Holiday Writing Contest

Children's author Susanna Leonard Hill is hosting the 10th annual holiday writing contest! And I've decided to participate again. The theme this year is "holiday helpers." Here are a few of the rules for each entry:

-Must be 250 words or less

-Must be for children ages 12 and under

-Must be about someone helping someone else during the holiday

-Must have a full story arc

To read the full judging criteria, and all the amazing prizes, and the other amazing entries, click here.

Here is my entry for this year's contest. Thanks for reading! And hope you enjoy!

The Bakers’ Sweet Victory

By: Maryna Doughty

Word Count: 250

The Baker family was known for their kindness.

Flour was soft, Sugar was sweet, and Butter melted hearts.

But they were most famous for their winning cookies they entered into the Annual Christmas Cookie Convention every year.

Today was the convention, so the Bakers set out to defend their title. Flour, Sugar, and Butter mixed, rolled, and cut the dough, making Christmas cookie cottages. Trays of tiny houses baked until they had golden buttery edges. To decorate, the trio piped puffy frosting, making snowy rooftops, and dipped windowsills into sugar crystals for a frosty, icicle look.

These would surely win!

The Bakers set out to the convention with trays of divine designs. But… they spotted a sad sight.

Sprinkle sat hunched outside a building.

“What’s wrong?” Butter asked.

Sprinkle sniffled. “We’ve got nowhere to go for Christmas.” She pointed to her shaker bottle filled with baby sprinkles.

The Bakers didn’t know what to do. Sprinkle’s family needed a place to stay, but they’d ruin the designs if they populated the cookies.

The Bakers winced as they left Sprinkle and entered the convention instead.

Judges admired their perfect pastries.

They passed the first cut.

Second cut.

Third cut!

As judges prepared for the tasting, the Bakers paused.

Pondered.

Then pulled out of the competition.

They cheered as Cinnamon’s Snickerdoodles won.

The Bakers walked over to Sprinkle. “Here, these are for you. We didn’t get a blue ribbon, but giving you a home for the holidays is a win in our cookbook!”