In Lieu of Gifts

The Prompt

“No gifts this year. Just one little favor.”

Great. No shopping, no wrapping, no guessing someone’s sweater size. Except now the family is hearing what the favor actually involves, and a gift card is starting to look pretty good.

For this challenge, write a fiction story about someone who asks their family for one unusual favor instead of holiday gifts. Maybe they need help pulling something off, want an honest answer to an uncomfortable question, or have a request that sounds harmless until everyone hears the details.

Take it somewhere funny, heartfelt, or a little dark. You decide what the favor is and how the family handles it. They might wish they’d kept the receipt.

In order for your submission to qualify, it must be:

• A short story (any style or structure is welcome)
• 3,000 words or less.
• Submitted to the Fiction community. Your story will be disqualified if it is submitted to any other community.
• Submitted before December 11, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST.
• Your work must be original and unpublished.

The Prizes

• Grand Prize: $1000
• 4 Winners: $200 each
• 10 Honorable Mentions: $15 each

For your story to be eligible, it must be 3,000 words or less and adhere to our Community Guidelines.

Stories published on Vocal and entered into the Challenge up until December 11, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.

The In Lieu of Gifts Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+, visit https://vocal.media/vocal-plus.

To be eligible to win, you must be over the age of 13 and reside in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need a Stripe account created and connected to receive prizes. Entrants located outside of these countries will not be eligible to win.