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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.

2750+ 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 2 of 184

Jim and Jan

Submitted to Contest #285

You know, I didn’t believe in love at first sight until I met you.I remember it so clearly. Charlie and I were hauling our luggage and Cockapoos into the caravan, sweating in the wool jumpers we’d put on when we’d set off from rainy Chester that morning. The Donegal sun was unusually intense for June, scorching the dazzling white sands of the wide beach that would be our home for a few days. We normally rented a house in town, but it was getting harder to find dog-friendly places. And I liked the idea of waking up to the ...

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A Quiet Christmas

Submitted to Contest #284

The first thing Nora noticed when she woke up on Christmas morning was the quiet. It was the kind of quiet that made her feel like she was underwater, the whole world muffled by an invisible, unyielding stillness. No laughter echoing through the hallway, no sound of clinking coffee mugs or the hurried rustle of wrapping paper. Just silence. For the first time in thirty-four years, she was spending Christmas alone. Her parents had moved to Florida the previous spring, eager to trade icy winters for balmy breezes. Her brother, Owen, was on a s...

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Fourth of Julonely

Submitted to Contest #284

This is how a family barbecue is supposed to be. You should be able to smell what's cooking on the grill and scoop your sides from different relatives Tupperware. Kids should be running around and getting dirty. Fireworks should be in person light up the sky around you. Not some catered fancy party with real plates and watching fireworks on television. Well the birds that are singing, and the creek rushing and the flies buzzing around tell me that I am where I am supposed to be. The sun is beaming down, but a cloud looks to be on its way to ...

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The Unexpected Angel

Submitted to Contest #284

Content warning: Strong language“A white Christmas? Who the fuck needs a white Christmas?”Work had been slow. Christmas Eve day could’ve been busy, which is why she’d worked a double shift. But then it started snowing just before noon, and people hurried to finish their errands; folks couldn’t be bothered with a late lunch or a break for coffee and a snack when the roads were getting bad. She’d had only three tables all afternoon and hardly made enough to cover the bus fare and the babysitter. Now, to add to it all, the bus was stuck and sh...

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Visitor

Submitted to Contest #284

Anya believed him a wild spirit from the first she seen him. An animal caught in the blindness of winter, astray of both kin and kind. She said later he meant no true harm, just sought warmth in the keep of a good Christian home. That he were a sinner just as us and that we should forgive him. Was our fortune to have him on the holiday, as we praised Him for our fortunes and our health and our fire. All us yet encircled by some white obscenity. Hills and sunlight bled together. Can’t recall it as she can, bless her, but I remember much. Addl...

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Shards

Submitted to Contest #284

This story deals with both mental health issues and substance abuse. “We’re going to Daddy’s.” Ellie stared at Missy in stunned silence for a moment. “But it’s Solstice Eve. We always have dinner at Roma’s. I’ve reserved our favorite table in the corner window so we can see the tree lights.”  “Sorry, Nana.” Missy glanced over at her younger sister for support, “but that can’t happen tonight. Not with what just went down.” Izzie nodded her head. “Like Missy said. We’re out of here until she’s gone.” “Girls, lower your voices. Your mother...

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Tradition Trade-up

Submitted to Contest #284

“Reasonably priced real estate along a waterfront!” the ad screamed.I scanned the ads quickly that night and decided that the waterfront property was a bargain if the remainder of the ad was accurate. Entering the address into my phone, I leapt up from my chair and grabbed a coat. It was freezing outside and would be colder by the water. November nights were always cold but this close to Thanksgiving we were lucky that we hadn’t had snow too.Although I was used to driving to properties at night to inspect them for prospective ...

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Fitting In

Submitted to Contest #284

Susan managed to keep the tears at bay until the drive home from Thanksgiving. All weekend she’d held it in, hoping to turn her emotions around. She hated that Emma and Katie were in the car with her. She might actually have to put these complicated feelings into words and she just wasn’t ready yet.  It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Susan and her two younger daughters had driven to her oldest daughter’s college campus to pick her up for Thanksgiving. Then they’d driven another hour to her mom’s house for the weekend. Her older daughter, Tenley...

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Alone - but Not Truely Alone

Submitted to Contest #284

Trigger Warning: Grief, Loss of a loved one, Illness/Cancer Clara sat on the floor of the lounge room in her small apartment, staring at the large container that held the Christmas tree. The container had been sitting in the middle of the lounge room for twenty days—since the 1st of December. For twenty days, she had walked past it, unable to summon the will to pull the lid off and tackle the task within. Finally, she had found the courage to remove the lid, but now, an hour later, she still hadn’t made any progress. Her eyes stared blankly ...

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Extraordinary happening when traveling alone

Submitted to Contest #284

                      Extraordinary happenings when travelling alone. I sat there at the head of the table. I was about to say grace and quickly realized in our family this touching act was a thing of the past. In fact even in my childhood my parents relegated grace saying to past traditions. At that moment it did cross my mind that many commendable and worthy traditions were being shelved in the world’s leap forward to explore and i...

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Veils of December

Submitted to Contest #284

For a moment, the Christmas Eve atmosphere felt tangible. It enveloped Mia with an ineffable coldness, lingering in her softly flowing veins and biting lightly at her quivering bones. Soft, dull kisses of falling snowflakes settled in Mia’s brunette hair. She stood clothed only in a knit sweater, blue jeans, and tattered checkered Vans. The streets were pale, anticipating light foot traffic as families gathered in warm brick houses for the holidays.From across the street, she watched her middle-aged father take a drag from his Camel cigarett...

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THE HOLIDAY (ANIME) GHOST

Submitted to Contest #284

Aglio e Olio, Frozen Hot Chocolate, and a packet of potato chips are the only things that comforts Jeena. She was twenty when she found a recipe for spaghetti aglio e olio while secretly browsing through a cookbook in her college library. It was her girlfriend’s idea to bunk the class and read magazines from the library. French was not something her girlfriend wanted to study. She used to say, ‘why should I learn je, te, vous, English is hard enough, I hate we are forced to study another language.’ Jeena found it funny and used to laugh at t...

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The Solitude of Grace

Submitted to Contest #284

Grace adjusted the strap of her suitcase as the train pulled into the small seaside town of Whitlock. The journey had been quiet, save for the rustle of newspapers and murmured conversations. The whistle blew, sharp and final, as she stepped onto the platform. She hadn’t told anyone she was coming. No friends, no family. After long thirty-eight years, finally she was spending Christmas alone.The air smelled of salt and cold. Whitlock was as she remembered it – stoic cliffs, worn cobblestones, and the sea, its waves rolling like distant thund...

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The Lucky Dip

Submitted to Contest #284

Philip Marks is my Secret Santa recipient and I don’t know what to buy him. Like thousands of other people around the world trying to buy something for someone they cannot stand. I tried to get out of it – I already missed the Christmas dinner at Ye Olde Cockrel and Wastrel – but they’re doing Secret Santa on the final work day and I cannot take the day off’ I’ve used up all my annual leave. In previous years, I always drew women as recipients. They’re easier – a bar or two of soap usually does the trick. But Philip Marks is a young, loud, ...

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Solitude (with the Spectral)

Submitted to Contest #284

Hoarfrost crystalised the valley. Early this morning, as the front rolled through, I shivered under my heavy electric blanket, the howling wind shrill as a lonely coyote. The sudden drop in temperature froze the rising fog, and now, white ice clings in puffy clumps to naked gnarled oak branches, giving an illusion of softness to the ridge. It’s impossible not to admire. Even as it solidifies I will spend Christmas alone. Just me and the ghosts.  Part of me wanted this. The dark parts. The cynical demon who made pie crusts, gravy, and m...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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