OK, writerly types, time to tell us your yuletide yarns

The holiday season officially has begun, and what better way to celebrate than with a nice - or otherwise - story?

We're asking readers to take pen to paper (or cursor to monitor) and write an original story about the holidays. It can be a funny story, a serious story, a bizarre story or, really, any kind of story that comes into your always-creative minds (that can appear in a family newspaper, of course).

To add to the temptation, we're making this a contest with a $100 prize. The rules are simple. Original stories only (that is, your own idea, and not a story or story idea lifted from somewhere else). No more than 300 words. And, your story must concern some aspect of the holiday season, ideally with a Las Vegas angle.

Oh, yeah, there's one other thing. Your story must include these words: reindeer, jolly, wise men, dickens, humbug, partridge, star, bell, mistletoe, tinsel, inn and stockings.

Didn't see that coming, did you? But we think this adds a challenge that is both entertaining and fun.

We'll publish the best stories we receive in the Dec. 23 Living section and online. Either way, we have to have your stories in hand by 5 p.m. on Dec. 7.

Send them to: Holiday Stories, Features Department, Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070. Or, email them to jprzybys@reviewjournal.com (make sure you write "Holiday Stories" in the subject line).

Either way, make sure you also give us your name, age, address and a daytime phone number at which we can contact you if necessary.

Good luck.