Write about a character who visits their hometown for the holidays and reconnects with a former love interest.

Posted in Holiday on Dec 15, 2023

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✍️ 65 stories

“The Man in the Lobster Mask” by Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #229

Nick was certain the yellow bungalow was the right place, but he checked his crumpled note again – and then again – and swallowed a lump. It had only been a week since he last saw Darlene, but it felt like a lifetime ago. He straightened his tie, sniffed his bouquet of roses, and patted his box of chocolates. Then he walked up to the drain pipe, scampered onto the roof, and dove down the chimney. He rolled out the fireplace and right into the living room, where with a practiced kick and tuck, he somersaulted to standing, right in front of a ...

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“A Christmas Carrot” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #229

“Morning, Robbie.” “Morning, Jen.” “Thanks for last night.” “Last night is a bit foggy. Did we…?” “It was a long-awaited Christmas present - after you quickly left town so many years ago.” “I must be feeling the aftereffects of that Sambuca last night. What time is it?” “It’s early afternoon on Christmas Day. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw your still handsome-looking face in our local pub last night. So many memories and emotions came pouring back out. Remember those quickies behind the local gym before I had to go home to Graha...

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“The Delicate Straw Hut” by Bhargav Venu Shastry

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #229

Dawn. Tara walks to the well outside the village, a pot in her hand. Two years into adulthood, her green bangles clink as the pot bounces against the side of her thigh. Her saree is crudely worn, and a sliver of sunlight illuminates her tired eyes, which she promptly covers with her hand. Her toe rings, a sign of marriage, click against the hard, barren earth. She reaches the well, and puts the pot down. A metal bucket tied to a string sits on the edge of the well. Tara knocks it over with her elbow, and it tumbles down until there’s...

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“Lovepugs” by Caro Robson

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #229

Montgomery's chubby little body trembles with excited grunts as Poppy pushes open the door. Noticing the stylish reception area, she shushes him, feeling foolish for bringing a pug to a lawyer’s office. Still - she needs him here. He is her only remaining family and she cannot face the reading of her mother’s will without him by her side. A familiar voice rings out from the reception desk, immediately putting her at ease. “This must be the famous Montgomery! The whole town is talking about this handsome fellow.” Poppy had...

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“A Surprise Homecoming” by Ashley Djokoto

Submitted to Contest #229

All Nick wanted for Christmas this year was some peace and quiet. After a full year of high stress at his law firm, he knew he was in desperate need of a change of scenery for the holidays or he wouldn’t last through another year. He had started with Sterling and Malone Law Firm two years ago with the intention of becoming partner within five years, rather than the seven to ten years it normally takes for lawyers to rise to the top, especially in a larger firm like Sterling and Malone. Nick had always been a go-getter, from earning top marks...

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“Sixteen to Sixty - A Love Story” by Hannah Lynn

Submitted to Contest #229

I don’t remember why we stopped seeing each other but I do remember that we always went back to each other. And then we got married. But not to each other. And then we had kids. But not with each other. On and off for over thirty years I thought about him. Not in the heat of a fight, not in desperation or regret or longing, just in passing. And I would think he’s thinking of me too. He wouldn’t forget me. It’s not possible. And one day I would see him again and I would tell him I love him. I would s...

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“The Diagnosis” by A.J. Williams

Submitted to Contest #229

A Thursday Night Sometime Before Christmas Rockin’ around the Christmas tree. At the Christmas party hop… I'm by myself in the front passenger seat of my mom's SUV, holding the paper with the doctor's diagnosis. It says "Epilepsy." It all started with just one seizure, but now it feels like I'm stuck with this for life. The rain outside is freezing, making the windows fog up. It's really chilly. Rockin’ around the Christmas tree. Let the Christmas spirit ring. Later we’ll have some pumpkin pie. And we’ll do some caroling… While my mom is ...

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“Across the River” by Cheyenne Spicer

Submitted to Contest #229

Jamie stepped off the bus just as it was starting to snow. "Merry Christmas." He heard the bus driver say before closing the doors and driving off. Jamie was the only one to get off at this bus stop. He stood there scanning the short buildings that lined the only street in his small hometown. Nothing had changed, at least not for the better in the two years since he'd last been here. The buildings were looking more run down than they had before. He noticed that a few were missing, making the street look like a smile that was missing some t...

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“The Wish-For-All” by Sara Thomas

Submitted to Contest #229

I was standing in the middle of my apartment, penthouse, 94th floor, New York. It was time. I punched in the date. Wednesday, 23rd Dec, 2037. It wasn’t so much the day that everything went wrong in my life, as the day that everything went right. Terribly, horrifically right! The time machine in my hand was a small device that projected a larger Holographic Screen for ease of use. I’d designed it that way. Well, I’d imagined it that way in my head, then wished for it with my Wish-For-All. Which was the same thing right? I was the designe...

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“Big Box Beauty” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #229

Paul used to love the holidays. For fifteen years he fooled himself into believing his marriage was solid and he had everything he wanted. Now he browsed eBay as though it were Tinder, scrolling through the pages and pages of action figures from his childhood hoping to find a present for himself that might lift his mood and bring him some holiday cheer. Certainly nobody else was going to get him a present, so he might as well treat himself to something that could bring him back to happier times. His mom, a dainty woman with only half a f...

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“The Island” by Kathleen Capacci

Submitted to Contest #229

The Island“Damn it! Mom, be careful!”My back was turned for only a minute, and my 80-year-old mother just had to sneak over and eat the cake batter, knocking the ceramic bowl off the counter and breaking it. Ceramic shards and batter splashed everywhere, of course.“Back up, Mom, I’ll clean it up.”“Honey, I can do it.”“No, Mom, you’re barefoot.” I tersely replied.In fact, mother was still in her nightgown, despite my encouraging her to get dressed all morning. Damn early dementia! I threw down the dustpan and started sweeping. This is why I’m...

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“Winter's Gift” by Marc Wilks

Submitted to Contest #229

The office was in absolute chaos. People ran in all directions, trying to complete weeks of work in two days. Not only that, but the mother of all snowstorms would be overhead in less than twelve hours. “I should have left yesterday,” Alex Nelson said to himself. “But no, I had to be nice and help settle the Stafford account.” Alex shook his head and concentrated on finishing the last of his correspondence before leaving the office. He glanced out his office window and saw that the sky was still a non-threatening bluish-gray. At ...

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“Merry Christmas!” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #229

You have to hand it to them! Always trying. Those relatives.Here I am, waiting for whatever. Then the phone rings.“Jimmy! We have a place setting just for you. On the dining room table. Apple pie! Whaddya say?”Christmas, 2022. I was so not ready for this.“I dunno, Aunt Susan. Things are busy here lately. I don’t know if I must fill in for the boss. He said he would let me know…”Then it's yada yada. I start holding my phone away from me. Oliver is making a face. He’s writing a note. Then, he holds it up at an angle, making it hard to read.Emm...

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“The Hometown Reconnection Flight” by Rachel Zabrina Zammit

Submitted to Contest #229

Angela gazed out of the window in the plane, looking through the misty clouds at the city lights that were starting to appear. Removing the neck pillow from behind her, she wryfully noted that she barely slept at all on the flight even though she was running on zero hours of sleep from the night before worrying about this very flight. It wasn’t really the flight that was causing her stomach to twist, no - it was her return to the hometown that she fled over a decade ago. Every year, when December first would come around, her father w...

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“California Christmas” by Leah Dewey

Submitted to Contest #229

It was warmer than I remembered and it was a little disappointing. I had come to really love the snow and real white Christmases. Nothing here had ever felt right, it always felt like something had been missing. But it was too late, I had already made the choice to be here for Christmas. I drove through the familiar streets noticing all the changes that had been made through the small city of Ventura. I wondered how many of my school friends were still here. I turned left and into the old neighborhood I used to know so well. Most of ...

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Write about a character who visits their hometown for the holidays and reconnects with a former love interest.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 65 stories

“The Man in the Lobster Mask” by Michał Przywara

“A Christmas Carrot” by Chris Campbell

“The Delicate Straw Hut” by Bhargav Venu Shastry

“Lovepugs” by Caro Robson

“A Surprise Homecoming” by Ashley Djokoto

“Sixteen to Sixty - A Love Story” by Hannah Lynn

“The Diagnosis” by A.J. Williams

“Across the River” by Cheyenne Spicer

“The Wish-For-All” by Sara Thomas

“Big Box Beauty” by Brian Haddad

“The Island” by Kathleen Capacci

“Winter's Gift” by Marc Wilks

“Merry Christmas!” by Joe Smallwood

“The Hometown Reconnection Flight” by Rachel Zabrina Zammit

“California Christmas” by Leah Dewey

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a festive party gone wrong that’s saved by some holiday magic.

Write a story in which a cynical character gets amnesia on Christmas Eve.

Start or end your story with a character finding out the love of their life is actually royalty.

Write a story in which a character is stuck reliving their worst Christmas ever, over and over again.

Contest #229

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

171

Contest entries

64

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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