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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

“Special Ingredient” by John Del Rio

Submitted to Contest #71

Special IngredientHe sat in the foyer waiting; and he was nervous. Penrose always made him nervous. He had been working for him for several years now; but he was always nervous when he met with his boss. It didn’t make much sense to him because Penrose was a slight man; maybe 5 ft 6 in his stocking feet, while he himself was 8 inches taller and outweighed the boss by 4 stone. He knew that Penrose had spent several years in the mines back in the old country and many years building his “enterprise” so that he controlled the...

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“The Cookie Crumbles..” by Jade Orien🍀

Submitted to Contest #71

"Do you have any idea who might've broken into your bakery sir?"A detective asks the baker as he accidentally steps on a cookie that was lying on the floor."No, I have no idea! People in this town love my baked goods I don't know who would do this to me!""Anything, in particular, missing from your bakery sir?"As the baker starts to speak he suddenly remembered he left something very vital in the bakery.He runs into the kitchen & begins to make a mess as he searches for something particular.The detective runs after him and asks "Sir what ...

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“Coconut Chocolate Balls” by Estelle Westley

Submitted to Contest #71

Grandma Griffiths was sitting at the kitchen table amidst a hive of activity. "This is going to be a surprise Gran," Said Sue. She was one of the tween twins busy measuring coconut into a cup. "Mum told us how you always made these Coconut Chocolate Balls for the family at Christmas time. She has safely kept the recipe that you gave for the Coconut Balls in her old recipe book and we will follow it to the last detail." "Who still keeps a hand written recipe book?" asked Liza busy opening the tin of condensed milk. "Do you know, Gran...

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“Chewy” by H.L Whitlock

Submitted to Contest #71

Chewy In the guiness world records, they list the largest cookie ever made by anyone as being made by a team of baker’s in Flat Rock, North California (USA of course, where else?) called the immaculate baking company, in 2003. They’d have to be immaculate to make a cookie that big without it crumbling or anything. They baked it to raise money for a museum they wanted to get built – somebody would pay for them to make the biggest cookie in the world, right? And the craziest thing is that it actually worked! They raised $20,000 and there w...

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“Blinded to see the real apple of my pie” by Ali Berg

Submitted to Contest #71

There she stood on the aisle, across the street. She seems to be looking for me. And as I waved my arms upward to get her attention, she glanced at me. My heart melted into deep affection. Her eyes were blue. Her long, brown ash-colored hair swayed with the wind. Her cherry-like lips were fascinating. The complexity of her skin was fair. She was not tall nor short, she was just at the exact point where any man would dream of. I must admit, I have been too cold on her. But I knew one thing for sure, she was the lady that has been predestined ...

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“That's How the Wookiee Crumbles” by Ed Vela

Submitted to Contest #71

My son, Aloysius, dressed (as always) as a Wookiee, roared his disapproval. This wasn't the first year his Dad (and my husband), Paulson, had tried to "recreate" his Great-Grandmother, Teresita's, Holiday Chocolate Cookies, or as my overly bright (and HONEST) 9 year old called them... "Grandma's Little Crap Cookies!" Aloysius proclaimed then let out his low, sad roar of defeated contempt. I knew this roar well, it was the one he usually reserved for me in response to a request to finish his homework or clean his room. Paulson, being VERY...

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“Something Sweet” by Amy DeMatt

Submitted to Contest #71

“Fine, you’re on.” I could feel the hot blood pulsing through my fingers, and at that point, I was willing to say anything just to get him to be quiet, and that was what ended up coming out. When a woman says “fine,” it never means fine. It usually means terrible, horrible, worse than can be imagined, or go take a long walk off a short pier, or some sort of expletive equivalent, and this case was no different. &...

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“A Dash Of Mystery” by Sevan Meguerditchian

Submitted to Contest #71

The weather was cold and gloomy when the detective stepped foot outside of the precinct. Of all the cases stacked up on his desk, he had to be stuck with the least interesting one. You would think during the holidays, when crime is usually thriving, he would get a more interesting one but alas he was tasked with solving this one in the near future. For the second time that week the detective drove through the familiar streets until he was parked outside the bakery. Little Rainbow's Bakery. The owner, an old couple stood waiting inside. "...

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“Rube” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #71

Rube Rube Goldberg Junior was nothing like his father. He, unlike his father, who had dedicated himself to the peculiarly intricate connections between things, people, and situations, found people to be little more than over rated guests of a planet that deserved better. His theories propelled thought to a level where it did not exist as imagined but took on an identity of the one who observed it. Envision a maze where there was more than one possibility of a destination. ...

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“Mince Pies by Firelight” by Josh C

Submitted to Contest #71

I could tell mum was trying not to cry again, even with the mask over her mouth and nose. Her eyes were wet, and she was blinking hard. She did that a lot this Christmas. For a second she stared at the oversized fake pine tree in the shopping centre, surrounded by equally fake presents, watching the man dressed as Santa listen to children shout from 6 feet away. Santa was wearing a mask too. I knew what mum was thinking about. She was thinking about how grandma always loved taking me to see Santa, even though he wasn’t real either. Mum wor...

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“When you realise, it's too late” by A L Burn

Submitted to Contest #71

It’s only flour and water. Essentially. And a bit of yeast thrown in. Outrageously simple, really. So why have I avoided it for so long? I can throw together cookies, churn out weighty chunks of brownie, whip up a victoria sponge like it’s nothing. Twenty years of baking. But never bread. *** A shape shuffles steadily behind the frosted glass in response to my knock. Grandad opens the door and I’m welcomed instantly by a dense, cosy warmth. A familiar scent curls into my nostrils, though I don’t yet understand the meaning of nostal...

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“It's in the Stardust” by Christie Greenwood

Submitted to Contest #71

Winters in New Amsterdam were never easy to deal with. Ever since the Emergence two centuries back, they’d grown harder – at least that was the talk among the inhabitants. In truth, cold winters came and went. Were some of the fluctuations due to variations in the magic field? Yes. That much could be proven. However, climate was always a result of nature and people meddling, be they regular humans, Cailleach or Cruthanna. It was unfortunate that many people chose not to see it that way. To them, it was always a specific group’s fault. Even w...

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“The Proposal” by Max Arlo

Submitted to Contest #71

“Shhhh, he’s almost here!” I stand frozen, sudden terror locking my limbs in place. “Aiden, act natural!” someone shouts, but how can I? What if he says no? Then Oliver is walking through the door, and all nerves and worries melt right off me, water dripping into puddles beneath icicles. I can never be afraid or uptight when he’s around. I feel the box in my pocket lighten considerably. “So,” Ollie’s saying to me, “a cookie party, huh?” “Yeah, I thought it would be fun,” I murmur, leaning into his arms. They’re warm, despite the frigid t...

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“Let's play” by Merel Cooijmans

Submitted to Contest #71

Lisa looked at the last empty fold-out chair across from her in the circle. She was until now the last to arrive. The room was calmingly silent. Somewhere in a corner a radio was softly playing Christmas songs. In the circle of chairs were 5 people seated. Next to her sat her friend Crystal, who looked at the Tupperware on her lap which held some homemade cookies. On the opposite side of Crystal sat a nervously looking boy in his late teens. He, like Crystal, was holding a Tupperware. The boy looked mostly at his lap, but glanced now and the...

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“Cookies Are Not Always What They Seem” by Morgan Douglas

Submitted to Contest #71

It was that time of the year again. When Juniper Langston was scheduled to host her annual Cookie Exchange Christmas party, just days before the holiday itself. She made sure to make all the preparations, as usual. Sending out invitations and making sure to have her decadent house on Tenth street, ready. This year, Juniper decided to go with a more glamorous holiday color theme instead of the traditional green and red that she typically used. Deciding on silver and gold with just a touch of royal blue. Making sure to spare no expense in the ...

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$50

Prize money

607

Contest entries

0

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.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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