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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#71: Sugar and Spice

One of my favorite parts of the holidays is baking cookies. Or, to be more honest, eating cookies — but you can’t have one without the other! From peppermint to gingerbread to iced sugar cookies, there are so many mouth-watering choices, and that’s just in my own culture. The flavors get even more varied and delectable as you head around the world.

But whether you’re a professional pastry chef in real life or someone whose cookies turn out looking more like lumps of coal, in stories our desserts can be whatever we want them to be. So get your imaginations preheating, because this week we’re going to be exploring all the different reasons and flavors that drive people to pick up the mixing bowl.

This week's prompts

Write about a group of people determined to win an award for making the biggest cookie ever.

High School – 62 stories

Write about someone investigating a break-in at a bakery. The only thing missing? A very secret ingredient.

Mystery – 106 stories

Write about two people who run rival bakeries, but fall in love during their town’s annual holiday festival.

Romance – 137 stories

Write about someone trying to recreate a grandparent’s signature baked good from memory.

Kids – 161 stories

Write about someone hosting a cookie exchange as a cover to hide the true reason for inviting one of their guests.

Dark – 141 stories

Stories

“Undefined” by Scout Tahoe

Submitted to Contest #71

You had this friend, Charlie. She was the kind of person who broke limbs while fitting into yoga positions and cried while watching Elf despite the fact that she was Jewish. Charlie liked to buy piggy banks of twisted animals and tell stories about her free days. She’d tell this one story about an all-nighter in college. You went to the same college and exchanged clipped words but still you didn’t appear in the story. It didn’t bother you, really. Charlie owned a house and you owned an apartment. Perhaps that’s what bothered you. But C...

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“The Huge Cookie Surprise” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

Submitted to Contest #71

Title: The Huge Cookie Surprise Author: Haripriya Authors Note: Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a Cookie-tacular Friday! Before reading this story, I think it would be best to grab a cookie, or else you'll start to feel hungry! Even if you don't like cookies, you'll feel like eating them (maybe). So start munching on whatever you like, and read this story about a group of friends, trying to make the biggest cookie in the history of cookies. I hope you enjoy the quick read! Have you ever heard of true friendship?...

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“Rivalry turns into love” by 🕊 🎀 𝒱𝒶𝓇𝓈𝒽𝒶 𝒱𝒾𝓂𝒶𝓁 🎀 🕊

Submitted to Contest #71

Olivia“Calm down Olivia, we aren’t out of business... yet,” My most trusted assistant Roberta assured me. She pushed a strand of her black hair off her face as she noted me, I walked back and forth, worrying make my face wrinkle with depression. “Calm down, calm down?” I screeched at her, Roberta was too young to understand my dilemma, I might go out of business in less than a week if I don’t pay the rent for my bakery soon enough.“Olivia…” She stood in front of me, blocking my way and placed her hand on my shoulder as I paused. “D...

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“Where the Red Trees Turn Blue” by A.R. Eakle

Submitted to Contest #71

Grover opened his eyes as he always did at four in the morning, peering to the left side of his bed at a now-empty pillow that he still fluffed every night. It always looked the same in the morning as it did the evening prior. He slipped out of bed and grabbed his pants from the weeks before, the thighs thick with flour and sugar and the other stains of a day’s labor. On the dresser was the shirt that was just as ill fitting and gritty. With a jingle of his keys and a quick pull of the door behind him, Grover headed down two blocks thro...

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“Dear Riley” by Radhika Diksha

Submitted to Contest #71

“I was telling you, utilize the time and prepare for the test. But you all were busy in Netflix and Call of Duty,” Ryan said.“Dude would you shut your mouth. It was for the first time in our lives where we aren’t pressurized by marks, studies, or house rent. We were enjoying our time to the fullest,” Urvil remarked.“Would you guys please stop arguing for god's sake?” Danish shouted.“Yeah, we are in the middle of an emotional crisis and instead of finding a solution, you are regretting your actions,” Ernest replied.The coming final semester t...

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“That One Feeling” by Zea Bowman

Submitted to Contest #71

My arms are wrapped tightly around my family's recipe book, the very one that my great-great-great grandmother made years ago. It holds all of the secret recipes of the Neal family, and each one has the secret ingredient that is included in any food my family makes, whether it be anywhere from pastries to pastas."Ma'am, where were you when the robbery took place?"I shift in my seat, and I can feel the blood rushing to my face. "Uh, I was in the..."The police officer rolls his eyes and raises his eyebrows. I can tell he would rather be doing ...

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“Cookie of joy” by 🕊 🎀 𝒱𝒶𝓇𝓈𝒽𝒶 𝒱𝒾𝓂𝒶𝓁 🎀 🕊

Submitted to Contest #71

“Mrs. Hill, come out and play,” Danny called out. “Dan, you mustn’t disturb poor Mrs. Hill with all your silly tantrums,” I scolded my little brother. “Am not,” He countered. “Are too.” I sighed, being with Dan was just making me throw a fit like a child. “Oh, hello there Danny… and what a surprise to see you here too Taylor!” Mrs. Hills welcomed us in to her rental home, making sure my pesky brother was comfortable as she would ramble about the olden days… no cellphones, no computers, no technology… I was feeling stultify with her small tal...

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“More than a cookie” by 🕊 🎀 𝒱𝒶𝓇𝓈𝒽𝒶 𝒱𝒾𝓂𝒶𝓁 🎀 🕊

Submitted to Contest #71

“Mr. Film, mind if I ask what's the special occasion for baking cookies?” I asked him, the smell of vanilla wavered in the air as I breathed the sweet scent in. “How many times do I tell you Mia, call me Chris and do I need a reason to bake cookies?” He mockingly questioned. “I suppose not… Mr. F- I mean Chris,” I corrected, walking out from the warmth of the house, Mr. Film followed me outside. The air was rich mixed with just a hint of winter jasmine touch as cold sensation grew even colder. I shivered in unison with the wind rippling thro...

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“Sugar and spice, makes children taste nice” by Moon Lion

Submitted to Contest #71

It had happened quickly, the silent purple fog curling around the eastern forest, seeping through with every breath of the trees and sigh of winds. First, the messengers went missing, important declarations and letters getting gobbled up by the mists. Then, the entire eastern kingdom of Sweetland went quiet, no guards, no movements, no trade. The merchants started vanishing too, then the soldiers, the alchemists, anybody who got too close to the purple clouds disappeared and never returned. It had been at this point that serious concerns...

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“The Retrieval ” by Hema Saju

Submitted to Contest #71

He lunged into the wavy curves of the cold water. He felt the warm embrace caress his skin. It seemed like the water swallowed him as he plunged deeper. This was the same river that embraced him before twenty long years into her loving bosom. He felt that she heaved and sighed as she unwound each forgotten memory he had left behind before he left for a distant land. He felt like the same ten- year -old, frolicking naughty boy who ran around the winding curves of the village. He remembered the sturdy shoulders of his grandfather that lifted ...

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“The Pinched Piquancy” by David Brown

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #71

The cobblestone streets of the town of Glastonbury bustled with market activity in the late morning Wales sun. Peddlers of every sort sold their wares for coppers, shillings, and quid, or bartered to make fair and equitable trades. The smell of home-fires burning was in the air, mixed with the scents of perfumes, leather, fish, meat pies, and other freshly baked goods. The sheriff’s protuberant nose caught another less appealing odor too, and he stumbled to avoid a mountain of horse manure. He steadied himself and continued striding towards ...

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“Romi and Julie” by Raquel Rodriguez

Submitted to Contest #71

“Macarons, macarons! Get the most delectable macarons in town here!” Julie says, a huge grin on her face. People smile at her as they pass, and some stop to buy some cookies and macarons. “We have delicious butter cookies, fresh out of the oven!” I avoid the glare Julie gives me and turn the other way. “Hey, Romi!” I roll my eyes. “Please don’t-” My eyes widen as I turn my head to see Rosalie waving at me. “Oh! Hey, what’s up?”“Nothing much, just here to buy som...

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“Alone” by Scout Tahoe

Submitted to Contest #71

Thea wouldn’t talk to her anymore. Unless it was about money or the well-being of her cat Rosie. Who could blame her, really? They exchanged short letters sometimes. It was a broken feeling when Eve saw her older sister dressed in orange, her pretty face split by metal bars. Or maybe it was an empty feeling. Makeup peeled off Thea’s pretty face and her bracelets unhinged. Her cold hands when they secured them with handcuffs. Thea was the type of sister who told Eve about happiness but left her at red train stations, all alone. ...

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“False Love ” by Palak Shah

Submitted to Contest #71

The meadow meandered in all ways that are soft to the breeze, the green flowing in bonny waves as any river would be proud to do. There is a casual grace to the meadow, as if it has a peripheral awareness of its own beauty yet would rather be at peace in this warm sun. From the rich brown earthen hues of the ground to the sweetness of the blue-white sky, the meadow is a three dimensional wonderland for the eyes that are willing to absorb the light; but the light will soon run out. The seasons have been harsh, stripping away the bark and oute...

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“Chocolate kisses: a poetry-verse love story” by Emmie Greensgate 🏗🔚🔚👫

Submitted to Contest #71

Ellen twirls down the stairs, carrying a tray of crossants, her cropped, silky blond hair and diamond-blue eyes shining. She's like the Ellen DeGenres of baking. She has the same first name after all. Same eyes. But her hair is softer and prettier, and she is younger. She is dressed in a black and white dress, with a wide skirt, button-up top like an anime character. Me, a character. Her eyes sparkle as she walks into her bakery, from her apartment upstairs. Her employees Ryan and Liza, are standing there, behind the counter, their ...

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Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 11, 2020 EST

Won by A.Dot Ram 🏆

Title: The Craving

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.

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