Set your story during the coldest day of the year.

Posted in Short Story on Dec 13, 2024

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 52 stories

“Cold Feet” by Lindsey Vanthorn

Submitted to Contest #281

Death was cold. Death was still. Death left rot in the air and a chill in anyone’s veins. That was why the Congregation of Tenebrous Warlocks chose Dies Nivalis, the coldest day of the year, to present the newest Congregation inductees to the horde. “It’s fitting. Nothing says ‘Death’ more than the sub-zero temperatures of Dies Nivalis,” Maman had said to Odette that morning as she helped tame her hair for the ceremony. Odette’s inherited curls were particularly unruly, as if they’d sensed her unease and balled up into a rat’s ne...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Saturday Is The Coldest Day of The Year” by Cordelia Ng-Christopher

Submitted to Contest #281

Monday. I am freezing. My hands are stiff, tight, and red, nearing purple. I’m walking forward. One foot in front of the other. What else did I do but continue to walk forward on Monday? Just going forward isn’t enough to keep my blood moving. I feel it thicken with every step.Saturday…Tuesday. My girlfriend has been texting me, and I just feel bothered. She says that I’ve been distant and she wants the same amount of effort. That’s not right. It’s Tuesday, and my girlfriend is texting me. I’m trying to respond, but my hands are ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Surviving the coldest day of the year” by Zuzanna Szwedzinska

Submitted to Contest #281

Content warning: Vulgar language, verbal abuse, violence It's five days left until Christmas and my car didn't start in the morning. The air feels more than crispy, painfully freezing my lungs every time I take a breath. Knee-deep snow has fallen overnight. There's so much of it everywhere, it's hard to believe yesterday evening the streets were clear. It might've as well fallen all at once, tons of snow coming down in one second to shake the ground and cover everything. It was almost a funny thought, thinking about a loud "SPLAT!" noise it ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Lost at Sea” by Jessica Grote

Submitted to Contest #281

Content warning: Themes of dementia and physical declineKitchen-nighttime feels different than bedroom-nighttime, Maria thought. Like drifting over dark water. She sat with a straight back, a black figure between dark grey shapes. She reached for another cigarette and noticed that the pack was almost empty. Her lungs had started to tingle already. She lit the cigarette and took a drag. Rearranged the ashtray on the kitchen table. Waited. Waited. Scratched her temple. Waited. Neatly placed the half smoked cigarette on the ashtray. Her eyes wa...

0 comments 0

Read story

“starfish” by Gary Gallant

Submitted to Contest #281

Starfish Grant Long thought, " People are going to die tonight." It will be the coldest day of the year, and a nor’easter is expected tomorrow. He continued to spread salt on his driveway, hoping it would be the last storm of the year. He hated what the salt did to his vehicles. Sometimes, you forget how grateful you need to be. To even have a roof over your head is a luxury, he told himself in the mirror. Tugging on the collar of his shirt, he studied his face. It was closely shaven, strong, square, with dimples in his cheeks whe...

2 comments 2

Read story

“A Christmas sheep ” by Janja Polanec

Submitted to Contest #281

Today the weather is bitterly cold. It is the coldest day of the year so far. The freezing rain bites through my clothes when I struggle to reach the grocery shop, balancing on the icy sidewalk. It is Christmas again. I am going to buy a Christmas tree. It is time to be joyous, to celebrate with the family and reminisce. Christmas has not always been a holiday. Back in the 1960s we did not celebrate Xmas. It was not encouraged to celebrate Christmas because religion was "opium for masses", according to Marx. Christ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Loneliest Santa” by B DZ

Submitted to Contest #281

Santas, elves and reindeers packed out the bar at Phebe’s on 2nd Avenue. Most Santas were bastards - sexy Santas or tuxedo Santas or even lazy-man Santas, wearing sweaters with screen-printed Christmas icons: Santa golfing and Santa pooping and Santa laying naked by a fire on a polar bear skin rug, a sparkling wrapped gift covering his manhood. Gerald Fourier, 25 years old and fair-skinned, felt himself squeezed against a wooden booth as the crowd gave way for a trio of bottle-blonde Santas in short skirts. “This is lame...

2 comments 2

Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a mysterious guest who arrives at a party — but no one knows who they are.

Dramatic – 60 stories

Start or end your story with someone receiving a strange — and possibly sinister — gift.

Dramatic – 54 stories

Write a story from the POV of a non-human character.

Short Story – 103 stories

Write a story that includes the line “Be careful what you wish for.”

Dramatic – 40 stories

Contest #281

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: The Fright Before Christmas

$250

Prize money

309

Contest entries

154

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 20, 2024 EST

Won by Karissa W 🏆

Title: The Counter and the Coal

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Set your story during the coldest day of the year.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 52 stories

“Cold Feet” by Lindsey Vanthorn

“Saturday Is The Coldest Day of The Year” by Cordelia Ng-Christopher

“Surviving the coldest day of the year” by Zuzanna Szwedzinska

“Lost at Sea” by Jessica Grote

“starfish” by Gary Gallant

“A Christmas sheep ” by Janja Polanec

“The Loneliest Santa” by B DZ

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a mysterious guest who arrives at a party — but no one knows who they are.

Start or end your story with someone receiving a strange — and possibly sinister — gift.

Write a story from the POV of a non-human character.

Write a story that includes the line “Be careful what you wish for.”

Contest #281

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

309

Contest entries

154

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: