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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#77: Snow Day

It’s deep into winter where I live and here that means one thing: snow, and plenty of it.

While I’m not the biggest fan, even I will admit that it makes great writing weather. There’s just something cozy about curling up with a blanket and a cup of tea, and losing yourself in the world of your imagination as flakes drift slowly past your window.

We won’t all be writing under those conditions this week, but we can still evoke that feeling. So grab yourself a mug of something warm, snuggle up with your laptop, and dream of the bite of winter wind on your cheeks…

This week's prompts

Write about two people going sledding for the first time in many years.

Fluff – 130 stories

Start your story with someone looking out at the snow, and end it with them stepping tentatively onto a frozen surface.

Winter – 233 stories

Write about someone who gets stuck in their workplace during a blizzard and decides to explore rooms they aren’t normally allowed in.

Winter – 162 stories

Write a story set in the summer, when suddenly it starts to snow.

Summer – 159 stories

Set your story in a remote winter cabin with no electricity, internet, or phone service.

Winter – 246 stories

Stories

“Barren” by Allison M

Submitted to Contest #77

The Iowa air is dense, syrupy. It carries the scent of the earth, of the fields, and of the corn. The towering stalks clog it with the heat of the July sun like a greenhouse. A breeze ripples the topmost leaves of the endless rows, but it does not reach Anna down in the thick of it, where her ankles bend and twist with the uneven ground. She looks forward through the tangled green even as her work-gloved fingers skim the clutter of leaves on her right, searching. Sensing a slight variation in thickness in one of the leaves, her hand automati...

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“At the End” by C. Forrey

Submitted to Contest #77

“Does he know?” My hand shakes as I set my coffee mug on the side table.“Of course he knows.”“For how long?”“I think he’s seen it coming for months now, deep inside. Or do you mean, when did the doctor tell him? Two days ago.” My grandmother sits across from me on her faded green couch, the same couch she’s had since I was ten years old. Her right hand traces the rim of her own mug, and she stares into it as if it were a crystal ball promising a miracle.“And how’s he been?”“As can be expected.”I don’t know what is to be expected when the new...

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“It just was” by Kaydence 3

Submitted to Contest #77

I sigh as I lean my head against the frozen glass. The snow falls down in clumps covering the ground. My mom comes over and gives me a cup of steaming coco. I am home for Christmas break from my University. I smile as I clutch the cup, hoping it will warm up my hands. My mom bustles around the kitchen trying to make sure everyone is fed. It is the first time in 4 years all my siblings and I are all home for Christmas. My youngest sister, Juliet, bursts in the house covered in snow, she was outside playing with the kids in the neighborhood. "...

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“World's Away” by Patricia Green

Submitted to Contest #77

WORLD’S AWAY. Marty scanned the worksheet on his computer again. He was so tired the words were beginning to swim before his eyes. His Boss had agreed to let him work late tonight to catch up, but he hadn’t had a break now for five hours. He was finding it hard to keep his eyes open, and his stomach was growling like a hungry lion. “Enough is enough!” he thought. “Time I went home to bed, there’s always tomorrow!” Marty packed some papers in his briefcase, threw on his alpaca-lined coat and headed towards the lift. It was only when he reach...

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“The Snowshine State” by Dalia Navarez

Submitted to Contest #77

As the assistant principal Mr. Boyle recited the Pledge of Allegiance through the loudspeakers, I bowed my head to look at Damian. As if it were some kind of twin telepathy, he lowered his head on his desk as I did mine at practically the same time. With one look in the eye, we shared one single thought: the thought to leave. The long days and even longer hours of summer school were too tiresome to tolerate. Especially during the one time of the year where the smell of roasted hot dogs and grilled cheeseburgers resonated through ...

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“The Melt At The End” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #77

The snow had fallen all night, and now the light from the early morning sun glistened off the vast white panorama that had been the back garden. As she waited for the kettle to boil Hannah stood at the back door and stared in wonder. The lawn had never been so flat or perfect, and it looked as though it were made from a single sheet of pure white felt. The path wound down the middle, visible only as a slightly sunken trail of perfection. Great clumps of snow clung to the branches of the tree and the bushes, weighing them down, smothering t...

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“STUCK IN THE MIDDLE” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #77

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE “Richard, I hope you’re not staying much longer.” Margaret stood staring down at Richard, one hand on her hip, the other one tapping a pencil on his desk. Why was she doing the one thing that bugged the heck out of me, Richard fumed. Right now she was acting like Sister Rita and it was an instant flash back to my school life at Holy Bartholomy. Not a pretty picture, but I did my time and got out of there alive. “Yes, ma’am and thank you.” I answered to be kind and not an idiot. “I plan to leave as soon as I finish adding ...

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“Nuclear Winter” by Chris Buono

Submitted to Contest #77

The nuclear winter had been happening for the last four years. It came right after the nuclear summer that lasted for about two years, from right after the bombs dropped until the winter came. I could feel the winds picking up as the already frigid temperature dropped. Tufts of snow were caught in a breeze to fly around for a moment before falling back amongst the other flakes. I noticed that the sky was getting darker and darker with each moment. I needed to find a shelter quickly. ...

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“Cracked Ice” by Louise Bell

Submitted to Contest #77

Imogen looked out at the crisp white snow that rested peacefully upon her large garden from her window. The roses were lined in little flakes of frost, and icicles clung with ease to her gutter. Last night’s blizzard had brought the silence of late January to her hometown. Christmas was long gone, and so had all the mirth of the holiday season. She had no intention of going out. This time of the year had a melancholy feel to it. Especially this year. She was eighteen now, but still lived with her parents. Ten years. Ten years since the accid...

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“SLOW SURRENDER” by Jean Healey

Submitted to Contest #77

SlowSurrender Jean.B. Healey 16/01/2021No movement. No breath. Why was she so still? Only recently we were snuggling up tog...

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“Unsteady” by Allison Hei

Submitted to Contest #77

The last class of the summer should've had me leaping for joy. Instead, I was leaping from one patch of snow to another. Since I wasn't an ice queen, I was grumpy personified. My flimsy umbrella was shelter enough to get me home before I froze to death though. There were a couple of class clowns taking selfies and hooting with laughter. But I trudged on, teeth chattering and dreaming of a sunny beach. The red sea was where nothing terrible could ever happen. The azure waters would lift up the worst swimmers and allow beginner divers ...

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“Walking to Live” by CA_pup Gamer

Submitted to Contest #77

Karana and I were walking along the snow and ice searching for home. We had gone out looking for food but a huge snow storm happened and we could see nothing. We are wearing heavy coats but my face is not protected and numb. Karana has started building us a house to hide and stay warm in. I don't understand how he can see in this blazing snow but I try to help. We make our house in the ground with a 3foot deep hole and an igloo for the top. We share our rations and melt snow for water to drink. It is night now, the only thing I am scared of ...

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“I Hate The Snow” by Olivia Hollett

Submitted to Contest #77

In the back of the closet is my thick winter coat, suitable for this exact situation. But I’m far too old for this, right? I don’t even like the snow. I do feel bad for the coat, though. It has been sitting there for years unused. It must be sad, but there are probably many sad unused things in that closet. My winter boots. My nice gloves. It does seem rather right to put them to use. But no, I really should do some work. Yeah, I really better read or something, put my brain to use and all. Twenty minutes into reading this incredibly ...

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“Snow in the land of the eternal summer” by Silvana Varón

Submitted to Contest #77

Nobody knows how it happened; everybody in the town was shocked. Days used to be quiet in this faraway place. This story that I am going to tell you occurs in a Caribbean land. Where every day is sunny, every day is summertime. It was on the days when a famous figure in the music business world was visiting the city. He was there to film a new video that intended to promote the town attracting tourists. Don Ulises, the mayor of the city, knew that this was an especial opportunity to show the world this little town in a Caribbean land.&n...

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“Looking Across at a Pond” by Tim Duggan

Submitted to Contest #77

For the first time in a life full of fleeting thoughts, he considered the geometry of sight lines in relation to accumulating snow. He could still see the pond - the actual water - and he wondered how long it would be before the snow on the hill between the window and the pond would become too high for him to see anything of the pond beside the brown stalks of cattails on the far side. He wanted to dedicate his night to this thought. To pour a whisky and watch the snow and the clock and predict the minute when he would lose sight of th...

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$50

Prize money

930

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 22, 2021 EST

Won by K. Antonio 🏆

Title: Burying David

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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