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Discover weekly, the best short stories

Looking for a steady supply of holiday short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.

2760+ Holiday Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Whether you’re looking for a wintery cup of cheer or a ray of sunshine during a summertime festival, our holiday short stories will have you feeling the spirit in no time.

Holiday Short Stories – Page 163 of 185

Those Years that End with a Nought

Submitted to Contest #22

Matilda Blythe always swore, even to herself, that she really wasn’t that interested in whether she might soon be the country’s oldest person or not. Of course she knew it wasn’t entirely true, but it didn’t matter to her as much as looking forward to seeing her great-great grandchildren did, or as much as thanking the God she still believed in, though He had tried her patience at times, that she still had her wits about her and family and friends who cared for her. She did know that, in defiance of the norm, Britain’s oldest peopl...

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millenia normalcy

Submitted to Contest #22

The new year isn’t much of a celebratory event for me, hasn’t been for a long while. New year celebrations are just that - a party to begin a new year which, personally, I’ve always thought of as a sort of arbitrary designation. The new year could be any of the 365 days. Thinking on it more, I think a more accurate designation for a new year would be a birthday, since it’s celebrating actual new year of life. But none of that is important, and I don’t mean to rain on anyone’s parade. It’s a good enough excuse to have a few drinks and meet up...

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The Honeysuckle Letters

Submitted to Contest #22

31st December 2019Dear BenMy love. Another New Year’s Eve. Another twelve months without you.I should be accustomed by now, but the void you left behind is hollow as ever. Always this season, it grows into a black hole, a swirling horizon extinguishing all light inside, and every scrap of joy.Can you believe, I still fantasize you’ll return? I know it’s impossible. Yet on a summer evening, I swear your scent of musk and spice drifts on the breeze. Like you’ve visited, staying out of sight, squeezed behind the backyard honeysuckle. Our flower...

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Just Breathe

Submitted to Contest #22

I walked into the Ballroom and immediately felt like I was being assaulted.The music was too loud, pounding my eardrums until I thought they’d surely bleed.The lights flashed brutally into my eyes, so forcefully ,that I thought they had penetrated into my brain.Then came the abuse of hundreds of people, coming from all directions, talking, to me, to each other, each one seeming to echo off the walls and scrape my already frayed nerves, like nails on a chalkboard.Everyone felt too close to me, I could smell each one’s sweat, their deodorant t...

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Perchance to Dream

Submitted to Contest #22

Eva frantically rummaged through her blue leather tote. They’ve got to be in here somewhere, she thought, as she pulled out old CVS receipts, gum wrappers, an extra phone charger, hair pins, unused Kleenex, notepads, pens, everything she seemingly needed to hold her life together, except the one thing she desperately sought.  Why couldn’t she find her sleeping pills? There had to be some left. She only took them once or twice a month, max. Those were the nights that she knew if she didn’t take something, she’d be sitting in fr...

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Queens Passing

Submitted to Contest #22

     The party was drawing to a close. Barry had never met someone as gorgeous and illuminating as Regina. “This night is no ordinary night,” Barry thought to himself. There were a quiver and restlessness in Barry’s stomach. He was wondering if Regina felt it too. A traditional New Year’s Eve party always ended with a kiss, but this kiss was different. Barry and Regina’s kiss would surely be something to remember. “3… 2… 1… Happy New Year!” Barry and Regina kiss. “Happy New Year your grace!” Barry whispered. In the h...

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Me Time

Submitted to Contest #22

Reading my favorite book for probably the twentieth time, stopping once in a while to think about it while also taking a sip of my huge cup of hot chocolate. Just the way I want to spend the night of my 28th birthday. Fun fact: Tonight also just happens to be New Year’s Eve. What a great birthday to have, I guess. The only problem is that it can get kind of loud, with all the parties and fireworks and stuff. And if there is one thing people know about me, it is that I absolutely adore and need my alone and quiet time. That is why on my birt...

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A midnight conversation

Submitted to Contest #22

A midnight conversation It was almost midnight when the call came. Like many others on this particular evening, Frank was still awake. Unlike most people however, it was not a view of Times Square that captivated his attention. Instead, he sat gazing intently at his cellphone, as though he could will it into making a sound. When it finally did, he pressed the accept button before it had finished it’s first ring.  “It’s done?” he inquired by way of greeting.  “What do you think? You know I don’t make mistakes.” The wo...

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Come Out

Submitted to Contest #22

It was clear what I had to do. I mean, it was my job and what I was getting paid for. I could do this. For the money, I could do this.I reached for the doorknob but stopped myself, my hands trembling.....Or could I? Could I really? Risk public embarrassment- no, complete social humiliation for this? ....but two hundred dollars is a lot. Well, to me it was. They were paying me to do this because they knew I was poor. And why should a poor guy have this big of an ego? Money was money. And I needed it."Mason! Yo, what's up, man!"It was the gree...

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The Countdown

Submitted to Contest #22

It was December 31st, 1969. I was 18, and I had just finished my shift at my father’s grocery store, where I had been working for the past five years ever since my parents died. It was 11:14 PM when I stepped out into New York’s frigid winter. My exhaled breath froze midair as I felt my bones shiver and quake inside of me. I wrapped the strands of my worn winter coat tighter around me as I trudged through the inches of freshly fallen, icy snow. My shoes, barely with a sole, were handed down to me from my brother, 14 years my senior. He was c...

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Mythic Troubles

Submitted to Contest #22

Missy stared at herself in the mirror as she dressed up in her favorite witch outfit. She used to be the average run of the mill vixen, who became a real witch. At first, she was hungry for power and battled with Priscilla to become the coven leader. Finding a phoenix, she tried to get the girl to fight for her. It was obvious that she wasn't made for fighting.Her thirst for power ebbed and she became more interested in making plays. She tried to get her boyfriend to do them with her, but he seemed to see her less and less. She could see her...

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Alone within emotionally illusory dynamic fluid wilderness new years eve 2019

Submitted to Contest #22

A reverie along memory lane bubbles forth, when this grr wreck oh row man (figuratively perched high atop totem pole - paddles - secured within oarlocks), while he serenely quizzically, lackadaisically, and harmoniously drifted merrily thru LX orbitz around the sun. Obliviousness wafted with zealous laissez faire devil may care attitude. Pointlessness against cavil leer mindset (regarding roaming as sea sunned bonafide Nova Scotian fish she ate while off Newfoundland) blissfully carried yours truly along slipstream of timelessness since his ...

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MacLunkey

Submitted to Contest #22

“What do you want to do for New Year’s, Ollie?” Sara said.“I don’t celebrate New Year’s, love,” Oliver said as he flipped the end of his silver cufflink. “Really? Why not?”“It’s all silliness if you ask me,” Oliver said. “I think it’s kind of fun. You get together with your friends, have a few drinks, and do the big countdown. How’s that silly?” Sara said.“People drink way too much on New Year’s. Alcohol related automobile accidents increase by over 70% between six and midnight on New Year’s Eve. You’re asking for trouble if you’re...

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A Day for the Future

Submitted to Contest #22

It was that time of the year again.A day filled with resolutions to improve yourself. A day of dreams and aspirations. A day for the future. At least, for everyone but me. I woke up with the sweet feeling of ignorance that lasted for a few seconds until I realized what day it was. New Year's Eve. The day Sophie passed away. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep the misery away but my brain decided to focus on a familiar sound that filled the room.I sat up and stared at the clock. Half-past three. It was taunting me, I swear. The second hand sn...

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Girl Code Rule #1

Submitted to Contest #22

Shit. I can tell he’s attracted to her. I don’t blame him. She’s conventionally pretty with an aura that implies an adventure. Her dark brown hair has golden highlights in it. She’s wearing red lipstick. The makeup enthusiast in me knows it’s MAC’s Ruby Woo.  I’m convinced she knows someone important at all the popular clubs, and could jump the line with her four girlfriends. She probably has six guys that call and text her everyday. They take her out on dates and brag to their friends afterwards. She didn’t even bother to dre...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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