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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#73: My True Love Gave to Me

In years past, we’ve themed our seasonal prompts around a favorite Christmas movie… This year, we’re going to mix things up and base them off a Christmas song! And since this week’s contest runs through December 25th, what better song to pick than The 12 Days of Christmas?

If you need a little inspiration to get you in the holiday spirit, check out the Christmas and Holiday sections in our Stories directory to see what members of your community have come up with! With all these marvelously festive tales to choose from, we know you’ll find something to get you feeling jolly in no time.

And despite the Christmas origins, our prompts work for any holiday, so feel free to celebrate in a way that's true to you! We can't wait to see your character's traditions.

🥇 Winner

“Burt Brain” by Shawn Forno

🏆 Winner of Contest #73

There’s no sound on earth quite like a bird flying into a sliding glass door. Unlike the white noise of mass extinctions and vanishing rainforests, the singular thud of delicate avian bones against shatter-resistant Duraplex glass is impossible to ignore. It's the sound of the natural and man-made worlds colliding, like the off-key fervor of a bronze temple gong struck by a fresh-faced initiate. Burt Frumbder was savoring the second sip of his first cup of coffee when this one-of-a-kind sound made him jump, spilling this same cup of cof...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“A Fitness Center Christmas” by H.K. Slade

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #73

Rex had worked so hard to get on the show. The weeks of practice, the grueling auditions, the utterly convincing look of interest he’d developed and maintained during the director’s lengthy anecdotes: all for naught. The tour didn’t even have the decency to die someplace interesting. New York, Chicago… even Baltimore would have at least been closer to home. But no, they called it quits in Cary, North Carolina of all places. Most of the cast left town on the bus that afternoon, but Rex had subleased his apartment when he got the job. He...

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“The Christmas Proposal ” by Carrie Sheldrake

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #73

It was Christmas morning and Nancy was woken up by her boyfriend. She rubbed her eyes and looked into his, wide with excitement as though he had been awake for hours. “It’s going to be a beautiful day today.” “Is today a special day?” Nancy teased. “Yes, it’s Saturday. The best day of the week. Football is on, full English in a bit, some drinks later.” “Anything else?” Jude looked curiously at her, thought for a moment, and replied with a simple not that I can think of. He was, however, running over a plan in his mind. “It’s Christ...

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“Five Golden Rings” by Elise Volkman

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #73

I took two more steps on the snowy sidewalk and somehow felt like I hadn’t moved at all. I’d been in line for at least fifteen minutes. I was out of time. I craned my neck and glared down the line at the bright windows of the chocolate shop. Christmas lights glittered behind the glass. The long line of people ahead of me, all spaced six feet apart, were transfixed, at the chocolate delights under the twinkling glow. I glanced down at my phone. Less than fifteen minutes. I wasn’t even at the bus stop yet. I looked up, groaned, and stepped ou...

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This week's prompts

Write about someone who is given a bird for the holidays but doesn’t know how to take care of it.

Holiday – 200 stories

Write about someone who gets proposed to five times on Christmas Eve.

Romance – 170 stories

Write about a drummer going to a Halloween party for musicians.

Halloween – 54 stories

Write about a young nobleman whose greatest wish is to become an Olympic long jumper.

Middle School – 20 stories

Write about a backup dancer who’s on tour and just wants some peace and quiet for the holidays.

Winter – 54 stories

Stories

“Burt Brain” by Shawn Forno

🏆 Winner of Contest #73

There’s no sound on earth quite like a bird flying into a sliding glass door. Unlike the white noise of mass extinctions and vanishing rainforests, the singular thud of delicate avian bones against shatter-resistant Duraplex glass is impossible to ignore. It's the sound of the natural and man-made worlds colliding, like the off-key fervor of a bronze temple gong struck by a fresh-faced initiate. Burt Frumbder was savoring the second sip of his first cup of coffee when this one-of-a-kind sound made him jump, spilling this same cup of cof...

134 comments 134

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“Delilah” by Zilla Babbitt

Submitted to Contest #73

December 2018 “Marry me, Delilah!” a voice screams over the crowd as I close the front door behind me. I act like I didn’t hear and make a beeline for the kitchen, where I see Patrice serving punch into crystal cups. “Hi,” I say, as I take off my winter coat. “You look shot.” She looks drunk, not shot. Her hair is oddly askew, her eyes more than a little wild, her dark red lips smeared with several added layers of lipstick. “You’re late!” she says loudly, handing me a brimming cup of punch. I take a gulp as I slip my purse of...

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“The Dove” by Zilla Babbitt

Submitted to Contest #73

The plane lifted off smoothly and Toronto began to disappear beneath the wind blown clouds. Kyrie rested her forehead against the greasy plastic window and watched the patchwork of fields, the ribbons of rivers, the buttons of moors, blur beneath the jet. It was a quiet Christmas Eve flight with little turbulence, but for Kyrie it seemed to last forever. The desire to get quickly home surprised her, since whenever she was at home she wished to be away. Her home, the tired five-room apartment with grey walls and handful of smudged windows, on...

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“sticky notes” by Amany Sayed

Submitted to Contest #73

Sticky notes littered his bedroom wall. Yellow, green, blue, and the hot pink that used to be yours. He kept a pen in his pocket, a black ball point, and a notepad in the other one. He forgot a lot of things. Simple things, like what he ate for breakfast, and important things too, like doctor appointments. He remembered the day you two met though. One of the only long-term things he remembered. He didn’t remember what you were wearing or the place, but he remembered the feelings. The scramble of getting your number on his phone becaus...

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“'M' is for Monday” by 𝕜𝐞𝕟𝐝𝕣𝐚 𝕤𝐭𝕠𝐧𝕖

Submitted to Contest #73

***NOT part 2 for “The Unofficial Student.”***Judie gazes at the mirroring glass, having pity and sorrow for the divine creature nearby. Its body tilts to the direction of the right, so Judie could see the drooping arctic wing that reminds her of a shriveling, single petal of a blue rose. She wishes to help the bird soar in the air, high above the thickening forests belonging to the sky. The bird hangs its head, entwining the guilt in Judie’s warm fingers.Her mother had died two days before Christmas, thus, all of the enthusiasm to open the ...

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“The Identical Performer ” by Aarshia Ray

Submitted to Contest #73

Somehow, last year, I hadn’t been quite keen to attend the Christmas Party for Musicians. Maybe, I wanted it to be a quiet Christmas, just with my family. Maybe I wanted to call some old friends over. Maybe I wanted to go to a holiday to some tropical region. Point was, I didn’t want to attend the party, and there was no specific reason for it. My brain told me to deny and that was what I decided. When Frank had called up, I hadn’t said no… My friends expected me, and when I did not turn up, everyone would be disappointed. Well, I had ...

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“The Love Quadrangle (Ft. Raquel Rodriguez)” by . .

Submitted to Contest #73

RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ AND I COLLABBED ON THIS, CHECK HER PART OUT WHEN IT COMES OUT!!!!!! ENJOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! Christmas Eve was always my favorite time of year. The holiday smells, the anticipation. All my friends hung out together, eating cookies and drinking eggnog spiked with scotch. The fire crackled below the cobblestones, warming everyone’s hearts. Now here it was again, rounding the bend before Christmas. If I could, I would run right past it to the 25th, but you gotta keep the anticipation building, I guess. “Where t...

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“Better With You” by Writer Maniac

Submitted to Contest #73

I stand backstage, the short skirt and top I’m wearing not helping with the heat.I’m pressed up against Layla and Shailene, their sweaty bodies making me more uncomfortable and suffocated with every second. Our star is late. And eight thousand people aren’t very happy about it. “LOGAN! LOGAN! LOGAN! LOGAN!” Freaking Logan. Can’t he come on time for once? People from all over the world travelled here just to see him, and he has to be all dramatic and make them wait. Typical Logan.“Now, please welcome to the stage, the one and only, Logan Youn...

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“Betrayal” by Benji Bobo ©

Submitted to Contest #73

“Mr. Nicholas, you have been caught for breaking and entering every house in the world once a year for as long as anyone can remember.” That was what the judge said. “Anything to say in your defence?” “Y-your honour, I was delivering presents! For children they were happy.” Stuttered Santa. “Liar, you gave me a toy doll when I was twelve years old!” Yelled an adult. “Well I thought you wanted one.” said Santa wondering if this was a nightmare. “And you didn't wipe your feet on the mat when you came in.” said a very tall and skinny woma...

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“A Christmas Resolution” by Kate Reynolds

Submitted to Contest #73

I’m that girl that every girl is jealous of and every boy likes. I mean, it’s not exactly surprising. I have delicate, soft brown curls that tumbles down to my slim waist. My smooth, olive skin serves as a canvas for my gorgeous emerald green eyes with flecks of peacock blue. All my life, I have been told that I was beautiful. Strangers would stop just to gape at my looks, as my eye color was rather rare. I have always been admired like a great painting, and I loved that feeling. I had never agreed with the phrase “inner beauty.” What...

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“Merry Christmas to Me” by Writer Maniac

Submitted to Contest #73

Trigger warning: domestic violence I wake up to the sunlight hitting my face and temporarily blinding me. Slowly lifting Lucifer’s hand splayed on my stomach, I take off the blanket, only to be hit by the cold wind flowing in from the open windows. I place my feet on the ice-cold floor and regret not wearing something warmer last night. Getting up to close the windows, the warm rays of light reaching my face give me temporary comfort. The view from the window can only be described as a winter wonderland. Th...

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“The King of Carrion ” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #73

Although he loved her from afar, she sized him up fairly quickly, determined him to be reliable, then volunteered him to watch her cockatoo for the holiday break. “I’ll be back next week. Its food is in the plastic bag. If you could, give it some fruit once or twice a day,” she said breezily over her shoulder, as if parenting parrots came naturally. “What type of fruit—” he tried to ask her. As the door slammed on her way out, the parrot gave an ear-splitting chirp. He looked at the bird, waiting for it to stop. But the bird chirpe...

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“To Raise a Mockingbird” by Amiable Sorceress

Submitted to Contest #73

Step One: Get a cage and some bird food from a pet store.Maybe she found it funny that I was an English teacher. Maybe, she was like one of those elderly ladies who, instead of 200 cats, had 200 birds sitting in her basement. Either way, the bird didn’t come with an instruction manual, or in a wrapped box. It was sold online by Bitmouse, on Holiday Realty. My townhouse had been abandoned for months before I inherited it from some long-lost uncle, the townhouse residing in a strange town with a small school building surrounded by green s...

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“One Sucky Christmas Day... (Lyra's POV)” by Raquel Rodriguez

Submitted to Contest #73

“There! All done!” my little brother - Adryan - screamed, his arms above his head in a jumping jack position. In front of him, the lights of my mother’s Christmas tree twinkled red and green.A loud, shrill beep came from the kitchen, and the mouthwatering smell of candy-cane cookies filled the air. My mom rushed into the kitchen, a grin on her face. We all followed her, ready to help her whenever she asked.“Lyra, when did Marcia say she was coming?” Mom said. She took the cookies out of the oven and put them on a separate platter.I glanced a...

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“The Bass Drummer” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

Submitted to Contest #73

Title: The Bass Drummer Author: Haripriya Author's Note: Hello everyone! I wish you all a happy Sunday! In this story, I didn't really have many things to include, so it is kind of short. But I felt that this prompt was also really interesting because I was pondering about why they only chose a drummer to be the main character in the prompt, so that got me thinking to also include another main character in this story, just to break up the plot and make it more interesting. But I hope my thinking went the right way and that you all enjoy anot...

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$50

Prize money

498

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 25, 2020 EST

Won by Shawn Forno 🏆

Title: Burt Brain

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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