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Set your story in a remote winter cabin with no electricity, internet, or phone service.

Posted in Winter on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 245 stories

Abel

Submitted to Contest #77

Carmella pulled up to the house and cut the engine of her small red car. With the car’s rhythmic thrumming gone, the serene silence felt light and refreshing. Lucia, her little sister, gasped slightly beside her. The two stared up at the house through the windshield in awe.In actuality, it was more of a house than a cabin. It was tall, multiple floors, and seemed almost crooked. It looked almost as though it had been abandoned for a couple of months, except that the driveway was shoveled and the extra snow was piled in heaps on the weed...

36 likes 45 comments 45
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The Cat

Shortlisted for Contest #77 ⭐️

The doubtful guest announced itself on a bleak Winter’s morning, the unflinching bite of foretold snow hanging heavy in the air. Amelia had wrapped herself warmly in a leather coat that had once been her grandfather’s, lined with wool, and wrestled into a pair of boots a little too small but industrious all the same, leaving the sheltered confines of the log cabin for the shed to retrieve wood. She had brought with her a dog-eared copy of Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, hoping it might inspire her writing. One she was anxious to get...

33 likes 11 comments 11
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The Last Man

Submitted to Contest #77

Beside the crumbling remains of the Trans-Canada Highway, between the ghost town of Banff and what was once one of the most photographed lakes in the world, rots a cluster of forgotten chalets.Long ago, when money mattered, it cost up to as much as six or seven hundred dollars per night to claim the keys to these coveted log cabins. Rustic and charming, nestled in a grove of towering pines, they welcomed travelers from around the world at a time when the park buzzed with tourists, like millions of ants, swarming the pristine rocky passes.Now...

31 likes 10 comments 10
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Two Of Us

A J

Submitted to Contest #77

The falling of white snow on the ashen ground, like silver glitter being sprinkled on paper, giving the winter life and making familiar streets a canvas for dreams. Quiet poetry forms in my soul, the warmth within bringing crystalline joy. Every tiny, sculpted snowflake, unique and worth a thousand smiles, a billion more uniting over the earth. It is the season when puddles turn to icy rinks, sparkling brightly upon the falling of rays of the brightest star in the sky, the season where one can see their breath rise as neat and pure vapor, th...

30 likes 8 comments 8
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Spring in Winter

Submitted to Contest #77

Gods it was hot. Sweaty; humid; panting; hot. She huffed a breath in the dense air, surveying her surroundings briefly. There were trees, trees, and some more trees, with the added addition of moss, rocks, rotten and fallen trees, and shrubbery that would've scratched at her ankles if she weren't wearing her favorite hiking shoes. It had rained recently, which made every step squelching and the air chilled enough that she seemed to breath like a dragon.The world wasn't the Winter wonderland that it usually was in December, but if it had snow...

29 likes 3 comments 3
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Snow of Rubies

Submitted to Contest #77

TW: suicide The room spins round and round, getting blurrier by the second as he twirls me around and around. I clutch on tighter, the potential momentum making me feel like he could hurl me into outer space. I shake my head—there’s no reason for why he would want to do that. His hands shift to my waist, both of our socks slipping and sliding on the polished wooden floor of our cabin. A modern cabin maybe—save for the electricity or WiFi. Our phones lay forgotten by the mess of sheets on the floor. He had offered to sleep on the floor last n...

28 likes 13 comments 13
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After All

Submitted to Contest #77

Brooke's Note: Yay! My first story ever! I hope you enjoy it! Thanks! :D “This place is nice, but I can’t believe that we have zero electricity or phone service or... or the internet. What are we going to do about the bathroom? Yuck! And what if my phone goes dead?! I won’t be able to do anything! I already can’t call or text or use some of my apps!” Kaeda whined. Dora rolled her eyes as she tossed her overnight bag on the couch. Esther made a pfft noise with her mouth while she rummaged through the cupboards....

28 likes 55 comments 55
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The Great Ice Storm of '98

Submitted to Contest #77

I never wondered what it’d be like to die in a wooden box—but thanks to a historic ice storm, I almost found out.  The sparse log cabin belonged to my cousin, Onyehte, who lived in Kanesatake, on Cree Road. Built tucked away on the edge of a modest forest, the cabin bordered a field that stretched on for what seemed like forever in the January snow.    “I’m always at my girlfriend’s in the village anyway, Skylar. Come. You can use my cabin,” he said when he heard I needed a quiet place to finish writing my manuscript. My unem...

26 likes 11 comments 11
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IUSTITIA NIX

Submitted to Contest #77

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Kid Quarterstaff asked."Well, I'm trying to decrypt the directions from a secure message, using only a pencil and paper, and writing on the dashboard of tricked out RV. I'm good at math, but these are not the best conditions for trigonometric decoding," Miller's Son said, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. "So, no. I'm not sure if we're going the right way.""Why don't you just use the car-phone and call them?" Will Stoutly asked."It's a secret safe house in the middle of nowhere. No phone...

25 likes 15 comments 15
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Old Money

Submitted to Contest #77

I turn the rusty, antique knob to the heavy, mahogany door, noticing the intricate engravings. I remember Percy telling me about the door, it was a "gift from an international colleague". Another colleague I’ve never met. Amin told me I was crazy for trusting him. He said “men will be men Amara, he’s cheating on you. You’ve never even visited his workplace.” Amin's a great brother, however at times, he can somewhat overbearing. It's not his fault, he's used to it. Our parents passed away when he was 12 and I was 5. He's raised me ever since....

24 likes 41 comments 41
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The Gorge

Submitted to Contest #77

By the time we reached Widow’s Gorge, my fingers were numb, my breathing was labored, and it was all I could do to fend off thoughts of giving in to the White Sleep. My bandana barely kept the snow from chilling my nose, mouth, and jaw, and my hat was soaked through. The sight of the tiny cabin nestled into the side of the embankment—like a solitary tooth in a rotten mouth—had me dangerously close to becoming a God-fearing man once more. I held my sidearm secure, summoned my last scrap of strength, and kicked the front door into splinters. A...

24 likes 19 comments 19
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Proof Positive

Submitted to Contest #77

Deep in the wilderness of northern Alaska, a float plane descended toward a barely visible snow-covered field. It landed, leaving twin tracks behind it that were already being covered by new snow. On either side of them stood stretches of evergreen forest. Above, the dark sky was filled with stars and the green curtain of the Aurora Borealis. “Welcome to the Northern Slope,” the pilot told their two bundled-up passengers. “If you get lost,” he added, pointing upward, “that brightest star is the North Star.” “Where is the cabin?” one pass...

24 likes 51 comments 51
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Three Miracles

Submitted to Contest #77

All hope dissipated when she opened the door. There was someone already there, someone sleeping on the bed against the left hand wall of the tiny cabin. She stood there for a few seconds, frozen with cold and indecision but mostly with deep, deep disappointment, before she took a step inside and closed the door behind her. It was the only choice, really, even though the grey coat with the dark red stripe along the bottom could mean only one thing. He was one of them. All this way, all this desperate dreadful way, to find that she was back wh...

24 likes 14 comments 14
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Journal From The Cozy Cold Cabin

Submitted to Contest #77

Entry# 1 The cold-hearted wails of mother nature flew past outside my window and into the freezing night. I knew she cared none for the survival of one measly human, therefore I took in an odd sense of comfort from knowing these thin cabin walls were all that stopped her violent clashes; The best way to relax were situations like these where one little thing going wrong could mean life or death. Regardless, here I am. I’m all alone in the middle of nowhere with winter right up to my neck and threatening to bash my door down. This little ...

21 likes 1 comment 1
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The Grandfather Clock

Submitted to Contest #77

I’ve always hated the expression “if walls could talk.”In my experience, walls are remarkably unobservant and rather square. The way they go on, you’d think they were the greatest thing mankind ever invented. Not so, my friend, not so.Sure, walls are important for holding up roofs, keeping out the elements and such. But the things that make the heart of a place, that hold a home together, are not walls.The family has come and gone for decades now, visiting the cabin now and then to escape the clinging city air. My favorite season is summer, ...

21 likes 17 comments 17
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