Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write a story about someone’s first Christmas after a major life change.

Posted in Short Story on Dec 27, 2024

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 52 stories

Home for Christmas

Submitted to Contest #283

Christmas 2024Dearest Victor,I hope you know that even if you’d left me, even if you took to the skies for 17,000 kilometres and 22 hours to spread your wings away from the nest we’ve built, there’s nowhere I’d rather spend Christmas but home with you.This morning, my fingers brushed the supermarket tinsel draped around the banister and yet, there was no tickle for all I could sense was the weight of the atmosphere pummelling my exhausted lungs. My bunny slipper-donning feet dragged across the wood floor to fetch myself just another bowl of ...

58 likes 67 comments 67
Read story

The Spirits Inside The Walls

Submitted to Contest #283

Like the spirit, it rises: the flesh and breath of bricks and mortar. You smell it when it rains, when the room is lit up yellow and the world outside is grey but full of bright umbrellas. Or when it lingers autumnal like logs in dampened woods speckled gold upon troweled earth. Likewise in spring when the grass is freshly mown, April-showered, refreshed. But on days like today, you smell it too. And mild as it was before the sky darkened over this Christmas, it hits you pure, crisp and clear as the season itself.You step from your old child...

22 likes 21 comments 21
Read story

No, Timmy, There Is No Santa Clause

Submitted to Contest #283

Yes No Virginia  Timmy, There Is A  No Santa Clause “The greatest thing is not to believe inSanta Clause; it is to be Santa Clause.”                                                                  &nbs...

20 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

Whispers of Grace

Submitted to Contest #283

For the last few months, every time someone asks how I’m doing, I force a smile and say, “I’m doing good.” But I see the way their eyebrows twitch, how their eyes linger on my face, silently asking for something more. It’s like speaking a different language—one where “good” never really means good.My friends aren’t much better. They keep asking, “How’s the family holding up?” and I nod and say, “We’re doing good.” Yet their silence always stretches a beat too long, as if they’re waiting for a crack in my composure—tears, anger, anything that...

13 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

A Very Mortal Christmas

Submitted to Contest #283

A Very Mortal Christmas   “I can’t feel my legs” I can hear the panic in his voice.    “What do you want me to do?”    “Rub them. Do it as hard as you can.”      So, I pull the hospital blanket back exposing his white and now wasted legs while starting to rub them. They feel unnaturally cold. I can tell he’s not feeling it and rub harder. This isn’t like him, my father had always been a man with a calm, balanced disposition and I can’t remember him ever bein...

12 likes 14 comments 14
Read story

A Profound Effect

Submitted to Contest #283

He was 91 and healthy as a horse. Despite his advanced age, his mind and body were in excellent condition. He lived with his wife of 35 years, whom he could no longer stand or tolerate. His great-granddaughter, her friend, and their two children lived with him. They were supposed to make his meals and take care of whatever he needed while they were at home from work. Nobody understood the stress that Frances lived under daily. His wife told him that if he truly loved her, he would stay home and help her get out of bed to go to the washroom a...

11 likes 15 comments 15
Read story

Little Nephew

Submitted to Contest #283

As Michael walked cautiously into the room, he felt heads swivel towards him in awkward shock. Like a record scratching in a movie, conversation halted and all eyes fell on him. His cheeks reddened, but he tilted his head high in defiance. The silence was deafening, continuing on and on for what felt like years before his brother came over to greet him. Jeremiah was visibly uncomfortable, but Michael ignored it and made a beeline towards the bar. His family slowly continued their talking, but the air still held tension. He cracked open a Cor...

10 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

Home for the Holidays

Submitted to Contest #283

“I’m telling Mom you’re not helping!” She shouted as she stomped her foot down and rolled her eyes dramatically. “Why do you have to act like such a little brat!’ I yelled back. “I’m not a brat!” “Well then stop acting like one and just make the damn cookies!” “I wish you never came back home!” She screamed as she stormed off.  “I wanna watch The Grinch.” She protested. “We watched The Grinch last year, can’t we watch Home Alone or something?” I suggested. “You don’t get to choose the movie just because you...

6 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

Out of the Blue, Embracing the New

Submitted to Contest #283

Trigger Warning: car accident, grief, child lossEveryone knows that Christmas can be a lonely time for some people. Claire had never considered that she might find herself to be amongst the “some people” some day. She had grown up as part of a large extended family. She was the oldest of two girls, with aunts and uncles as well as five cousins living nearby. So, in her youth, her home had always been a hive of activity, with plenty of gatherings and social happenings. Christmas had always been a time for family and traditions. Reminisci...

6 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

The Tell-Tale Fart

Submitted to Contest #283

They’re looking at me like they can tell. I know they can’t. The only three that know are me, the fella in that deep hole, and my shovel. Still, Aunt Ida has paid me the not-so-subtle side eye all evening, and uncles Al and Sam have been exchanging cryptic comments and nods, and looking away at odd times. Christmas dinner is always weird, but this year it feels weirder. Mom and Dad have been cool, though. It was probably just me.  “How’s clown college?” My cousin Alex chewed away at something green as he raised an eyebrow in half-intere...

6 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

This isn't Normal

Submitted to Contest #283

Contains: Past Child Abuse/NeglectRacismPhysical Violence (Past)Homelessness (Past)Emotional Distress/TraumaImplied Social IsolationLUCA ADRIAN (1916, December 25th)IT’S CHRISTMAS!!! These were my first thoughts as I woke up on December 25th.Mama and Papa, before he left, used to have this rule: we (my siblings and I) can’t get out of bed until 7:01 a.m. I had about 40 more minutes before I could bang on my siblings' doors.I looked around, hearing a sound…Eryx was awake and sitting in the corner of the large bed my friends and I were sharing...

5 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

This Time of Year

Submitted to Contest #283

Please note, this story centers around grief with a brief mention of alcohol use as a coping mechanism. Violence is implied without any explicit description. Christmas is the time of year for bright colors, pine needles, and unexpected, unwarranted acts of goodwill. It’s the time of year for warm mugs of hot cocoa with marshmallows floating on the surface, pillowy, soft, and white, ugly Christmas sweaters with too many loose threads, overpriced family dinners out and reheated leftovers paired with an already opened bottle of wine. You can’t...

5 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

New Christmas Tradition

Submitted to Contest #283

Maybe it is tradition or nostalgia, or perhaps tradition is just nostalgia with routine. Whatever the case, you had your heart set on viewing the train set display at the hardware store near Main Street. Every year you and your father would venture out during the holidays to ogle the miniaturized village, complete with plastic denizens. Each little figure was specifically crafted to perform a particular task. Obviously, someone had consciously placed each figurine in a predetermined location; they were all meant to be there. You noticed they...

5 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Christmas All Alone

Submitted to Contest #283

Reedsy Prompts Contest:    “Christmas all alone”                               Christmas All Alone By Joseph Seechack, author of, “A Love To Die For” Christmas Day with family and friends is finally over. Everybody finally went home; all the pressure is over now. The dishes and all the cleanup can wait for New Years Eve. Now Grace Butler can finally lay down on her bed and relax ...

5 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Christmas Up North

Submitted to Contest #283

It was uncomfortably warm. A bead of sweat dripped down my forehead, narrowly missing my eye. What do you know, I thought to myself. You’re in the Arctic and you’re sweating. I allowed myself a slight chuckle, cringing when I heard how high pitched my voice sounded.  “Something funny?” Jacob asked from his station to my right. “Tell me, I could use a laugh.” He set his hammer down on the workbench and looked at me, the bell at the end of his cap making a slight jingle as he turned. His serious face, juxtaposed with his goofy hat and poi...

5 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that ends with a huge twist.

Dramatic – 80 stories

Write a story about two characters who surprisingly end up spending a holiday or event together.

Short Story – 52 stories

It’s the most wonderful time of the year — except your character can’t shake the feeling that something’s off.

Short Story – 37 stories

Write a story with the line “I wasn’t expecting that.”

Dramatic – 64 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel