Start your story with “It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark.” (Hans Christian Andersen, “The Little Match Girl”)

Posted in Winter on Mar 10, 2023

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✍️ 112 stories

“The Undisputed Queen of Christmas” by Genevieve Willingham

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. What a terrible time to forget where she had parked her car, Liz thought as she looked around. The mall parking lot was as full as she had ever seen it, even for two days before Christmas. She was sure she’d gone in through Macy’s, but when she walked back out, her little green Mercury Topaz was not among the hundreds of lightly-dusted hulks in the lot. She was getting tired and was shifting her bags every fe...

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“It was so terribly cold ...” by 3i Writer

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold, snow was falling, and it was almost dark. It was about time for Santa Claus to get down to business. Having finished sorting out the presents for the children from around the world, he put them in a sack that had a storage dimension of immeasurable capacity. Santa Claus donned his signature red costume, put on his pointy hat, and hopped onto his good old sleigh led by his trusty reindeer --- Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, and his favorite one of all, Rudolph with a big red nose. He was now set for his journey...

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“More Than A Match” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark… The timid, little girl peered in through the brightly lit window and wanted with all her heart to be in the room beyond. The glowing and welcoming room, with its roaring fire and the laughing and cheering throng in the throes of such fun and jollity. Her desire to be a part of the tableau presented to her was boundless, and yet here she was in the freezing cold, in her threadbare clothing, clothing that barely covered her, let alone kept her warm. She stared in through th...

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“Sunk Like Treasure” by Aaron Vitatoe

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold.Snow was falling, and it was almost dark.An outside observer would be forgiven for expecting another quiet night. As the sun fell and houses filled with their inhabitants, silence roared outside as the fluff of the snow took most of the noise.But within a house sitting far from the town, a careful observer would have heard the wails of a man, long past the point of exhaustion, soon entering hysteria. His heavy cries were blunted by the snow, but anyone listening closely would have heard it instantly. Whether it was lu...

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“Slippery Turn of Events” by Billy LaFerney

Submitted to Contest #189

It was terribly cold. Snow was falling and it was almost dark. The weather reports over the radio were all coming to pass. The pavement on the interstate was now beginning to glisten as the road spray from other vehicles’ tires disappeared and hardened into black ice. Charlie had been keeping tabs on the impending weather ahead of her all day. Every report she listened to warned of a big snowstorm in the mountains. Charlie was a trucker, and she slowed her speed down to help maintain traction on the quickly freezing ...

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“Wrath of the Last God” by Ryan Does

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. Thyra staggered breathlessly through the snowy woods, her ceremonial paint smeared across her face. Behind her an orange glow colored the nearby trees. The rooftops of Lundr were burning and screams of the dying filled her ears. A loud, booming voice rang out through the darkening forest, “Spread out! Bring me that craven witch!” Thrya brushed the sweat drenched black hair from her face. She could not stop now. The marauders would spare none of her fellow villagers to find ...

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“The Passenger” by Sway Dodson

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. The snow had started off as a light mist, now pummeling the ground in heavy blankets. My car’s wipers battled with the incoming snow, my heart racing and my hands tightening on the steering wheel. I feared I would lose control of the car and crash into a tree or something, with me stuck upside down in the car until someone discovered my frozen body, my knuckles forever gripped in the ten-and-two position. My brain registered the figure as I looked down quick...

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“Thaw” by Aleta Davis

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. I lit the three candles on the mantle. Over the past two nights, they’d withered to stumps. I grabbed a flashlight and headed to the cabin’s only closet to search, in vain, for more. I found instead only cascading cobwebs and a dead mouse in a long-forgotten trap. Gingerly, I picked up a corner of the trap with two fingers, carrying it at arm’s length to the trash can outside that, supposedly, would be picked up in the morning. That felt unlikely. The snow drifts already ...

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“Marrath” by Organizer.Spaztastic C

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. Ruthalt shivered in her robes, more ornamental than practical, and watched the flakes fall outside the Library’s windows through narrowed eyes. There was wind tonight– a rare phenomenon. Not for the first time, she gave thanks for her little sanctuary, where the sconces always burned, the shelves stood tall and sturdy, and the walls kept out the eternal frost. She just wished it could be a touch warmer. But while her discomfort was sizable, she was in no danger, and so...

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“Aurie's Last Night” by Kelly Sayre

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. Aurie’s fingerless gloves exposed bright red, completely numb digits that could barely hold the speaker box she had just unloaded from the beat-up van. Her bandmates weren’t quite as affected by the piercing cold wind blowing in from the harbor. Of course, it didn’t help that Aurie’s stomach was empty. She’d been rationing her limited food supply for over a week, waiting desperately for tonight’s gig (and subsequent payout) so she could replenish her nonexistent pantry. A ful...

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“A Cold, Dark, Frightful Night” by Kerry Batchelder

Submitted to Contest #189

This story contains descriptive content that some may find disturbing.A Dark, Cold Frightful NightIt was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. My hands hurt, and my feet were growing more numb by the moment. I crawled further into the cave, leaning back against its hard rock wall. Thinking it must have been a den, I hoped a bear would not make its presence known.I wore only a thin coat and a lightweight scarf. My gloves were thin and somewhat threadbare from use. I wore shoes, as I had blown off the thought of...

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“A Niagara Vacation” by John White

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark, when out of the blue, my wife called me at work. "We're going to Niagara Falls for the weekend. I got us an awesome deal!" We had both been working at our first "full-fledged" jobs for a year and had reached that moment after graduation when you suddenly realize you can't make that impact on the world your student enthusiasm once promised. At first, I just sighed. It was the dead of January, and I had already expended all my energy on a week of inconsequential stress....

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“Jay Matthews and the Case of the Missing Inheritance ” by Jalon Bonner

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. The brisk air of London's weather chilled me to my core. I was a private eye, or detective in London in the 1940s, second best to a very famous detective. As I made my way to my building, I watched as the people of London rebuilt the war-torn city. Ever since we joined World War 2, things haven't gone well for us. Adolf Hitler, Germany's dictator, had recently knocked France out of the war and, in an attempt to knock us out, started bombing campaigns over our fair city. Recently, Wins...

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“Kinga and the Cure” by Jason Stinnett

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. Kinga decided that now would be the best time to ditch her pursuers. They had been tracking her for hours, after something she had but was not willing to depart with. She had made a promise to her mother as she lay dying. "It's all up to you now baby girl," her mom had said as she pressed a vial of green liquid into her daughter's hand. Kinga clutched the vial tightly as she made her way through the snow-covered forest. She knew exactly what it contained, and her heart ra...

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“Snow Angels” by CJ Lengo

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. The thick pearls of snow drifted to the sidewalk with a gentleness that belied the violence of its icy hands sending shudders down the spine of the young woman shuffling down the path. Her footsteps left slashes in the glittering dust coating the ground as she made her way through the heart of an empty campus where gray-brown ivy clung to the side of brick buildings that have watched over these grounds for centuries. Long, arched windows stared down at her from several...

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Start your story with “It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark.” (Hans Christian Andersen, “The Little Match Girl”)

Submissions are closed

✍️ 112 stories

“The Undisputed Queen of Christmas” by Genevieve Willingham

“It was so terribly cold ...” by 3i Writer

“More Than A Match” by Jed Cope

“Sunk Like Treasure” by Aaron Vitatoe

“Slippery Turn of Events” by Billy LaFerney

“Wrath of the Last God” by Ryan Does

“The Passenger” by Sway Dodson

“Thaw” by Aleta Davis

“Marrath” by Organizer.Spaztastic C

“Aurie's Last Night” by Kelly Sayre

“A Cold, Dark, Frightful Night” by Kerry Batchelder

“A Niagara Vacation” by John White

“Jay Matthews and the Case of the Missing Inheritance ” by Jalon Bonner

“Kinga and the Cure” by Jason Stinnett

“Snow Angels” by CJ Lengo

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story where a character must continue to tell their tale to a listener to avoid unsavory consequences.

Write a story inspired by this quote from Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy: “In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.”

Write a story about a fox spirit (a gumiho, jiǔwěihú, kitsune, or hồ ly tinh), inspired by, e.g. Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese folklore.

Write a modern version of "The Tiger, the Brahmin, and the Jackal," in which someone suffers from their own good deeds and must turn to an unlikely source for help.

Contest #189

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

281

Contest entries

121

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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