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

“HOME FOR CHRISTMAS” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #229

The end of the year is here. Christmas is here. I'm going home to Southport. I haven't been to Southport in a long time. I can't count how many times I dreamed of going back home. Like always I've been too busy but not this year. This year is my time off. My time to reconnect with my friends and family, to see Chase Sommers who I never stop thinking about. Too reconnect with Christmas and too reconnect with my home. Southport is so beautiful during this time of the year. I'm excited. The smile on my face is getting bigger and bigger with e...

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“ A Tale of Love, Rediscovery, and Second Chances in Whitehead"” by Brian Hastie

Submitted to Contest #229

Diannе could not hеlp but fееl a rush of nostalgia as shе stеppеd off thе train onto thе familiar platform of her small hometown of Whitehead. Thе air carriеd thе scеnt of wintеr and thе promisе of a holiday sеason. Thе town, adornеd with twinkling lights and wrеaths, lookеd likе a scеnе from a grееting card. It had bееn yеars sincе Diannе lеft for thе bustling city to pursuе hеr carееr in law, lеaving bеhind thе mеmoriеs of hеr youth, including a lovе that had nеvеr quitе fadеd from hеr hеart. As shе walked through thе quaint strееts, еach ...

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“After You” by Kaitlin Cranor

Submitted to Contest #229

*Contains themes of death and grief.* I know I shouldn’t be here. I just needed to feel you again. Your parents are out—they’re with my parents at the Carsons’ Christmas party across the street. I snuck over here because I saw the lights on your house flickering while I was out back smoking a cigarette. They’re disgusting. I don’t know why I smoke them. No, I do. They’re the only way people will leave you alone outside for a few minutes, so I mostly just hold them to the side and pretend to smoke them if anyone comes out. Anyway, I was...

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“Snowflakes & Second Chances” by Jessey Rankin

Submitted to Contest #229

Anna “Why me?” I groan. I’m heading home for the holidays, and of course, a deer runs out in front of me, and I swerve right into a deep snow bank. This is my first Christmas home since I moved to San Diego three years ago. Even though I grew up driving the snowy roads of Colorado Springs, I forgot how bad they can be. “Now what am I supposed to do?” I say to no one. I check my cell phone and see I have no service. Of course, it’s freezing out, I can’t get my car unstuck, and I’m on the smallest highway known to man. I suppose I will just ha...

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“Snow in our hearts” by Violetta-Valerie Gallee

Submitted to Contest #229

'Uff, damnit!' I cursed under my breath after I took a wrong step and fell face-first into the half-a-metre snow. At this point, I would do anything for a hot bath. My original plan was to visit my family, which meant returning to the dump I call my home town. It was a cute little village with only a few houses splattered across some hills. Everyone knew everyone, and you surely couldn't keep a secret without the whole village knowing it in at least a week. I often considered it annoying, especially as a teenager trapped in a hormonal roll...

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“Admire from afar” by Livvy Charleston

Submitted to Contest #229

The news was simple: at least for the holidays, she was coming home. I was ecstatic when I heard the news, though I knew she wouldn't have come to see me. I waited for her at the train station, the snow falling heavily past my shoulders, yet I didn't feel the bitter chill of the air as the breeze picked up. Everyone was in brightly coloured coats at the station, fairy lights hanging from pole to pole with paper candy canes hanging from the cords. Instead of the usual emptiness I felt, a subtle warmness omitted from my chest and flowe...

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“Sometimes a delusion can turn into reality” by Mari AL

Submitted to Contest #229

Clarissa remembered the first time she saw him, five years ago, it was not in person. She was looking at some pictures her friend Amanda had posted on Instagram. She had never been an enthusiastic surfer but remembered those mini trips around Vancouver Island all too well. They were often followed by drinks, music, and talks. Clarissa had left Victoria, BC to go study Finances at the University of Toronto. She truly believed that would fulfill her ambitions. Now, she missed her friend group and wanted to know every new face in the pictures, ...

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“Home for the Holidays ” by Jeff Kerbacher

Submitted to Contest #229

Joshua Dowd rolled into the sleepy town of Lincoln, Maine. It’s be twenty long years since he’s been back.With his father being sick, this might be the last time to say goodbye. David Dowd was never easy to live with. Maybe that’s why Joshua left home at seventeen. Joshua stopped his BMW on Main Street to gaze up at the sixty foot Christmas tree the town alway sets up with a manger scene below it. Joshua got the email from an old friend that his father was dying. Joshua never responded. Joshua drove down Maple Street to look at his childhoo...

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“A Hopeful Holiday” by KD Nason

Submitted to Contest #229

**Abortion and Mental Health Trigger Warning** “Why did she let Clara talk her into this? Thought Leslie as she stepped off the plane at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Ga. She always let her sister talk her into doing everything she didn’t want to. Coming home for Christmas, or for anything else, was not a part of her plan. She hasn’t been back to this place since she left, after high school graduation. Everyone she wanted to see, who still lived in Esom Hill, was perfectly content to come to visit her. She raked...

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“A life completey unexpected ” by David Nutt

Submitted to Contest #229

A life completely unexpected The hedgerows and fields were a seductive green color as I looked out of the train window as it trundled its way North. I had been away for four years living with a group of aboriginals people south of Ayers Rock not far from Alice Springs. I noticed the livestock, enjoying the lush spring grass. They seemed docile and tranquil so different, so different from the scorched barren lands of central Australia inhabited by wild animals. I was going home to see my mother, if I could call it that, as my home was now wit...

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“Prospecting” by M. McLellan

Submitted to Contest #229

PROSPECTING stephaniemiller@welltravalledmag.org Sent 21 January 2022 Steph, I know it's not bloody perfect. It's a draft. I’ve revised the opening paragraph. What do you think of the bones? Balancing on a ridge of slick rock just above the waterline, I can see the town's lights reflecting in the dark water of the sound. The dock cranes, Lego red and hazard-tape yellow, are lit up night and day. It's only 4 degrees, but I am dressed in nothing but neoprene. In the shadows between me and civilisation, Rhys is manoeuvring two kayak...

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“Winter Solstice” by Edaj Ram

Submitted to Contest #229

Do you ever get emotional on flights? As the plane ascended into the crisp white sky I began to think of my life from a third-person perspective. Who is this person with AirPods snoring to my left? The neighbor to my right plays Tetris on his iPad as I flick through the newly added movies. Without much thought, I selected Sleepless in Seattle, a holiday romance classic about finding love through divine coincidence.With every second New York gets further and further away. I reflect on my year. I remember waking up on January 1st next to my ex...

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“Christmas with Paisley” by Michael Moran

Submitted to Contest #229

“Enjoy the holidays,” My wife told me. “I am trying.” I added we should have gone to her parents. We’d had this discussion before, but we were now actually landing at San Francisco International Airport. I tried to remain positive as we made our way through the airport to collect our luggage. Overhead Christmas songs played and were routinely interrupted by PSAs wishing us all a safe, happy, and enjoyable holiday season as we waded through a sea of people. The packed tram to the car rental area deposited us and about one hundred other h...

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“Christmas Parade ” by Ann Valdez

Submitted to Contest #229

At the Christmas parade, the beating was so harmonious and enchanting, and I don’t mean the drums from the marching band. The sparkle was so bright, brighter than all the Christmas lights combined. I felt as tall as the clouds in the sky. While we embraced it, made art like the golden hour color palette that glows in the evening twilight. Filled with pinks, oranges, and blues melting together like my body. I embraced him for as long as I could. “It’s been so long Jainey, how good it is to have you in my arms.” James said in a buttery tone. “...

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“"Christmas Love"” by Tina Lynn

Submitted to Contest #229

“Christmas Love” By Tina Lynn It all began with my grand return to Manhattan, New York. Here I am, back home after two years being gone and I felt the Christmas cheer while I saw the snow covering the ground. When I got off the plane and saw the ground covered in snow. I close my eyes as the snow is falling on my face and I wish, “I wish I fall in love again.” I stayed with my parents at their house with their three cats. My parents are in their late 60s and they were in full Christmas mode. When my parents picked me up, it was nothin...

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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

“HOME FOR CHRISTMAS” by Melinda Madrigal

“ A Tale of Love, Rediscovery, and Second Chances in Whitehead"” by Brian Hastie

“After You” by Kaitlin Cranor

“Snowflakes & Second Chances” by Jessey Rankin

“Snow in our hearts” by Violetta-Valerie Gallee

“Admire from afar” by Livvy Charleston

“Sometimes a delusion can turn into reality” by Mari AL

“Home for the Holidays ” by Jeff Kerbacher

“A Hopeful Holiday” by KD Nason

“A life completey unexpected ” by David Nutt

“Prospecting” by M. McLellan

“Winter Solstice” by Edaj Ram

“Christmas with Paisley” by Michael Moran

“Christmas Parade ” by Ann Valdez

“"Christmas Love"” by Tina Lynn

🌟 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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