Write about a character who develops a special ritual to cope with something.

Posted in Angst on Jun 30, 2023

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✍️ 93 stories

“Write Rite- a Mitzee story ” by Michelle Oliver

TW-Mentions death of a childDear DiaryMy name is Sarah and I’m eight years old. I have gotten this butiful book from Mummy to rite in. She says I can rite all my wurries and wishes in it.Well, I wish that canser didn’t exzist! Tomorrow the doctar is gonna take away my eye, bekoz there’s a lump and it’s hurting my eye. I’m gonna be a pirate.I’m scarred :(But if I’m reel brave, Mummy said I can get a kitten.:) Sarah🙂...

33 comments 33

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“Six Syllables” by Scott Christenson

In Japan, everyone says “Itadakimasu” before each meal. It's an unquestioned tradition. There are many such rituals in Japan: the aisatsu greetings for good morning and good night, bowing to superiors, the proper way to use chopsticks, that go back so far in Japanese history, people can’t imagine it being any other way.Everyone except for our son Kenji. He likes to make his own rules and has long ago decided uttering six syllables before eating is an inefficient waste of everyone's time.<...

25 comments 25

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“Friday, 9th November ” by Oskar Reiss

TW: suicidal thoughts, death, gory detailsMadison Rydell put the roses under the faucet, pricking her thumb on one of the thorns. She reached for the scissors and cut off the ends, a sublimation of her desire to do exactly the same to one of her fingers. Snip, snip, snip. Maddie remembered what her parents’ fingers looked like when she found them, each moving with a wet crunch as she prised them from the bedsheets. How incongruously easy, she thought, it would be to chop off her fingers now, the teeth of a plier...

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“Waiting” by Frostie Whinery

Two people are living in your home now. They stand by the windows in the front room, heads thrown back, shoulders shaking with laughter. I feel awkward, sitting here in my car in the dark, watching them like I’m some sort of creep. But since you’re gone, I don’t know what else to do. They moved into it about a month after hospice carried you out on a gurney. To them, the apartment was a clean start, a n...

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“BREAKING POINT” by Charles Corkery

BREAKING POINT 6.30am -slop out. 7.30am -breakfast. 8am -lock up. 10am -roll call. 10.30am -yard recreation. 12 noon -lunch. 1pm -yard recreation. 3pm -internal association. 5pm -supper. 6pm -lock up. 8pm -lights out. Get used to it. This is it. Your daily routine for the rest of your life. Yes, it’s monotonous. Yes, it could destroy your will to...

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“Paper Planes” by Sophia Gardenia

What is it like to fly, I wonder? The rusted metal of the bridge groans and creaks as cars hurtle over it. Standing by one of the stout lamp posts fixed to the railing, I stare at the gritty concrete, not wanting to look over the edge. The wind howls and moans under the bridge. Pedestrians rush past me, yelling into their phones and cursing as they spill coffee over their starched white shirts. Everythi...

23 comments 23 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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“The Mailbox” by Nina H

She had the backbone of an earthworm. Skin as thick as a green grape on a hot summer’s day. They said “Be ready for rejection” and “Learn to accept the silence” after a submission. Well, she tried. But she sought validation like a parking garage attendant seeking the time stamp on those little tickets. From her parents, her friends, even her cat Sophocles, who learned to purr the sadness out of her while snuggl...

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“The Feast” by David Ader

Leaving the market, Mabel constantly adjusted her heavy grocery bags to maintain a hold. It was a struggle, but she managed to find them a resting place against the soft protrusion of her ample belly. She also held an ear-to-ear grin anyone would see if it weren’t for those overflowing bags largely hiding her face. She was going to have a feast; crab cakes, a lobster roll, a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, chosen because of its pret...

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“Humbrol no.23 Duck Egg Blue” by Chris Miller

A Spitfire. Possibly a Mk. V heading back to Coningsby after a display. It throbbed down the coast, low enough to be seen through the front window of the café. A brown-green dream machine. He’d slept under one for years. It dangled on fishing line, high above his bed. They'd built it together on the kitchen table. Just the two of them, when tha...

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“Why Do You Write?” by Allan Bernal

So, you went and said the word you shouldn’t have as a teacher. But that was the whole point of teaching morality and ethics – to educate on discrimination. And you thought since you live further up north, there’s no way the parents and school would react as harshly as they do in Florida, right? Well, you were wrong. Doesn’t matter if the students agreed with you in class. Doesn’t m...

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“The Boba Master” by John K Adams

Adrian dragged the last of his stuff into his freshman year dorm room. ‘First dibs on the bed…’ he thought. He arranged his luggage to unpack as needed. He left space for his roommate, whom he had not met. Adrian sat on the bed and checked his list. He had his class schedule and books, a heavy load. His counselor said to go easy first semester. Adrian wasn’t there to party. He aimed to fin...

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“Counting” by Z. E. Manley

1 Tess tugged at the white thread of her ripped jeans, twisting it around her finger as the muffled voices of the adults slipped under the door. She twisted the thread three times to the left, unwound it four times to the right, then three times to the left again. 3, 4, 3. The counting had become a ritual. It brought order to the chaos of her life. So did this hallway. But she hated the hallway. <...

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“Derek's Dilemma” by Denise Mauer

They’d all been dead so long that no one really remembered how they’d gotten there. There had been a fire, and a lot of pain and fear. It was just easier not to think about it at all, and eventually the memories grew hazy. The old house was repaired and sold; and renovated and sold again. Time passes strangely for ghosts – sometimes solid and trudging, sometimes soft and fluid, and sometimes in difficult to grasp flashe...

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“SPEECHLESS_a walk in my shoes with AFOs_” by KANGEE GREEN

tw – physical, sexual, and caregiver abuse, ableism, self-harm, and mental health....I screamed for 37 minutes this morning because I wanted to wear my Cheetah t-shirt. My aid put on my plain gray one, but I didn’t want to wear it. She didn’t see the point in changing me, even though it is my shirt and my body she is putting it on. I am 27 years old, but my aides cut my hair short so I can’t suck on and eat it and they cut my nails without asking.I screamed, but I di...

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“Butterfly” by Myranda Marie

No full moon tonight, no dancing naked or any other magical cliche from a pop culture movie or book series. She was serious, digging deep into her psyche for answers, or at the very least, divine guidance. Admittedly, it had been some time since she called upon her ensorcelled inheritance, but her autopilot seemed to be malfunctioning. She knew it was time to invoke celestial assistance. At one time, a...

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Write about a character who develops a special ritual to cope with something.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 93 stories

“Write Rite- a Mitzee story ” by Michelle Oliver

“Six Syllables” by Scott Christenson

“Friday, 9th November ” by Oskar Reiss

“Waiting” by Frostie Whinery

“BREAKING POINT” by Charles Corkery

“Paper Planes” by Sophia Gardenia

“The Mailbox” by Nina H

“The Feast” by David Ader

“Humbrol no.23 Duck Egg Blue” by Chris Miller

“Why Do You Write?” by Allan Bernal

“The Boba Master” by John K Adams

“Counting” by Z. E. Manley

“Derek's Dilemma” by Denise Mauer

“SPEECHLESS_a walk in my shoes with AFOs_” by KANGEE GREEN

“Butterfly” by Myranda Marie

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story during a full moon night.

Make your protagonist go through a rite of passage.

Make a character perform a ceremony to set something or someone free.

Write about a character who breaks free from a tradition to create a new one.

Contest #205

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

315

Contest entries

134

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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