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

“Norman” by Portia Zeiger

Submitted to Contest #189

It was terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. The last thing my mom told me was “wait here”. So, I did as I was told. Mommy was doing her usual afternoon run for my siblings and I - she’s never let them go hungry. I have been hungry a few times, but she says she doesn’t get me as much food because I’m “so little, I don’t need as much” as my siblings. She does the best she can. The afternoon sunlight was my favorite thing to roll around and bask in, so I decided to do that while waiting for mom. Stepping out of the alleyway ...

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“Lost and Found” by TRW Brown

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. After the past few hours running errands, Murphy gazed out of the train window, thinking about his short walk home from the train station and the homemade soup he would heat up for dinner. “Trudging through all this snow can rack up some hunger and a wear a person out,” he thought. He wouldn’t have gone out at all, but he needed his prescription and handled a few other things while he was out. Snow continued to fall and accumulate on the sides of the tracks. Suddenly th...

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“The Rare Book Caper” by Marie-Josee Higgins

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark… I thought for sure my time had come. I had visions of my grandma’s welcoming embrace and the aroma of hot cocoa on the stove was so inviting that I let myself go. ******* Brenda and I met a few years ago. It is hard to recall an exact number when you have lived on the streets for a while and one day blends into the next. I think that the first time she spoke to me was on a gorgeous spring day when it seemed everyone was out enjoying the warmth and brightness of the sun a...

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“The Green Hill Fill Up” by Sam Patel

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. My focus was to stay calm and on the road, but at every white knuckling bend it was there. The threat of sheer cliffs along the edge. As my exhaustion from driving perpetuated the anxiety, I wondered, was I doing the right thing.“I guess the weather report was right.” I uttered. “Hey Steve, If it’s becoming too much for ya, I’m ready. I drove shit far worse than this in the war.”Paul was a good guy, but arrogance came with the territory. I gave a little pushback, and rel...

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“The Promise” by Wendy Rogers

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. My Dad had asked me why I was going outside alone so soon after Charlotte died. I told him I needed to be alone. He nodded silently and left the kitchen, leaving his half eaten casserole on his plate. I closed the front door, trying to escape my thoughts. I rolled up my sweat pants, tugged on my socks, adjusting them to my liking, finally pulling on my boots. I opened the front door again, and was surprised at how cold it was. My hair blew in my face as I shut it behind me. I...

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“Bohnice to Krizikova” by Mike Creese

Submitted to Contest #189

Bohnice to Krizikova It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. I got to my knees and shook my head. Far off, a wounded animal called in distress, a lingering cry trailing into the sky like futile prayers from a crumbling altar. I clamped my jaws and, in the silence that followed, looked about myself. The remnant of a broken wall poked above the dense treeline surrounding me in a rough circle about one hundred yards across. I was pretty sure this was all that remained of the abandoned chapel. As I took in the rest of...

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“The Boy in the Cabin” by Lunny Muffin

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling and it was almost dark. Kurt was still at the window, staring at the freezing air. Imprisoned in the four walls of the wooden structure. He was frozen on the window. He did not want to move, he was waiting to see if his father would come back tonight. For five days he had sat there. For five days he had watched the cold. For five days he watched the skies, turning from grays to whites, darks to hues of purple and red. For five days the sky remained as gloomy as the day his father left. Watchi...

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“Falling again” by Quinn Laurelle

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. Withered hands drew close to a sunken breast, old bones creaking as the man leant forward to regard the fiery cold that entrenched the world. It was 8:03, said the golden watch face clasped around his frail wrist - the wedding present from his wife. Adjusting it, he grimaced as the metal edges of the strap dug deeper into papery flesh. His hands were bare and blue, gloves lost at the hospital, fingers numb, like a black infection had taken root from the tips, crawling throu...

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“Endless Winter Vacation” by Brittany Mackeown

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. Kaori’s break was only halfway over, and she was already on her third cigarette. The butt glowed like the last rays of sunset, pale orange fingers splatter-painting a wall of violet-black. Kaori shivered in her jacket. Flannel did little good against an icy wind and snow melting down the nape of your neck. The weather had been nice today, for the dead of winter. The high, almost fifty degrees. The low, a chilly but doable thirty-five. With a coat. Which she had forgotten on ...

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“A Frozen Night” by Jesee Jones

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. It had been less than an hour since Josh began his search, but the panic gripping his heart made every passing moment feel like an eternity.“Anna!” he called to the darkening forest. A chilly echo was all that answered.He trudged through the knee-high snow, the moon’s grimly glow his only source of light. Stupid girl, he thought bitterly. And her dumb cartoons.“Anna!” he called again. Once more, his little sister didn’t answer. He could already hear his mom yelling, “You had ...

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“Opportunity Knocks” by Ida M. Jones

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. I shivered in my thin blouse and short A-line skirt and desperately searched for shelter. It’s weird how I arrived here. I had been walking along Jackson Street. It was a beautiful day and instead of taking the bus, I’d decided to walk the two miles to my apartment. I had been looking at the multi-hued blue-ish sky and constructing animals from the soft-looking puffy clouds. I’d taken off my work shoes with their uncomfortable heels and had put on the ratty sneakers I’d store...

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“A Night in the City” by Jackson Adame-Covey

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. It was early November in Chicago. Street lights painted me neon, and I waltzed the streets. The souls of my sneakers beat the concrete sidewalk, resounding clicks through the dusk afterglow. I walked the city, my earbuds muddling the sounds of Chicago. I played the same songs I had heard a thousand times; the songs that I didn’t have to think about but were busy enough to drown out the cacophony of my city. My eyes were sunken and uninterested. By now, the Chicagoian bastille...

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“Blood on the snow” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #189

BLOOD ON THE SNOW It was so terribly cold, snow was falling and it was already dark. Teddy walked on the snow-covered sidewalk and dug his feet into the snow, every now and then he slipped to the ground. He fled the house miraculously escaping the fury of his father who had stabbed his mother and slit the throat of his little sister, born a few days ago. After raging at his mother and his sister, his father chased him throughout the house with the knife in his hand. Teddy had first managed to hide in the cellar and then when it seeme...

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“A Traveller on Broken Roads” by Jacob Weber

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. Even so, the boy trudged on, for winter had come to the world, and winter suffered not the weak or the tired. He distracted himself with the strange symphony of a world gone quiet — the crunch of grass beneath tattered boots, the jingle of shells in their boxes, the far-off crash of the surf breaking on uncaring stone. All of this sound did not take the cold pain from his throbbing fingers. It did not lessen the weight of the straps around his shoulders or bring a balm to the...

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“Mountain Flight” by Shawn Luther

Submitted to Contest #189

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. The cave which she hid in was small and cramped, not much more than a fissure that cut deep into the side of the mountain. The walls were uneven and sharp, cutting into her back as she pressed up against it. The opening was like an angry snarl, narrow and crooked. The waning light of dusk barely penetrated the opening, yet nearly ten meters deep she still felt horribly exposed. Earlier, while she had been climbing the mountain, the wind ravaged...

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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

“Norman” by Portia Zeiger

“Lost and Found” by TRW Brown

“The Rare Book Caper” by Marie-Josee Higgins

“The Green Hill Fill Up” by Sam Patel

“The Promise” by Wendy Rogers

“Bohnice to Krizikova” by Mike Creese

“The Boy in the Cabin” by Lunny Muffin

“Falling again” by Quinn Laurelle

“Endless Winter Vacation” by Brittany Mackeown

“A Frozen Night” by Jesee Jones

“Opportunity Knocks” by Ida M. Jones

“A Night in the City” by Jackson Adame-Covey

“Blood on the snow” by Mara Masolini

“A Traveller on Broken Roads” by Jacob Weber

“Mountain Flight” by Shawn Luther

🌟 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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