TBT's Winter Short Story Contest

[Cosmic-chan]

i'm just glad mine got accepted lmao, even if nobody read it. god knows i spent too long agonizing over whether or not the last part would get me disqualified.

Don't make me pull up my old fanfictions to show you what's graphic

 

[oranje]

This contest was a lot of fun! It's fun to have writing prompts (I'll be looking forward to more in the future!) and for me it was a nice opportunity to get my writing groove back! I enjoyed reading the stories here and I wish the best of luck to all the writers!

 

[Corndoggy]

thankyou staff for this event. i admit i havent down anything creative since christmas and it was nice to unwind and write a short story, everyones entries were fantastic and im looking on voting for the winners. My suggestion to the staff: make a nice warm drink when reading to really get in the zone/.

 

[Chris]

My suggestion to the staff: make a nice warm drink when reading to really get in the zone.

I drank seven cups of tea today.

 

[Corndoggy]

I drank seven cups of tea today.

you are doing amazing work keep it up! cna never drink too much tea!!

 

[Cosmic-chan]

I drank seven cups of tea today.

Okay why don't we start another Boston Tea Party so you can drink a whole ocean worth the tea

 

[LadyDestani]

Not at all! It wasn't graphic so it was fine. The short story I wrote (but didn't have the guts to share) was worse. In it there was a fade-to-black implied adult scene and brief descriptions of war violence. So, long story short, you're good!

I would love to read your story. It sounds awesome!

Thank you again for this amazing contest. It was a great opportunity for me to get back into writing.

I still haven't had time to read everyone's stories, but I'm trying to work my way through them all. I've read so many amazing ones so far. I know the final vote is going to be a difficult one!

 

[```]

It was exciting reading through the stories from this contest, there were so many stories that I read and enjoyed! Thanks to the staff for an awesome event, and wishing all the best to the participants of this writing contest

 

[Aniko]

It was so hard to write, as someone else said, English is not my language and I never really learned it. It took me forever to write something simple. I wanted to give up every day haha! (but I made it, yeah!) I'm definitely better at reading!

 

[SpaceTokki77]

Writing my story was so, so fun! Writing is a hobby of mine, even though i’m not that great at it. Thank you so much to the staff for putting together this event as I missed most of the winter ones It was nice to come back to a fun challenge.
I know i’m definitely not going to win, but I have hopes for the raffle
Good luck to everyone

 

[Firesquids]

To be honest I hate writing. lol
I'm typically a visual artist, sculpture and photography being my go-to mediums. Writing puts a lot more pressure on me.
I'm self conscious of other people reading my work, it just makes me feel more vulnerable compared to other art forms.

Also, I found it humorous that I wasn't alone in feeling like my story was too graphic initially.
My original story had suicidal themes, but I thought that might be triggering to some, and decided to cut it.

That being said, thanks Vrisnem (and other staff invloved) for helping me step out of my comfort zone and try something I wouldn't have otherwise! You guys are awesome, as always!

 

[Xara]

I’m Glad We Met

Sprinkle moved in about a month ago. She claimed that it was an impulsive decision and while she never really talked about the home that she’d left behind, I could tell that she was anxious about starting a whole new life. It took a few days for her to begin unpacking (turns out she’s a procrastinator) but seemed at ease once she was no longer encased by emptiness.

She wandered around the island for a week, trying to mesmerize every inch of it. She inspected the signs and chased damselflies around. Sat beneath coconut trees and fished. She was constantly taking pictures, her eyes filled with awe at every new discovery. For a while, I didn’t think it possible for her to like anything more than her dream of becoming famous.

But then she met Whitney.
——
It didn’t take long for Sprinkle to introduce herself and once she had, she took one for the team and decided that she and Whitney were to be best friends. I thought that Whitney would be annoyed but with how much Sprinkle talked, I don’t think she had much time to think, anyway.

Sprinkle apparently has a pet pill bug that she named after herself. She wants to be a figure skater one day. She’s a pisces and turns out, pisces and virgo have great compatibility. Within a week, Whitney could probably write an autobiography about Sprinkle if she wanted to. At first, I thought she was just still nervous about having moved here and was just trying to make a friend but then I saw the look in her eye and suddenly, I understood.
——
The holidays were over and the process of taking down the decorations had begun. While Isabelle did most of the work, by the time she was done, there was broken glass everywhere since she kept dropping the ornaments. At one point, Marina tried to help her out but of course, her tentacles were slippery, the upbeat 11am music replaced by the sound of things breaking.

This didn’t bother Whitney, though. I watched as she did her daily yoga at the plaza, her eyes shut in concentration and her breathing relaxed.

“Whitney!”

Her eyes shot open, a frown on her face from being interrupted. We both turn just in time to see Sprinkle waddling towards us, something green clutched to her chest.

“Oh god.”

Sprinkle stops to stand right in front of her, a wide smile on her face and a gleam in her eye. Clutched in her flippers is a piece of mistletoe.

Whitney raises her eyebrows, “What exactly do you think you’re doing with that?”

Her smile turned mischievous and she stood on her tippy toes so that they were almost the same height, the mistletoe hanging above their heads.

“You know what the rule is.”

With a blank face, Whitney looks up at the mistletoe, analyzing it and for a moment, she looks like she might actually consider the possibility of giving in.

But even when Whitney suddenly grabs it and clunks her on the head with it, Sprinkle never stops smiling.
——
The first few weeks of January brought about a few snowstorms, the temperature cold and the ground icy. One day was particularly cold and even though she was bundled up, Whitney was still visibly shivering.

When Sprinkle notices, she immediately goes home, returning after a bit with a cup. She approaches Whitney and before she can say anything, the cup is being extended towards her.

They stare at each other silently for a moment before Sprinkle explains, “It’s hot chocolate.”

A flicker of surprise washes over her face before she carefully takes the cup into her grasp and while she’d never admit this out loud, she was pleased to see marshmallows swirling around in the chocolatey drink. She goes to take a sip when Sprinkle interrupts, “By the way, I may or may not have forgotten about it after drinking some of it so it might be more like warm chocolate now … I didn’t touch the marshmallows, though!”

Whitney stares at her for a moment before a smile appears on her face. She gestures for Sprinkle to move back a bit, scooping one of the marshmallows out of the cup. Sprinkle obliges with a puzzled look on her face but by the time she understood what was happening, the marshmallow had already bounced off her beak and landed on the ground.

Her cheeks flush with embarrassment but when Whitney begins to giggle, she can’t help the overwhelming fondness that she feels for the beauty in front of her, understanding that she’d do anything to hear that laugh for the rest of her life.
——
Three days later, Sprinkle was feeling under the weather. Even though she was positive it was just a mild cold, Whitney still worried, taking it upon herself to nurse Sprinkle back to health. She brought over medicine and made soup. Sprinkle protested but she couldn’t deny the warmth that she felt from being cared for.

Once the soup was devoured and the dishes were done, the teasing began. “You’re a penguin. How on earth did you catch a cold?”

Sprinkle’s laugh triggers a cough and so she settles for shrugging her shoulder instead, “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just special.”

She turned away so that she couldn’t see her smile, “You definitely are.” she thought.
——
Once she felt better, Sprinkle discovered that she really enjoyed running around on the beach, her extended flippers making it feel like she could fly. Whitney almost always watched, as if the sight was just about the most important thing she’d ever see but one day, she approaches Sprinkle, her paws behind her back and her steps uncertain. Upon noticing, Sprinkle immediately stills.

“What’s behind your back?” She questioned.

Whitney looked just about ready to faint or flee and quickly presented her with a bouquet of hand picked flowers. The arrangement was beautiful; white and blue flowers in a tiny vase, a snowflake on the front. At the sight, Sprinkle’s eyes began to water, which didn’t go unnoticed by Whitney.

“Don’t get all emotional. It’s not a big deal.”

She smiles, her chin wobbling, “It is, though,” she gently takes the bouquet, hugging it to her chest. Whitney has never been one for sappy stuff; romance never interested her and Hallmark movies made her gag but she’d be lying if she said that the sight in front of her didn’t make her heart flutter.
——
The next snowstorm had Sprinkle dragging Whitney out of her house to build a snowman; she did her best to remind Sprinkle of what had happened the last time she frolicked around in cold weather but when her attempts appeared fruitless, she decided to just go with it.

Sprinkle was shooting off instructions as if it were a professional sport; she would be responsible for the head while Whitney would take care of the body. Sounds easy, right?

It wasn’t.

The first attempt, Sprinkle accidentally rolled the snowball into a bush, destroying it. She was distracted throughout the second attempt and by the time she was ready to focus, a dung beetle had already pushed the snowball into the nearby river. Whitney also learnt very quickly that Sprinkle wasn’t good at dimensions when she made the snowball the same size as the body.

The snowman was not pleased. At all.

“You have got to be kidding me,” he deadpans.

Whitney refuses to look, her cheeks ablaze with embarrassment. Meanwhile, Sprinkle was laughing. Laughing. The snowman was definitely not amused and Whitney felt as if she had landed herself a role in a low budget Frosty The Snowman movie.

“If I could turn my head, I’d be glaring at you so hard right now.”

Ignoring his complaints, Whitney and Sprinkle locked eyes and just like that, all of the embarrassment faded away.

“I’m glad we met,” Whitney confesses.

Sprinkle’s eyes light up with surprise but most of all, love, “I’m glad we met, too.”

“I’m not,” the snowman chimed in.

Laughter fills the air once more and despite the cold, Whitney feels an intense warmth spread through her. For the longest time, she was appalled by the thought of vulnerability, unable to figure out the appeal in love but when she looks over at Sprinkle again, she finally understands.
​

Spoiler: <3

i finished this way sooner than i thought i would but honestly,, i’m pretty proud of it. writing is one of my biggest passions and i love doing it tremendously but with all of the personal stuff that i’ve been dealing with for the last several months + writer’s block, i haven’t really written anything in ages. even if i don’t win anything, i’m happy with how this turned out and it felt really nice to write something again. :’^)

edited 1/29; fixed a few grammatical errors. >_<

looks like the sequel might be about trouble in paradise.

 

[Chris]

We will be distributing the raffle prizes tomorrow! What are you all hoping to receive? ❄

 

[Sharksheep]

Any of the first 6 honestly. Snow bunny is probably my favorite.

 

[Foreverfox]

We will be distributing the raffle prizes tomorrow! What are you all hoping to receive? ❄

In order of preference:
1. Aurora egg
2. Frost egg
3. Aurora sky
4. Snow bunny
5. Cool feather

Maybe if I put it out into the ether, it will happen.

 

[LittleMissPanda]

I'm hoping for either a Snow Bunny (to represent the virtuous princess) or an Aurora Sky (to represent the beautiful Starkeeper) but mostly the Snow Bunny~

Here's hoping everyone gets just what they've been searching for! Best of luck

 

[Pintuition]

I'm not sure you can go wrong with any of the raffle prizes really! I'd love something to do with an aurora to go with my story's theme but I'm pretty TBT poor right now so bells wouldn't hurt either. Or any of the other collectibles! Last raffle I got one of the middle tiers of bells and it did contribute to helping me finish my lineup!


Good luck all!

 

[Xara]

We will be distributing the raffle prizes tomorrow! What are you all hoping to receive? ❄

i’m lowkey eyeing the aurora sky, snow bunny and the 2 eggs . aha good luck to everyone!! <3

 

[JellyBeans]

honestly I'd be happy with bells but that top five... maybe tomorrow is cool feather day good luck everyone, may the rng be in our favour!

 

[Kattea]

Any of the top 5 really, but mostly eyeing the Aurora Egg and Snow Bunny!