Challenge 36: Christmas Prompts

[IsabellaRose]

THE CHALLENGE

Pick a prompt from the list below and see what kind of story you can create. OR... just write something holiday themed.

• "What do you mean we’re out of hot chocolate?"
• cuddling by the fireplace
• “Hey, no peeking!”
• “Wait, did you spike the eggnog?”
• “Where did all of this mistletoe come from?”
• trimming the tree
• “Your hands are freezing!”
• “Aren’t you cold like that?”
• watching movies under a pile of blankets
• “Where on EARTH did you get that sweater?”
• “How did you manage to get tangled up in tinsel?”
• kissing in the snow
• “Here, let me help you with the scarf.”
• opening presents
• “You know, when you said ‘Christmas party,’ this isn’t what I was expecting.”
• “Come on, just wear the Santa hat for a little bit?”
• “There’s no way I’m letting you spend Christmas alone.”
• “Oh come on, it’s just a tradition.”
• stuck in a snowstorm
• “You’re under the mistletoe so stop stalling and just kiss.”
• “Just open the damn present.”
• “I mean, I knew you had Christmas spirit but this is ridiculous.”
• “It’s almost midnight.”
• “Why is it so cold?”
• “Shhhhh, don’t tell [pronoun of choice]!”
• “Wait, you mean this whole time, you hated peppermint?”
• “I feel like there’s more frosting on you than on the gingerbread.”
• “What are you doing with that mistletoe– oh.”
• “I guess… this is when we kiss?”
• “So… what are your plans for New Year’s?”
• “You’re perfectly welcome to kiss whomever you wa–”
• “Did everyone else come with a date?”

Deadline

• Midnight (EST) , 4 Jan 2025

Limits

• 1 entry per person
• no strict word limit, but please try to keep it around 2,000 words- remember, everyone has to read these to vote

Prizes

• 1st Place: 4,000 EcchiCredits
• 2nd Place: 2,000 EcchiCredits
• 3rd Place: 1,000 EcchiCredits

SECRET CHRISTMAS BONUS:

• 500 EcchiCredits to anyone who enters (until I run out of EcchiCredits)

Edited 5 hours ago by IsabellaRose

[NyxAvatar69]

Back by popular(?) demand, another tale about the mysterious spirit of Christmas, who aims to make people's Christmas better...even if her methods are a bit odd.

 

It was almost Christmas, and instead of hanging out with his friends or spending time with family, Steven found himself sitting at home by himself, watching Christmas movies on TV.  His family was supposed to have been home for Christmas, but due to work, they had to change their plans.  Steven had expected his parents to be busy with work, but as he looked through his text messages on his phone, he couldn't help but sigh.

"Everyone's busy with their families or their girlfriends.  Isn't that just great," Steven said to himself, tossing his phone next to him on the couch and picking up the remote.  As he flipped through the channels, he couldn't help but mutter to himself.  "We haven't had Christmas together since I started high school.  I thought things would be different this year, but why should I be surprised they chose work over spending time here?" he muttered, turning his gaze towards the window.  A light snow had been falling outside since the early afternoon.  According to the weather, it was going to snow all night long.

"It's almost midnight.  Maybe I should turn in early.  Not like I'm going to be doing much tomorrow, anyway," Steven said to himself.  He turned off the TV and grabbed his phone before he headed up to his room.  Once he closed the door to his room, a breeze slowly pushed open the front door just enough for a slender hand to push the door open.  Slowly walking into the house was a woman with long, blonde hair, dressed in a red and white Santa outfit.

"This looks like the place," the woman said to herself, glancing around the living room.  The smile on her face was gone the moment she saw the area had not been decorated at all for the holidays.

"He doesn't even have a tree?  That's no good.  It's a good thing I'm here," the woman said.  With a mere snap of a finger, a gust of wind from outside rushed into the living room.  The once ordinary living room was quickly decorated with Christmas accessories, a large, decorated pine tree had appeared in the corner near the TV, and a wooden carving of Santa Claus was placed in the center of the table near the couch.  The last piece followed, a number of wrapped presents appeared underneath the Christmas tree, one after the other.  Once the job was complete, the woman put her hands on her hips and gave a satisfied nod.

"There we go!  It's perfect!  Steven should love it," the woman said to herself.  She walked around the living room a bit, looking at some family pictures on the wall.  Her blue eyes fell on a picture of a young Steven and his parents along with the family dog.  She didn't know what the history was between Steven and his family, but as the legendary Spirit of Christmas, she knew her job was to help Steven rekindle a love for Christmas.  She smiled a bit, remembering the man she helped last year, a man who had a falling out with an old friend and blamed Christmas for it.  While she didn't know if he had begun taking steps towards accepting friends again, but a large part of her was sure that her visit to him guided him on the right path.

 

Instead of going straight to bed, Steven spent some time on his phone, reading stories on the internet.  One in particular stood out to him, regarding a rumor about a person who apparently appeared around Christmas.  Whether they were an actual person or some kind of phantom, nobody know, because nobody apparently ever saw them.

"It's probably just a story.  Things like that don't make any sense," Steven said to himself.  He was about to scroll down until he heard his door open slightly.  The young man spotted a number of bright lights coming from the open crack, causing him to sit up.  He knew that he turned off all the lights before he went upstairs, and he didn't have any multi colored lights in the house.  Getting off the bed, he decided to go and investigate.  As he walked down the stairs, his eyes widened.  Somehow, the entire living room had been decked out in Christmas decorations, including a tree and presents.  Steven was sure he had nothing to do with such a thing, especially in such a short amount of time.

"How did all of this..." he questioned as he stepped down the stairs.  As he made his way towards the center of the room, the smell of hot chocolate hit him.  He turned towards the source of the smell, a single red and white coffee cup filled with hot chocolate sitting on the table in front of a carved wooden statue of Santa Claus.

"What's going on here?  Did someone break in?  Then again, who'd break into someone's house and set up decorations and make hot chocolate?" Steven questioned.  Deciding to look further into the situation, he made his way into the kitchen, but found no sign that anything had been used recently.  Only the plate he had used earlier in the night when he ate dinner sat in the sink, waiting to be washed.  Steven raised an eyebrow and turned around, heading back to the living room.  When he got there, however, he found a blonde haired woman sitting on the couch, drinking a cup of hot chocolate as if she had always been there.  Steven froze as the woman's blue eyes met his.  He didn't know who she was or how she even got inside his house, but for some reason, the moment their eyes met, he found himself unable to say anything to her.

The woman set down her cup and stood up, walking over to Steven.  He took a subconscious step back as she approached him, the smell of peppermint and pine hitting his nose once she had gotten close to him.

"It's good to meet you, Steven.  My name is Anna, a spirit of Christmas," the woman said with a smile.

'Like the rumor online?  There's no way.  She doesn't look like some kind of phantom, but how'd she get into my house?' Steven thought to himself.

"I'm here to help you.  You don't like Christmas very much, do you?" Anna asked.  Steven wasn't sure how to respond to such a random question, or what the strange woman meant by helping him.

"I don't think that's any of your business," Steven answered, but Anna only laughed a bit.

"Helping people who don't like Christmas anymore is my business.  All I want to do is help you," Anna said, stepping closer to Steven.  As Anna got closer, Steven stepped away until his back was up against a wall.

"Just let me help you and I'll make your Christmas much better for you," Anna whispered.  Steven could smell chocolate in the air as she moved closer to him.  She slowly leaned in and pressed her lips against his.  She used her body to push him against the wall as she kissed him.  As Anna quickly deepened the kiss, Steven found his vision getting oddly blurry.  Before he knew it, everything had gone white, but in the haze, he heard Anna's voice in his ear.

"It's almost Christmas, so I'll give you a nice memory, so you can start to like Christmas again,"

 

When Steven was a child, him and his parents would spend every Christmas together as a family.  There were years they would take a trip, but most years, they would stay home, open presents, and play around outside if it snowed heavily enough that day.  Relatives would've sometimes visited, and the night usually ended with the family having a nice meal together before watching Christmas movies with some egg nog until it was time for bed.  For most of Steven's life, that had been his Christmas experience, and he would always enjoy it.  From going out to pick out a tree, to decorating and writing a letter to Santa Claus.  Even though he had gotten older and found out Santa was fictional, the rest of the family's Christmas traditions remained solid.

Things changed drastically once Steven began high school, however.  His parent's jobs had gotten far more demanding and that led to them spending less time with him.  From his point of view, it had felt like they were intentionally distancing themselves from him.  The Christmas of his first year of high school, his parents had been too busy with work to be there.  The same thing happened the year after that, and after that, all the way up until his senior year.  They had even barely managed to get time off work to attend his graduation, but by that point, the distance between them had grown greatly.  The way his usual Christmas traditions ended, from Steven's point of view, led to him slowly beginning to resent Christmas.  To him, it slowly became just another day.

When Steven opened his eyes, he found himself sitting on the couch.  His clothes were mysteriously missing, and in front of him was Anna.  She was on her knees in front of him with his hard cock between her breasts.  Anna looked up at him and flashed him a smile before she started moving her breasts up and down his length.

"Do you really think your folks are avoiding you on purpose?" Anna asked.  Even though his mind was feeling foggy from the feeling his cock between Anna's soft breasts, he tried to consider the woman's question.  When he thought harder about it, he did notice that while they usually came home from work more exhausted than in the past, they had apparently been making far more money than before.

'Are they really doing it on purpose?' Steven thought to himself.  When he actually considered the possibility, he began to realize he had never considered asking them why or how their work suddenly became much more demanding.  Once they had started distancing themselves from him, Steven had been quick to make an assumption.  That assumption, at least from Steven's point of view, could've been what began the distancing from his family.

"Was it...my fault?" Steven asked.  Anna stopped moving and moved herself away from Steven's cock.  She slowly stood up and reached out for him, patting him on the head.

"You and your parents need to talk these things through.  Family can always get through things if they talk together," Anna replied, giving Steven a warm smile.  She moved towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck as she sat in his lap, pressing her breasts up against his chest while his cock slowly entered her wet pussy.

"If you promise to talk to your family, then-" Anna started to say, but she cut herself off when Steven's cock entered her with a loud moan.  She hugged Steven tightly as she moved her hips, taking his cock deeper into her.  Between the titfuck earlier and now, Steven found himself shooting a load of cum inside Anna not long after they started.  For a bit, the two sat there together before Anna leaned in for another kiss.  From there, Steven brought Anna upstairs to his room.  He didn't know why he felt like he wanted more sex, but once the pair had stepped into the room, it wasn't long before he had Anna bent over his bed with his cock inside her.  Wet sounds and loud moans rang out through the room as Steven fucked her again and again.  He didn't know how much time had passed before exhaustion finally took him and he fell asleep in his bed holding Anna close to him.

 

Steven woke up early the next morning in his bed.  His clothes were on him and the young man let out a low groan as he sat up.  He felt unusually tired, but he didn't know why.  The last thing he could remember before he went to sleep was reading about some rumor online before he went downstairs.  From there, everything else was a blur.  He scratched his head when he found himself unable to recall anything that happened after he went downstairs.  When he thought about it, Steven heard the front door opening.  He got out of bed and headed downstairs only to find his parents stepping inside the house, carrying several shopping bags with them.

"Mom?  Dad?  What are you doing here?  Don't you have work?" he asked.

"It's strange.  All of a sudden, the chief called me this morning and said I had the rest of the week off," Steven's dad said.

"I got a similar call.  With all the changes to the company lately, I'm surprised he could afford to such a thing," Steven's mom added.  Steven tilted his head, wondering what could've happened.  Something inside him felt like he had said something regarding how his parents were always busy with work.  He also remembered a promise, to talk to his family about things, even though he had no idea who had made him promise such a thing.

"So what's with the bags?" Steven asked.  His mom's eyes lit up and she ushered him over, excited to show off the things she had hoped to give him for Christmas.  The boy's parents marveled at Steven's hard work at decorating the living room, even though Steven was sure he had nothing to do with it.  He took the credit for it anyway, hoping to finally spend a Christmas with his family.

Outside, standing on a roof across the street, was a blonde haired woman dressed in a red and white Santa dress.  She watched Steven and his parents through the window with a smile on her face.

"I hope you enjoy your special present, Steven.  Merry Christmas," Anna said.  Once she said what she wanted to, the woman was gone, as if she had never been there to begin with.  The rumors of the mysterious spirit of Christmas would continue to be spread, and when someone's love for Christmas began to wane, stories of a strange woman would begin to crop up online. 

Nobody, however, has apparently actually seen this spirit of Christmas.

 

I went over by about 300 words, but I wanted a wholesome ending.  I may suck at writing smut, but I think a Christmas story needs a wholesome ending.

[Kissa]

“Just in time.” Aidan said when he heard the sound of approaching heels clacking against the floor. 

The familiar figure stopped in the doorway. Her tanzanite blue eyes appraised both the selection of bite-sized snacks and their maker. Aidan was closer to 40 than 30 and when the woman with adorable fox traits estimated him openly he felt the weight of every year on his shoulders. Ingeril looked like a woman in her prime. It was hard not to fear her interest might fade as time gnawed at his appearance. Yet, her red, full lips curved into a gentle smile and Aidan saw approval in the blue gaze. That wordless acceptance made the redhead feel like he could breathe freely again.

Aidan pulled a chair out for his companion. It didn’t go unnoticed, how Inge’s fingertips brushed against his side, as if it was an accident, as she passed him.
“Did you make all of this?”
“Store bought wouldn’t be good enough for you.”  Aidan replied as he yanked a wine bottle’s cork off and filled her glass.   
“It looks inviting.” Ingeril waited for the host to take his seat before she took a cranberry brie bite. “And the taste is good too. By the way, did you get that promotion you talked about?”
“You are looking at the new major general right now.” 
“Oh! You did it! I’m so proud of you!” Excitedly the fox clapped her hands together. She was the fox here, but such a simple but genuine compliment would have made Aidan wag his tail like crazy if he wasn’t a human and hadn’t lacked such appendage. Hearing those words had a bigger impact on him than he would have liked to admit.

It had been such a long time since the last time they had met. With ease Ingeril spoke like it was just yesterday when they saw one another. It felt cozy. Like time stood still for them. Aidan told willingly everything the dark haired lady wanted to know. He told about what was going on in his life, in good and bad. He told about his work, the encounters he had had, what had happened in the lives of their friends and all the people Ingeril hated. Counter questions were right on tip of the redhead’s tongue, but he didn’t say them aloud. Inge wouldn’t have answered any of them. 

By the time Aidan got to tell about their neighbors, he could see his companion’s interest vanishing. She was still politely listening to him, but the woman had pushed her chair further away from the table. Lazily she drew circles around the rim of the glass with her fingertip. 

“Zillain and Mike adopted a girl. Jennifer. They asked me to be her godfather.”
“How old is she?” 
“Ten. I guess you could say she is like Zillain because she isn’t good at school in anything that requires… academic prowess.” Ingeril smiled at his choice of words. It was Aidan’s way of calling someone stupid.

The woman raised the glass to her lips. After she licked her lips like she was catching a runaway drop from dripping down. “Christmas must be a happy time for her, with all the presents, bright lights and such…” 

Gracefully Inge crossed her legs in a way that made the hem of her skirt raise. As she did so, her eyes were glued to the man. They both knew he was watching her every move. Aidan loved how the vixen tempted him with small, seemingly innocent gestures without offering herself vulgarly like a cheap whore. He could almost see the lace border of her thigh sock. So close, yet so far. That was all the invite he needed.

“Yea. It must be a happy time for her. Them.” Aidan agreed as he stood up and circled to Ingeril. He offered his hand to her. There was a playful glint in her eyes as the fox lady played along and placed her hand on the larger hand. With one smooth movement Aidan pulled the woman up, spun her around like it was a part of well practised dance and swooped her off of her legs so he could grab her into a princess carry. 
Inge gasped theatrically. “Oh! The time for talking is over?”
“We can talk. About other things.” 

Carefully the soldier laid her woman down on the wide bed. He admired the sight on the bed, her curves, long legs, smooth skin, shiny black hair and pointy furry ears. Aidan threw his suit jacket somewhere on the floor and when Inge shook her head quietly, he stopped undressing. The dark fox wanted to unwrap him like a present at her own pace and he wasn’t going to deny her that pleasure. 

Instead Aidan approached the woman impatiently. Ingeril pressed the heel of her shoe against the man’s shoulder when he leant in to kiss her. His weight pressed her knee near her head. 

“Slowly.” Inge whispered. It was a request and order at the same time. Aidan inhaled audibly.   

Despite being tall for a woman, the fox was clearly shorter and smaller than the human man. Yet, like a gentle giant, he obeyed without complaints. Aidan stood on his knees and cradled Ingeril’s foot between his hands. Lightly he kissed her ankle as his amber eyes observed the woman’s face carefully.

“Yes, my mistress.” Aidan answered with a little smirk as he began kissing his way up along her leg.

She might want to start slowly, but it was only the beginning. Before long she would grow tired at playing a good girl and would want more, rougher and harder. Tender lovemaking wouldn’t be enough to satisfy her as the fox fed on pure passion in its rawest form. Ingeril wanted and needed to feel chains breaking lust. She wanted to lose herself in the swirls of heated sex and make Aidan lose himself too. 

It meant letting go, stepping into the zone that was borderline abusive, going so far he would be afraid of actually hurting her. When Aidan introduced something new he had got for her, asking for permission to try it, the woman was instantly into it. She never missed a chance to lure him deeper into debauchery. 

It was a long wild ride. Ingeril wasn’t satisfied before they were both sweaty, wet, sticky and out of breath. And a bit sore. Inge looked fully satisfied as she curled against Aidan’s side. Just seeing the happy look on her beautiful face as he gently stroked her ear, giving her the well deserved aftercare love, made it worth the exhaustion the man was feeling right now. They were in no hurry. The biggest mistake Aidan could have made now was getting up and starting to fuss about something. He remained there, enveloping Ingeril in his devoted love as they spoke in whispers and basked in the afterglow of their shared sexual adventure.

 

 

Afterwards Aidan ran a hot bubble bath for them to soak in and when they were decent again he took the fox out to eat. He had made a VIP reservation well in advance to a new fusion restaurant. The food was excellent and the place had a pleasant atmosphere. From there they went ice skating in the park and strolled down the streets while enjoying hot cocoa and browsing store windows.

Their final stop for the night was on a rooftop. From there they would have a great view of a fireworks show that was to begin shortly. A pilot and a military helicopter stood further away in the background of the pair. 

“Aidan… Have you ever thought about moving forward? Seeing someone else?” Ingeril asked quietly as she looked at the stars in the clear night sky.
Her question made the redhead sad. “I tried being open minded. Open to the possibility of… something. But it’s no use. When I’m with someone else, all I can think of is you. I can’t stop comparing everyone to you. Inge, you win every time in a comparison. Even your-” faults “non-perfect qualities are a solid part of you. Good and bad, they are what makes you you. I don’t want to lose even one part of you.” I don’t want to lose you.
Ingeril opened her mouth to argue, but then closed her lips and looked elsewhere. “You are stupid.” The fox snapped, but there was no fire in her words.
Aidan knew she was feeling emotional and wanted to hide it. “Come on. Don’t depreciate your taste in men like that.”
“Tsk!” Ingeril huffed and Aidan couldn’t resist the temptation of patting her head between the ears as her tail swished angrily. 

 

“It’s almost midnight.” He sounded miserable. 
“Ssh” Ingeril whispered and placed her finger against his lips, sliding the finger into his mouth and pulling the man closer like a huge fish so she could shut him up with a kiss. You don’t want to hear it, Aidan thought as he accepted the kiss and made it deeper. He pulled her body against his and held her tightly. 

Then they were interrupted by the sound of fireworks exploding in the distance. A red light burst on the dark night sky and shone on them. Bit reluctantly Inge turned around to watch the wireworks show, while keeping Aidan’s arms around her. He felt her tail moving lightly between them. 

Aidan gave just a brief glance at the bright lights in the sky. To him seeing the colors reflect on Ingeril’s eyes was a more enchanting sight. The way wind brushed her hair, how cold made the tip of her nose and cheeks red, the way her lips curved into a smile, the light in her eyes… He wanted to engrave that image deep into his memory so it could never fade away. Ingeril turned around when she felt the redhead’s fingers touch her cheek. Gently she leant her cheek against his palm. 

“Aidan… You are the only man I have ever loved and will love. You are the only one that matters.” It was rare to hear her speak so tenderly. Those words tugged the man’s heartstrings and made his voice shake when he answered.
“I love you, Inge. Just you. Now and forever.” 

Aidan saw how one moment Ingeril leaned against his hand, he felt her warmth against his skin, the joy in the blue of her eyes his words brought… Then she was gone, like a beautiful dream. Her form turned into pure white, light snow that fell down on the ground, unable to hold its shape. 

Every time Ingeril left, leaving those words as her last words. Those words must have been important to her. Were they something you had wanted to say before your time ran out? Ingeril had died years ago. Aidan could never forgive himself for not being there then. When Ingeril appeared on Christmas, Aidan thought he had finally gone crazy. However, other people could see and talk with his sweet illusion. Every Christmas Inge came back to him. For 12 hours she was alive again. In those 12 hours his life had meaning again. 

During that time other people could see and interact with her, but once midnight took his lovely fox away it gave others false memories so no one but him remembered seeing her. The pilot wouldn’t remember Aidan coming here with someone, but Aidan would remember every precious detail. His body could still feel her touch, her warmth. The light scratches on his skin and bite marks on his shoulder proved to him he hadn’t gone insane. 

Aidan didn’t know why or how Ingeril returned back to live for one night, but it didn’t matter. Inge never answered his questions.  Every time Inge left it hurt like she tore his heart out of his chest. No matter how much pain Aidan would have to go through, he would do it over and over again if it meant he could have her with her. You are worth it.

Aidan stood still and looked at the wireworks. Tears made his vision blurry. He needed a moment to pull himself together. 

“We will meet again, my love. We will meet again.”

Edited December 29, 2024 by Kissa
pronoun typos