Make your protagonist go through a rite of passage.

Posted in Character on Jun 30, 2023

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✍️ 54 stories

“The Library of Ashes” by Cassie Gibson

Submitted to Contest #205

The Library of Ashes has a sort of beauty, the beauty of charcoal drawings and sepia toned photos. Its colours are all muted, the air is a constantly moving stream of small particles - misting the eyes and giving the impression that at any minute the entire edifice might collapse into dust. It ought to catch at the throat, to make it hard to breath - but it’s not. There’s a slight sweet woodsmoke smell carried on the ceaseless current of cool air. I’d always found it a calm place to be, I know my father found it disturbing to see t...

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“The Rite of Passage” by Ralph Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #205

A tranquil Navajo village is in a forest clearing near a cold mountain stream. Wayra loves fishing and playing with his friends. He lives with his mother and grandfather. Wayra's father died when Wayra was three. Sadly, he was killed by a grizzly bear while on a hunting trip. His grandfather is wise and teaches Wayra the ways of the warrior. Wayra's name means "gust of wind." His grandfather's name is Hashke'-Dilwo'ii, meaning "running warrior."On...

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“The Joining” by Sarah Newman

Submitted to Contest #205

It was dark, foggy and fresh in the forest surrounding their small village. A small group of women traipsed through the foliage on bare feet, heads bowed so as not to miss a stick to step over or a rock to avoid. At the front of the group walked the village elder, draped in a soft, thick robe of the purest white, baring a staff used with little effort despite her advanced years. As the women passed, they got progressively younger, until, right at the very end, a young of woman of 25 years trailed the rest. Aside from the village elder, sh...

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“Ace of Reluctance” by Gregg Voss

Submitted to Contest #205

France, Near the Front Lines, November 11, 1918 The cognac was deep amber, in a corked bottle with the brand name Martell scribbled in sky blue across its white label. It sat on a roughshod table that looked as if it had been constructed by a buck private with nothing better to do—four uneven cuts of plywood supported by four legs that bowed outward. Next to the bottle was a worn crystal tumbler, fingerprinted with a crack along its side, and next to that a dove-white ...

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“Women are werewolves” by Matthew Anderson

Submitted to Contest #205

It was late afternoon when Candice left the house. Her father had seen her to the door. There was a worried look on his face. “Are you sure you’re ready?” He asked for the hundredth time. “Of course,” Candice said. Despite her confident facade, she felt her anxiety gnawing at the back of her mind. She knew the broad strokes of what would happen tonight, but was still unsure if it would work. Would she be able to transform into a werewolf? All the women in her family had been able to transform, and while she had not been born a woma...

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“The Rite of Any State” by Éan Bird

Submitted to Contest #205

I swore, at the age of twenty-five, I would never return. Ever. Even in venerable years, when I overhear the name or the two-letter abbreviation, I thrust myself into conversation and proclaim, “[Insert any state] is the limp dick of the USA!”That is, until, my husband sat me down at the table and said, ”You are not going to like what I’m about to say.”[Insert any state] is responsible for most of life’s mishaps. Take, for example, my college boyfriend. In an attempt to salvage our dull relationship, he planned a surprise road trip. It felt ...

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“Cootie Catcher” by Cindy Strube

Submitted to Contest #205

Cootie Catcher“Sheena has cooties.”I’m playing Cat’s Cradle with Allie on the bus ride home when she all of a sudden looks at me kind of stern and says that. “Don’t talk to her.”“Why not? Mrs. Dawson said we should be nice to her. ‘Cause she’s new.”“She. Has. Coo-ties.” “Who told you that? She just seems like any other eight-year-old.”“She’s nine already.” Allie tosses her ponytail, smug as anything. “That means she’s behind. Which means she’s dumb! Duh-humb! We don’t need her.” She yanks the string off my fingers. It kin...

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“Rick's Adventure On A Class F Planet” by Agnieszka Baczkowska-Maśluszczak

Submitted to Contest #205

Rick "Collard" was a peddler. He’d peddle anything to anyone anywhere all across the Milky Way. He’s won Io’s independent salesman of the solar system award not once but twice. He had people skills. He’d sell a ball strap to an eunuch. He didn’t care what he peddled, whether it was Belgian tulips, transparent toilet seats or Martian earthworms. He loved bargaining, arguing and most of all he loved making a good profit on things that people didn’t necessarily need, but ended up buying anyway. Rick had just turned forty-two. He was slightly ov...

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“Merlin's Beard!” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #205

“Are you sure about this?” asked Tiffin as he peered all around at the foreboding trees. Trees that probably hid all manner of ferocious monsters. Granted, these would be quite small monsters, but they were the worst kind. At least you could see a dragon from a mile off. That level of visibility gave you a fighting chance, not that Tiffin would fight a dragon. Tiffin was small and had a lot of hiding options. His thinking was that given that amount of hiding options it was obvious that hide was exactly what he should do. In a similar vein, c...

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“Mirroring” by Helen Nikoleishvili

Submitted to Contest #205

I I cannot recall how I ended up in a small foreign town on Easter night. I do not even remember where this town was, what it was like, or what kind of people lived there. I only recall the Easter evening and the ritual with which the folks there celebrated Easter, or so I assumed. No one told me, nor did I ask anyone, if they believed in the same God as we did in my home country or if they had heard about the resurrection. I discovered everything later. I cannot recall how I ended up at the seaside. People were gathering there slowly. I joi...

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“Little Habits” by Raj Bridges

Submitted to Contest #205

“You broke another plate? Didn’t you just break one last week?” Eleanor is exasperated. This was the 182nd plate that Nathan had broken in their 43 years of marriage. “I’m sorry honey, it just slipped out of the drying rack,” Nathan excuses. Sometimes he agreed with his wife’s anger; sometimes, like this time, it felt unjustified and misguided. “What have I been telling you about the drying rack for months? Plates kept on the front edge can roll out and fall!” Eleanor enunciates each word to make sure her husband understands. Nathan is n...

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“Moonlight Magic” by Gia ★

Submitted to Contest #205

Blizzard woke in a flurry of excitement. Today was her coming of age! She was so excited that she almost bounced through the roof of her den. She had been preparing for this day for weeks and she was ready for all possible powers the full moon would give her. On a young wolf's coming of age they would get a special power from the full moon which is used to aid their family and tribe. Blizzard was especially nervous because her mother was the leader of their tribe, therefore a big burden to get the right power was on her shoulders. Unable to ...

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“The Soldier” by Marc R. Micciola

Submitted to Contest #205

Damek was incredibly nervous about today, which bothered him greatly because he felt he should be quite happy about turning twenty. Turning twenty was a big moment in the life of a vampire. It was the day you chose your life’s path, deciding to play a specific role in the community for the rest of your days. Most parents groomed their child for a certain career, usually one of their own, seeing as legacy was something vampires held in great esteem. Damek was a special case in the sense that both his mother and his father had very high-rankin...

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“Thanatos” by Jillian Puckett

Submitted to Contest #205

James followed two people down a dark, damp, hallway. James was getting ready to be a part of one of his college’s most top secret and elite societies. Tonight was when he would finally be inducted into the group. With him were two other boys, both his age. One looked like he was going to pee his pants. The members who were leading us were wearing red cloaks and had black skull masks on. James had zero idea who they were, he didn’t know who anyone in the group was. He just knew that one day he’d woken up to an invite to this club...

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“You’ll Want to Stay Away From the Spare Ribs” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #205

“I didn’t know I even had an Uncle Viktor, much less an uncle who was a national hero.” “He’s from the old country, and we seldom speak of LaRocca,” Pavel Pushkin replies. “No, you never speak about the old country. What’s it like?” Misha’s father gives him a loving but patronizing smile, saying, “Not exactly a playground for the Kardashians.” “From what your father has told me, even a native of Siberia might find LaRocca a bit old-fashioned,” Paisley, Misha’s mother says. “So, it’s not exactly, viva LaRocca. But Uncle Viktor seems to h...

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Make your protagonist go through a rite of passage.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 54 stories

“The Library of Ashes” by Cassie Gibson

“The Rite of Passage” by Ralph Aldrich

“The Joining” by Sarah Newman

“Ace of Reluctance” by Gregg Voss

“Women are werewolves” by Matthew Anderson

“The Rite of Any State” by Éan Bird

“Cootie Catcher” by Cindy Strube

“Rick's Adventure On A Class F Planet” by Agnieszka Baczkowska-Maśluszczak

“Merlin's Beard!” by Jed Cope

“Mirroring” by Helen Nikoleishvili

“Little Habits” by Raj Bridges

“Moonlight Magic” by Gia ★

“The Soldier” by Marc R. Micciola

“Thanatos” by Jillian Puckett

“You’ll Want to Stay Away From the Spare Ribs” by Michael Jefferson

🌟 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: