Write about a family’s first holiday after a parent has gotten remarried, and now there are new faces at the table and new traditions to be honored.

Posted in Holiday on Jun 12, 2021

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✍️ 98 stories

“Uncle Grendel” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #69

We’re supposed to call him Uncle Grendel, but my sister will not. “He is not an uncle. He is a monster who has taken over our house.” I tell my sister that while I am on her side, that doesn’t change the fact that our mother has fallen for a descendant of Cain, and we should try to support her. “I mean, we’re all descendants of Cain, aren’t we,” my mother asks me as I’m shoveling dead frogs onto a plate, Grendel’s favorite Thanksgiving meal, “So I really don’t think any of us are in a place to judge. You know, your Dad was related to T...

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“That Easter ” by Nandini Shukla

Submitted to Contest #69

"Please Caroline, I understand this must have been hard for you....." Dad said, looking upset. "I don't see why you had to get married again! Me and Cecy can manage ourselves and you!" "You are growing older, and so is Cecy...." "But-" "For me" I sighed. Those two words always got me. “Fine dad…just for you” He smiled and got busy with his work. You see, my dad got remarried and the lady he married, Caitlin, was moving in today evening. On Easter’s Holiday. My real mom died in an accident five years back, which was a truly depressing time. B...

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“Pecan Pie” by Claire Elizabeth

Submitted to Contest #69

I scratched at the varnish that coated our kitchen table as my dad was talking. The edges were starting to peel up slightly, and the once shiny layer was now a bit clouded. A piece of the gloss snapped off the table and fluttered onto the floor below. In the kitchen, the air was thick with tension. I didn’t look up from the chipping varnish until my dad prompted me for a response. “You’re sure this is for real?” I finally asked. I really couldn’t think of anything else to say. He nodded. “I promised you, I would only tell you that ...

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“Family's Conversion ” by Esha Jaman

Submitted to Contest #69

It's a winter morning.All around is covered in fog. Dew drops are falling from the trees. But it seems to be raining a little bit.At that moment a taxi came and stopped in front of a beautiful two-story house.Annie got out from the taxi. A cold breeze came and touched her cheeks. It was as if someone welcomed her.She took a deep breath. She stood for a while and looked at her dear house.She returned home after many days. Last year she got a job in a software company. She had to go out for six months for emergency work.She looked around and s...

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“Operation Turkey-North” by Damian J Sanchez

Submitted to Contest #69

Cheerfully standing on his balcony, ready to pulverize freshly roasted Ugandan and Cameroonian coffee beans, Danny Valdez looked forward to Thanksgiving each year. However, this year’s turkey extravaganza would pose extraordinary challenges for our Saxchef. Playing jazz by night and making delicious food by day had granted Danny this title, making him the perfect man for the job. In exactly 48 hours, the entire family would travel to Georgia and celebrate Thanksgiving with their most adored member—Nana. Traveling, however, would not be the b...

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“Don't Eat The Roast” by Chris Wagner

Submitted to Contest #69

Things got a little...strange for my family after mom left. Dad's a pastor, mom...decided she didn't like religion, ran off with a `bad boy,' ended up having his kid. Dad, well...he got married to Bonbon. The woman clearly came from outer space. Her nose and mouth made me think of that eighties Beauty and the Beast TV show, a kind of freakish animal harelip and muzzle-nose, big mouse ears, green eyes with a goat's slotted pupils. She had fur, a long opossum tail, and wore the most outlandish outfits this side of Lucasfilm's ward...

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“Newness” by C Alexis McGregor

Submitted to Contest #69

My hand shakes as I paint my lips a festive red. The eyes gazing back at me looks muddied with worry. I spritz perfume at my pulse ports, the scent reminding me of joys in my new marriage to Blake. "All ready, Tilda? You look spectacular." Blake reaches for me, pulling me into his warm embrace, his calming heart murmuring in my ear. My head nods while my tummy tightens in turmoil. Hand in hand, we walk down our winding staircase, my right hand caressing the wrought iron railings that won our hearts for making this house our...

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“The First Christmas” by Kaylee Aleece

Submitted to Contest #69

My nose wrinkled at the smell of gingerbread, and buttercream icing. Usually, I loved the smell of gingerbread, but that was when my mom was making gingerbread. The stench of the other woman left the home I used to live in with both of my parents….stinky, and stuffy. My chest felt really tight, and the more I tried to rake in more oxygen. The heavier the elephant on my chest grew, and I had to fight the urge to run back outside to my car. They say it is easier for the children to experience divorce when they are adults because they are old e...

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“A Wright Thanksgiving” by Ashley D. Gilyard

Submitted to Contest #69

Now that the funeral was over, Hope Street’s Annual Fall Festival had ended, and Thanksgiving was around the corner, The Wright Family needed a dose of happiness. Reverend Matthew Wright, Sr., the pastor of Hope Street Baptist Church had just recently married his second wife, Alyse, and desired to acclimate his new wife to the Wright Family customs. Alyse had witnessed some of the Wright's customs as Matthew’s fiancé; however, things have changed, and expectations have expanded now that she was his wife. Alyse was no longer a visiting guest ...

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“Edge of Evening” by Melody Milano

Submitted to Contest #69

“Mommy, where’s daddy?” My little brother, Anthony asked which made everyone silent. He’s four and doesn’t know what’s happening around him but it makes me happy when he asks that because it means that he doesn’t consider Vincent as a father but it also reminds me that it’s because mom hasn’t told him that dad will never come back. She just changes the subject, instead of telling him which is very unfair for Anthony; imagine having to wait for your father to come home every night just to wake up on the couch the next morning. “Do you want...

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“Diwali Experience” by Debbie Teague

Submitted to Contest #69

“Oh, but dad, we always go camping every year at this time” the two boys said in unison. “I know sons, but your mother has asked that you be at the Diwali celebration this year to meet her new husband and your step-sisters. Show them how gentlemanly Westerners can be.” Young Paul piped up with “Girls, yuck!” Peter laughed but secretly agreed with his brother. He said, “Di what?” Diwali his father explained. "It is kind of like our new year, a festival of lights – new beginnings". “I hope we don’t have to do yoga and sit in...

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“In Her Own Words” by Tanja Cilia

Submitted to Contest #69

I was seven months pregnant with Alison. The car was at the body-shop, and he sent me by bus, alone, to fetch Ivor from my friend’s house, where he had been having a post-football match sleep-over, because he said, ironically, that riding on a bus made him queasy. He didn’t even think of calling a taxi; and I didn’t want to beg, or use any of the money I had been squirrelling away.Oh, he was manipulative - just like his father, who could have stayed home and lived off his wife’s untold wealth. But he preferred to keep his office job, he used...

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“A ‘Normal’ Christmas” by Ria Walsh

Submitted to Contest #69

Twenty-seven years of age: a baby in the eyes of his grandmother, a grandfather in the eyes of his nieces and nephews, and a suitable age for a wife in the eyes of his father. That’s probably what kicked Frankie the most, that his father, the patriarch of the family, had remarried to a girl that he went to school with. Not only did he go to school with her, but she was his first love. As a child, he was infatuated with Cecile and her curly blonde hair. Like all first crushes, the love was unrequited, and Frankie was full of h...

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“Don't Tell me God is There ” by Djuanna Lester

Submitted to Contest #69

Dear diary, I hate this. I hate my life. For some reason, my dad is desperate to marry an ableist, crazy religious, ignorant piece of shit. She’s not a piece of shit because she’s religious. Hell, my dad still is. I used to be before my diagnosis and mom dying. But he just got married to Rose Weltze, now Rose Carson. She’s a bitch. I hate her. She’s one of those crazy religious fools that thinks autism is a disease, like cancer, and needs to be cured like we’re all sick. I say we because I need validation to believe I’m still autistic ...

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“Merry Christmas Mom” by Hermione Reynolds

Submitted to Contest #69

"Yukio, it's time to wake up. It's Christmas." Emily smiled, shaking me a bit. I pulled my pillow over my head. "Dad and I usually sleep in on Christmas. It's not a big holiday either so we don't really celebrate it. I don't know why he even let you put the tree up." I sighed. She smiled and pulled the pillow off. "He let me put it up because we decided that we'll switch every holiday. One year we do what he usually does, and the next year, we do what Lily and I usually do. He said we'll do my stuff for the rest of this year." She smiled. I ...

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Write about a family’s first holiday after a parent has gotten remarried, and now there are new faces at the table and new traditions to be honored.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 98 stories

“Uncle Grendel” by Story Time

“That Easter ” by Nandini Shukla

“Pecan Pie” by Claire Elizabeth

“Family's Conversion ” by Esha Jaman

“Operation Turkey-North” by Damian J Sanchez

“Don't Eat The Roast” by Chris Wagner

“Newness” by C Alexis McGregor

“The First Christmas” by Kaylee Aleece

“A Wright Thanksgiving” by Ashley D. Gilyard

“Edge of Evening” by Melody Milano

“Diwali Experience” by Debbie Teague

“In Her Own Words” by Tanja Cilia

“A ‘Normal’ Christmas” by Ria Walsh

“Don't Tell me God is There ” by Djuanna Lester

“Merry Christmas Mom” by Hermione Reynolds

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a family adapting a holiday tradition to take place over video chat.

Write about someone who falls back into childish behaviors whenever they’re around their family.

Write about someone who didn’t get along with their family as a child, but has since found an appreciation for them.

Write about someone telling their family they won’t be continuing the long-standing family business.

Contest #69

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

510

Contest entries

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Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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