim, aunt Beatrice, uncle John and aunt Joan, and of course, we can’t forget the cousins either- the Siamese twins (Hanna and Hector), Jasper, Laura-Jean, and of course me, Mason. By now we’d all be...

1 comment 1
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“My Psychedelic Dream” by Rudy Greene

Submitted to Contest #283

I have loved Sandy since we were teenagers. We hung around the same crowds. She always was involved with one of us but never me. I was the plus one, her buddy and sometimes confidant. I heard about all her crushes and breakups but never had the nerve to tell her that I had feelings for her. She liked me but never showed any sign of romantic interest. We went to the same high school and same college and stayed in touch. I even took her to concerts and movies as a ‘buddy’ when I didn’t have a date. Still, there was no spark, no hint of interes...

6 comments 6
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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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