Make your protagonist go through a rite of passage.

Posted in Character on Jun 30, 2023

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✍️ 54 stories

“George William Scrivens” by Susan Eaton

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #205

George William Scrivens died the way he had lived – quietly and without a fuss. It came as bit of a surprise, even to him. One minute he was sitting in his cosy front room, preparing to watch his favourite programme on the television with a piping hot cup of tea. The next he was floating in the air staring down at his own body, slumped in his comfy chair as if he had fallen asleep. Perplexed he looked around. He watched as a diaphanous wisp of steam curled from the cup of tea cooling next to his neatly folded newspaper. The usual adverts cou...

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“One of Us” by Ela Mikh

Submitted to Contest #205

Monday “I don’t want to hear another word. This is not appropriate behavior for a young witch who is about to go through a Ceremony of Maturity.” “I don’t care! This is an old barbaric ritual that no one should be forced to do in today’s day and age. I’m almost fifteen! I should be able to choose what I want to do with my life. And no one told me it’s this Friday, I already have plans! I’m going to a concert.” “What do you mean you have plans? What concert? Are you going again to the human’s event? Why is this the first time I hear about it,...

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“Four to Three” by Shahzad Ahmad

Submitted to Contest #205

I screamed as furiously as the capacity of my lungs would allow but the words refused to travel the distance. My eyes, bursting with dread and horror, scanned the whereabouts of my new abode. I was hemmed in by some brownish material that felt hard and soft at the same time. I lay in a narrow, confined place that was just enough to house the length of my frame with the tip of my toe struggling to contain itself within the boundaries. A piece of white cloth was wrapped around my body and I could not breathe at all. I feared for my death out o...

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“The Peace Room” by James Larder

Submitted to Contest #205

‘Are you ready, Rex?’Aleka moved to the side of the white and chrome room.‘Just gimme a minute, love.’Aleka paused. Rex sighed as he took the opportunity to gather his thoughts, in privacy. How had it all come to this?No escape was possible but even if he could, escape- Why would he? Escape to what? His life was no life. It was an existence, at best- And a paltry one at that. Yet, Rex was an old man. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be here. That is, he was no criminal- Never had been. And he’d always done his best to be kind to others, even when t...

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“The Second Daughter” by Chandler Avery

Submitted to Contest #205

The Day of Immolation haunted me, I dreaded this day from the moment I had learned of it. Its looming presence hung over me, even in my sleep I could not get away from it. The nights were spent tossing and turning, screams coming forth from my mouth with such force I woke up hoarse and exhausted. No one else seemed to feel the same way as I did about Immolation Day. This apathy was something I couldn’t wrap my head around. Was I truly the only one who had strange feelings towards it? It seemed no one feared it like I did, it was a source of ...

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“Buck Ridge” by Dean Rielly

Submitted to Contest #205

“The time of your salvation is upon us, initiates. May the Fred and the Jane take their rightful places.”That’s my queue. This is what it’s all been leading up to: selling the apartment, the station wagon, leaving the kids... it will all have been worth it. To finally be clean. Pure. Cheryl DeVille is dead, I am a Jane and I belong! At least I will once I prove I’m worthy.‘Jane’ skirted through the crowd of a couple of dozen figures in crimson robes, their hoods up and shadowy faces obscured by masks crafted from animal skulls and other bone...

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“Passage” by Elizabeth John

Submitted to Contest #205

Trigger Warning: This story references female mutilation. Olivette sat and listened to her mother tell the stories. The bondo devils would come and they would celebrate, Folami would say. They would come, with their long robes adorned with strips of many colored-fabrics, and the black-wood masks atop their heads, increasing their height by at least a foot. They would dance in the dirt roads, the bondo devils, shrieking and wailing their song, as the villagers pranced behind th...

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“The Dehumanization of Adam Longtree” by Murray Burns

Submitted to Contest #205

The Dehumanization of Adam Longtree(Language.) 1. White-collar criminals out on bond get to wear white-collar attire to court. Adam Longtree’s attorney, a salaried Public Defender with a questionable commitment to the task, had him dressed in a dark blue suit with a white shirt and a bright red tie. Add clean-shaven, with every hair in place, and an endearing smile, Adam looked more like a figurine on top of a wedding cake than a hardened criminal. Unfortunately for Adam, the jury based its conclusions more on the facts of the case than...

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“The Sin Known Only to One” by C.P. Lewis

Submitted to Contest #205

“Who was your first time with?” His eyes shot open. The moment of ecstasy and comfort was suddenly smashed. Blood began to flow to his forehead and cheeks. He stared up at the ceiling, pretending not to have heard the question. However, he knew that she would not drop the inquiry so easily so he began running through all the things he could respond with. He was stuck somewhere between, he was still a virgin and it was with a hitchhiking fortune teller, when she asked again. This time pretending deaf wouldn’t work. “It was just with some ...

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“Moonlight's Birth” by Sarah Hopgood

Submitted to Contest #205

“Are you sure you want to?” the nervous voice of Mikael asked as he stared at the small goblet that rested upon an ancient stone pedestal that rested in the center of the basement and had esoteric lines and runes etched into the concrete floor surrounding it. “Love, I promise nothing bad will happen” came the voice of Johnathan, the young man who had captured Mikael’s heart at the age of fifteen upon the boy’s first day of school. Johnathan was only two years older than Mikael, but the pair had been inseparable from the moment...

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“Campbell Road” by Chris Maroney

Submitted to Contest #205

Mark: “GUESS WHAT! Cold front is coming this Saturday!” Rachel: “OMG I SAW THAT! Guess what that means?!” Initiation Time!!” Mark: “I’d bet you the electric is on. You think?” Rachel: “I’d bet it is too. I saw the realtor last night; she was doing a walk-through and she tested all the lights in the rooms. Nobody is living there yet though!” Mark: “That’s literally PERFECT!” Robin: “Wdym by that, what are you talking about?” Rachel: "You aren’t getting out of this; you know what we are talking about. We told you we would complete the initiati...

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“Kindling” by Cierra Lynn

Submitted to Contest #205

Sensitive Content Warning: Self-Harm, Substance Abuse The first thing you need to know is that there's no one around. I've been told that my disposition is that of someone who is not entirely there. Oddly, I must agree with that sentiment. It must drive people away when they look into my eyes and they can acknowledge I can hear them but it's somehow still clear I do not want to be where I am at all. I can put on the most juvenile, sunshine smile to try and ease everyone but the smart ones, the people who matter, always see right through it...

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“My Window, I was just a blank sheet” by Hafni Hafsah

Submitted to Contest #205

My window, I was just a blank sheetNow, my window has disappeared, the window that used to be where I looked out when it was raining, while sitting on one of chairs’ handrail next to it. Chairs made of teak, which I used to think were worthless, because the colorful couches at my friends’ house were softer and more valuable. But now I see that chairs displayed in someone’s big house porch who happens to be the owner of teak furniture near my rent residence.Wow! Then a thought came to pay a visit, how valuable the chair was, even though it's ...

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“The Ceremony of Ju” by Gert Van Buiten

Submitted to Contest #205

It began long ago. Too long to express in your language, unsurprisingly - but think back to the beginning of the universe.What, Big Bang? Ha! I had forgotten about that, but no, I mean the beginning. While the fluffy stuff you call space was still in a jar and the thing which you call light was still enveloped in the dreams of my father.You’re right, I’m not making much sense am I? Forgive me, for it has been a while since I have spoken.In any case! Sat around the table, so to speak, was myself, still young then, gleaming with curiosity and ...

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“Absolution” by Vladimir 4757

Submitted to Contest #205

Far into the black vacuum of space, through the empty abyss, a spaceship lands on a lonely planet, made of water, where an eternal typhoon rages on, and people live in fear. Two Cultists arrived on this planet, the planet of Ossieus, with one goal in mind : to kill a God.“Wretched, Move forward and survey.” The Rohessian Hunter radioed as she left her spacecraft. She was wearing an all-black armored overcoat with a specialized mask that had four lenses, with three on the right side of the mask in a triangular pattern and the fourth one on th...

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Make your protagonist go through a rite of passage.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 54 stories

“George William Scrivens” by Susan Eaton

“One of Us” by Ela Mikh

“Four to Three” by Shahzad Ahmad

“The Peace Room” by James Larder

“The Second Daughter” by Chandler Avery

“Buck Ridge” by Dean Rielly

“Passage” by Elizabeth John

“The Dehumanization of Adam Longtree” by Murray Burns

“The Sin Known Only to One” by C.P. Lewis

“Moonlight's Birth” by Sarah Hopgood

“Campbell Road” by Chris Maroney

“Kindling” by Cierra Lynn

“My Window, I was just a blank sheet” by Hafni Hafsah

“The Ceremony of Ju” by Gert Van Buiten

“Absolution” by Vladimir 4757

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story during a full moon night.

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

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

307

Contest entries

130

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: