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#178 Happy Holidays

It's that time of year again! Whether you're observing a particular holiday, or simply raising a glass to making it through another year in one piece, December is a time for reflection, celebration, and taking stock. This week's prompts are, naturally, a nod to the season — and all the fun it can bring!


As much as we love the holidays, they can also be a difficult time for many; so no matter how you're celebrating this year, we hope that these prompts can provide you with a little festive escapism. Happy holidays, writers!

This week's prompts

Write a story about a family (biological or found) coming together for Christmas.

– 44 stories

Write a story that takes place over the eight nights of Hannukah.

– 5 stories

Set your story at a work holiday party,

– 35 stories

Write about a cynical character realizing they do have something to celebrate after all.

– 47 stories

Write a story about an unconventional holiday tradition.

– 51 stories

Stories

Joy

Weekly Contest #178

Word Count: 2,400 “JOY”  By: Charlie “Where's your wife?” “She fell into the arms of the Great Grave Master.” “You mean the grave digger down the street?!” “Heavens no! My wife is dead.” Ignorance is a blind cessation, but in Jersey City, the air snapped. Some braved it for the musts, like: cereal, candles, toilet paper and milk.   For widower, Christopher Winifred, the next coming hours of his life were to be part of a dreadful plan. Fate mercifully weaved another form. “I sensed somethi...

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Meaning

Weekly Contest #178

Rojan Codac put his hand onto the window and admired the city lights below him. It left a sparkling outline of precipitation on the cool glass. The view was deathly high. The blue moon light reflected his face back to him. He admired it for a second. Wrinkles carved deep into his brow, each one telling a different story of woe and anxiety. His pale, almost sickly skin reflected how he had slaved away, never stopping to admire the sunlight. The gray of his hair showed how he had relentlessly met every deadline, until all the color was drained...

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Christmas Candle

Weekly Contest #178

When finally, the wick has burnt to the end, I cease to serve my purpose – that’s my deepest fear but it is inevitable. I am a Christmas Candle. I exist in a bright red cylindrical glass cup and from the description on the cardboard box I was packaged in, I apparently smell like ‘Holiday Cheer’ and I really hope that is what I spread when the humans light me up. I know it’s a little silly for me to think that my existence even matters because I am a mere candle…but I like to think that I have served my duty on this world when I have reached ...

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Merry Christmas Indeed

Weekly Contest #178

TW: this story contains substance abuse, physical violence, and suicide. "Merry Christmas!" they always say with those festive, carefree smiles. It's like they don't realize that sometimes a mommy runs away on Christmas day because Daddy came home drunk on Christmas Eve and beat her so bad she was too scared to stay. And then the next year you hear him crying and saying Mommy's name over and over while he sits in his worn out recliner and stares out the window. And then you wake up Christmas morning to a loud bang, and you run into th...

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Love Always Wins

Weekly Contest #178

Ricardo had sat in the same prison cell for four years. His life seemed as though it was over before it got started well. His mom died while he was in prison, and they took him to the funeral in handcuffs. His dad died of alcohol poisoning alone, and he had no idea where his two sisters were. He turned twenty-one in a few days and had no future for himself. "This life is only for the ones with family, and it looks like I have none," he told his cellmate. 'At least you know who your parents were." "Hey Ricardo," pack your stuff. You go...

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Miracle on View of What Street.

Weekly Contest #178

Hilary, aka Hilaria, had washed up and tidied the kitchen after their Christmas brunch. For a little while, she had been a short order cook, over there in View Street. View of what, she wondered, as she glanced from her window to the streetscape. He husband, Ben, was snoring in his arm chair. Their adult sprogs and significant others had all driven off to their other obligations. It was the magical spirit of Christmas. Sighing, Hilaria picked up her latest craft project. She lived somewhere in the Great Southern Land, so it was summer for Ch...

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The Longest Night

Weekly Contest #178

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. The song plays in the bar and I shake my head, “no, it’s not,” I whisper to myself. We are in the midst of Winter and the Festive Season draws nigh. The Winter Festival is ancient. Older even than I. These fragile and transitory beings that mill about me, in a frenzy of short lived lives, like to pretend thing are not as they are, they all put on an act, too afraid to show their true natures and actually be themselves. I am a rock in this stream of frantic life. I watch them painting their fa...

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Ghost Story: real or fake? You decide.

Weekly Contest #178

It was the week before Christmas, and all throughout the small town of Oakdale, people were bustling about, preparing for the holidays. But in one particular house, the preparations were a little bit different than the rest. You see, in the Smith household, they had an unconventional holiday tradition that had been passed down for generations. It was a tradition that always caused a stir in the community, but the Smith family loved it just the same. Every year, on the evening of Christmas Eve, the entire family would gather around the fire...

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April Fools

Weekly Contest #178

Mild swear warning The day started off normally, the Aunties pitched together to make a feast and the Uncles decorated the courtyard. The grandparents sat in the shade and watched, and the children ran around, getting under everyone's feet. I sat down under the big oak, reading my new favourite book, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley. I was thinking up some new pranks as well, our family is well known for its elaborate, and exciting jokes. This year I thought I might do something with the ducks. I had a vague idea including balloons, streamers, ...

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Something Old. Something New.

Weekly Contest #178

Kandiss looked around the apartment. It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas. As she threaded the garland around and through the bannister, thinking of the years she had done the same with her mom, she couldn’t help but mourn for David’s traditionless upbringing. At the bottom of the spiral stair that led to their bedroom, she looked at the tiny living area and felt nothing but joy. A micro version of the Christmas splendor that she had basked in growing up with her family in Bloomfield Hills. A suburb of Detroit. R...

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On the First Day of the Year – Two Coffins, One Darby and One Kleese

Weekly Contest #178

3 things that were inconsequential to my present predicament: Immobility. Apnea. Darkness. For the majority of my existence, I loathed suffering from depression. The days of senseless intermittent paralysis introduced a whole new narrative, wherein the illogical reason of laying in my own feces and urine became much more logical as I slept in my bathtub for months. Dr. Mordel configured some random psychiatric therapy, which spawned an alternative treatment to obliterate my thoughts of feeling suffocated. Trellis Tribbet. The only job given ...

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The Betwixtmas Escape Plan of '22

Weekly Contest #178

The Betwixtmas Escape Committee Meeting Minutes of '22 Attendees: Charlie Potts, Head of Operations; Rachel Huffington-Hill; Strategic Planner; cousin Charlotte, junior Family Representative (minute taker); Aunt Matilda, elder Family Representative (Chair). Apologies: Royston Rockall, Head of Delivery. Venue: Back Room at The Old Chimes Bar and Grill. Date and time: the evening prior to Betwixtmas. The meeting was declared quorate by Aunt Matilda with apologies from Royston Rockall noted. AM welcomed the Committee members present and ask...

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Christmas Spirit

Weekly Contest #178

Beth. Disappeared when she was 16, braces still on, smile still crooked. Disappeared on the 24th of December, 11:20 pm.   The police searched the oily sea, the seething fields, the snaking roads. To no avail. Every year, on 24th December, we hunt for a new clue. Each clue takes us a little closer to understanding what happened that night. And why. This is our Christmas game, and these are its rules:  Rule 1: Gather the Suspects The policeman, why does he go to your old house, and decorate your Christmas tree every ye...

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Two Liars

Weekly Contest #178

The doctor took out two one-hundred dollar bills and placed them in front of the bartender. 'Top shelf? Maybe treating ourselves for Christmas?' the bartender said. 'No. It’s got to last the day. Although, quality is important. Give me the most drinkable bottled beer you have.' The doctor said.  The bartender turned and went to the bottom fridge behind her. She opened the door  and took out a bottle, showing it to the doctor.  'Import ok?' 'As you said, it is Christmas' The bartender smiled and took out an additional bot...

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"Remember When We Kissed?"

Weekly Contest #178

“Hey!” Charles called, drawing the word out, as a greeting from a person I hadn’t seen in a while. He extended his arm with a firm handshake. “How are you?”  “You know, I’m alright,” I answered vaguely. Charles smelled like smoke mixed with the fresh bread and chestnuts sold on the streets. “How ‘bout you?” “Doing well,” he said, smiling. I wanted to smile when he did; he still had that effect on me. “That’s good. Wanna go get a drink?” “Sure.” We walked away down the street. To anyone else, it would’ve looked like a meeting of two...

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