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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.

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

“The Sound of Metal” by Tiffany 🌻

Submitted to Contest #73

'You'll never be good enough' was the sentence that played over and over like it was on a loop in Fraser Autumn's mind. He was only 25 but felt as if his life was wasting away in his remaining years. Ever since returning from war with new material attached to his body, he believed his time alive was meaningless. "Hey metal hands! The tip!" The taxi driver called as Autumn grabbed his jacket, a step away from the winding, stone road.  Fraser sighed and raised his glasses. Slender, polished, metal fingers skimmed the lenses that ...

10 comments 10
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“Light Relief” by Tanja Cilia

Submitted to Contest #73

I was the first coryphée to pirouette offstage when the cue was Exeunt Stage Left. I almost always, but not quite, avoided getting dizzy and / or smashing into the backdrop, thereby making things difficult for the rest of the nymphs and dryads sprites and naiads. I had joined the troupe with a view to going places during my gap year – not because I liked dancing. My sister’s boyfriend had high hopes for me; he said my height and carrot-top would make me famous. You don't often see tall ballerinas, do you? In fact, they X-Ray the wrists ...

8 comments 8
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“Then She Smiled At Me” by Paula Chapman

Submitted to Contest #73

I hadn’t played the drums in at least five years. I’d focused on my engineering career, which I was certain would take off. Subsequently, I took a job as a project manager with a company whose specialty was drone technology. And they’d promised me my career would take off, along with the drones.         It wasn’t really clear to me the day I’d been invited to a holiday work party that I’d be given a chance on more than a career boost. If I’d known, I would have brought my drumsticks, and I’d have worn ...

1 comment 1
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“Returning Home” by Ruth Major

Submitted to Contest #73

How did I get to this point? I had a chance to be famous, maybe. It's all her fault I am not. I was working with a kitsune to hold a play that could have been my big break. Then, she was just...gone. The play just flopped with the replacement they provided. Now I am just a back up dancer, hoping perhaps to be noticed for my skill. Oh, just accept it Harriet, I will never get the goal I wanted. I am doomed to always just be an extra. I am not flashy looking, or have something to me that is special. I am just kind of...normal. I sigh during th...

1 comment 1
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“On Christmas Day...” by Minnie Malfoy

Submitted to Contest #73

Ah, Christmas!, Naomi thought as she breathed in the fresh Christmas morning air. Everything was covered by a blanket of snow with the occasional dot of dead trees which were decorated with Christmas lights. Naomi clutched the mug of tea in her hand tightly as she felt a slight breeze shoot by her, causing her knuckles to turn white. Deciding that it was time to go back in, Naomi got up and walked back into her warm house. The warmth hit her in the face as soon as she walked in but Naomi welcomed it gratefully. She washed her mug and went to...

8 comments 8
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“Belief” by Abdul Rehman

Submitted to Contest #73

Hands with fingers wide opened moving away from each other: a Chinese hand fan. Foot making a semi-circle around the other one, she turned around, twisted, and curled her arms as if pushing her burdens away, antagonistically at the same time persuading someone through her Mascara-lined dark eyes, and a smile she tried hard to put on. She tilted herself back, rearranging herself by her extraordinarily mastered trance, she walked and walked on the imaginary stairs, aiming at the subsequent level but getting down every time. Her earrings and po...

1 comment 1
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“Of the North ” by Sam W

Submitted to Contest #73

The night bites, bitter cold. Five hours of daylight, five men asking for my hand. Each praying he’d have more luck than the last. I clutch my bear coat tighter around myself, fight to move through the snow. The moon lights my aimless way; no ghostly lights grace the sky tonight. I wonder if I’ll die out here, buried beneath the snow. A storm stalks me, threatening in the wind, more fearsome than any bear or wolf. I breathe a sigh of relief, and it chills me down to my bones. -The first one’s name was Uruk. I sat on ...

5 comments 5
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“The Neglected Dove” by Mariya Khan

Submitted to Contest #73

The Neglected Dove: The dove, it was a beautiful and respected bird, it is small and clean, it almost feels honest and loyal by its behavior. This dove was white like snow, had sharp brown eyes, wings that moved so precisely and delicately, yet no one wanted the poor dove, as it was the only one in the pet shop located in the frosty village. People didn't know how to take care of it, they had more things to worry about in their life and didn't care to waste their time on a bird.As children were making snowmen and the festive season was rolli...

16 comments 16
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“Shift” by Marvel Geek Girl

Submitted to Contest #73

Not again. It was happening all the time now. Aida Nguyen was experiencing... actually, she didn’t know what she was experiencing. All she knew was time kept repeating itself.        It had started three weeks ago, when she was ordering a burrito at Taco Bell. She placed her order at the Drive Thru, and was going to the window to pay and get the burrito, when time shifted. Everything moved back to two minutes prior, when she was getting to the Drive Thru. It seemed like she was the only one to notice, as we...

2 comments 2
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“Year Five” by Kanden Lang

Submitted to Contest #73

Jenson flipped a switch and the bathroom lights flickered to life, revealing her figure in the mirror. She chuckled at the mess her long hair had become in the night and set to work making herself presentable. Doubtless Gray would be sending his private driver to fetch her at any moment.As if on cue, the second she finished dousing her made-up face in setting spray, there was a knock at the door.“Ms. Bradley, are you ready? Mr. Covington said he requests your presence promptly,” Colin’s voice barely sneaked through the closed door.Jenson too...

2 comments 2
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“HOLY GRAIL” by Tinashe Chipenyu

Submitted to Contest #73

Tatenda looks in the bathroom mirror again. He loves what he's seeing. Since childhood, he had been self-conscious about his smile. His crooked and broken teeth laid siege on his self esteem. This is the first time he has ever felt fully content and satisfied with everything concerning his mouth. Everything about it right now fills him with almost ethereal levels of confidence and satisfaction. The orthodontist did a stellar job. No wonder he’s the best in the whole country. His reputation precedes him and it’s built on solid ground. His web...

5 comments 5
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“Five Swollen Things” by Daryl Oliver

Submitted to Contest #73

Marjory spent most of her life believing in fairy tales and happiness. She dreamed of having a prince save her from some horrible fate and believed that everyone had good in them. After fifteen years as a party planner, she had seen many apparent happy endings. None of them were hers. She had experienced many first dates. It was the second or third dates that eluded her. Some of the issues that lead to lack of a follow-up was the other person’s fault. But most of the issues were Marjory’s. There wasn’t any single thing that caused her to b...

2 comments 2
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“Yes, No, Maybe?” by Writers Block

Submitted to Contest #73

Author's Note: I incorporated famous poems in my latest work. Enjoy! i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)i am never without it(anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling) i fear no fate(for you are my fate, my sweet)i want no world(for beautiful you are my world, my true) and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky...

3 comments 3
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“Lonely Cages” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #73

When the phone started ringing, Jacob jumped, and there was a moment’s flailing about as he dug out the television remote before he answered. “Hello?” “Hey bro, are you in at the moment?” Jacob blinked at the muted TV screen. Where else was he supposed to be going? There was a lockdown on, in all but name at least. “Yeah. I’m in. Though I can’t have visitors.” On the off-chance his sister Maria had forgotten, though how anyone could have done when it had been going on all year was a wonder. “No contact delivery, it’ll be fine. Simon...

0 comments 0
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“Going Incognito” by Roth Sassin (inactive)

Submitted to Contest #73

Hey, Diary- I just got you as a pre-birthday present. But that's not what this journal is about. This journal is for recording what's going to happen. And you're probably thinking. 'What's so interesting, you have to write in your new, Ragsmunton Journal about it?' (It's the best, most expensive journal in the world). So I'll start from the beginning. With an explanation. It sucks to be pretty. I mean, really.  I'm the prettiest girl in the whole world (rated prettiest over a million times though I'm only 17). It gets even wor...

1 comment 1
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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!

Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

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Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

Join our weekly contest

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