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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#205: Ritualistic

Since time immemorial, humans have developed rituals to deal with change, and all manner of life situations. From birthdays to funerals, to holidays and weddings, to personal habits and rites of passage, these ceremonies often help us find solace, meaning, and belonging in an otherwise chaotic existence.

Rituals exist across all ages and cultures, and take all kinds of shapes and forms 一 from dancing, to praying, to performing 一 and while some have existed for centuries, new ones are created every day. In this week’s prompts, we explore this universal aspect of human culture.

Plus, in case you missed it...📚

The second issue of PROMPTED, our literary magazine, is officially out now! You can download your free copy right here.

This week's prompts

Start your story during a full moon night.

Mystery – 81 stories

Make your protagonist go through a rite of passage.

Character – 54 stories

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

Angst – 89 stories

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

Dramatic – 55 stories

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

Character – 26 stories

Stories

“The Tribe” by Aaron Bumstead

Submitted to Contest #205

Drums banging! Mark danced around the fire, waving his arms around manically. Trevor watched from his small, wooden cage, hoping that Mark’s dancing would be enough for the tribe to let them go free. Trevor sat, thinking about how he and Mark even got into this circumstance in the first place. He remembers them walking through the forest, looking for adventure. They had certainly found it. Trevor had a massive headache and rubbed the back of his neck, flinching as his hand passed over a small hole, the size of an ear piercing, right there....

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“A Little Needling” by Lara Deppe

Submitted to Contest #205

Madge had been smelling death for thirty-two years. It could no longer sneak up behind her as it did some. For some, death is a dark ghost stalking each counted step. But not for Madge. Death for Madge was an old friend that just called to check in a few times a week. Death seemed to wear on her sweater like a cheap perfume. She had seen all the dearly departed as they arrived and she could read on their faces how it was they’d left this world: some had that look of unrepentant panic on their faces, some the pang of unfinished business and s...

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“Bless Me, Father” by N.M. Stech

Submitted to Contest #205

(Trigger Warning: Allusions/references to sexual assault) “Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It’s been two weeks since my last confession.” The familiar lines flowed through the rattan divider to the old priest. Not looking up from the paperback novel he kept in his lap, he raised his hand and performed a perfunctory Sign of the Cross. “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Sp...

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“Away” by Kevin Keegan

Submitted to Contest #205

Ann Greene approached number forty-seven Plunkett street with her usual sense of excitement and anticipation which happened every July third, that she can remember, that date was always about celebrating her brother's birthday with a party. Attired in a bright blue full length party dress complete with a faux diamond encrusted necklace and matching ear-rings and sparkly blue shoes, she looked ready for a big day. She loved the occasion, the marking of this special event in her otherwise mundane existence. Today was no different: her bro...

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“The Bus” by Emilia Horton

Submitted to Contest #205

The bus 6 came at 6:36, as it did yesterday and the day before. As it did each morning. Anne stepped in the bus, smiled at the driver, the same old bald man wearing his white polo shirt, two buttons undone in summer and buttoned up in winter. It was winter now. The last button dug in the fat of his neck. He did not smile back but watched her tap her bus pass against the machine. She ticked her foot, 3, 2, 1 and there it was, the two beeps. She walked to her seat. It wasn’t carved to be so, but it is where she always sat, in the middle, in fr...

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“Friend or Foe” by Kathy Casteel

Submitted to Contest #205

Friend or Foe? Exactly how does a home, once it turns back into a house, stay strong enough to still be standing long enough for a tree to grow through its ceiling? Is it happy for the tree’s company? Is the tree pulling it down, or holding it up? Is the cabin pulling the tree down? “You would think it would be enough that those kids came wandering through here in the middle of the night and fell through my floor. What were they thinking wandering around in here with nothing but moonlight to guide them. Thank goodness it was a full moon ...

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“White Pygmy” by Garth Upshaw

Submitted to Contest #205

The rhino didn't freak out until Katie stomped the brakes and swerved into the middle lane. I grabbed the Jesus strap. Tony mumbled a string of soothing words from the passenger seat. A bloated full moon hung over the skyline. Katie Cultziger, world-famous movie star and also my mom, drove a top-of-the-line Ford GreenBear van with one hand on the wheel, the other tapping the dash. The animal shook its bumpy, gray head and strained against the straps, grunting and flinging ropey lines of spit in all directions. The sm...

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“Moving House” by Jennifer Chan

Submitted to Contest #205

Moving to a new house during the new moon will bring difficulties, but doing so during the full moon will bring happiness and prosperity to the family. Diego carefully points the driver of the moving van to the bungalow on the right. Even with only the moon as his guide, he can still see the yellow paint curdling on the wood, the overgrown plants on the side. Next to the house, a single lamp post stands quietly impotent. When the driver kills the engine, the 16-year-old boy allows himself a moment to catch his breath. For the first...

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“Moonlit forest” by Eddie McKenzie

Submitted to Contest #205

It was a bad idea right from the very start. Leo knew that he really ought to have stayed in bed and pretended that he had not seen his sister, two years his elder as she neared her eighteenth birthday, slip silently through the garden and out the back gate. If Lilibet was going somewhere after midnight in her night clothes that was her business and her's alone. But he knew, for he had overheard stories that he pretended not to hear, that it was very dangerous for young ladies to go walking about late at night, especially dressed for bed, fo...

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“Full Moon Coffee” by Bruce A J McLauchlan

Submitted to Contest #205

I couldn’t sleep. The full moon glared through the window at me: challenging me; accusing me of… … … what? I could have drawn the curtains, tried to shut it all out. But just thinking about it woke me even more. The soft pad of feet, cat’s eyes peering around the door; then she too left me alone. Lonely. A glance at the neon glow of the clock: 22:35. Sleep wasn’t going to come any time soon. On impulse, I decided to go and grab a late night coffee. &nbsp...

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“Empress” by Jesse Sloan

Submitted to Contest #205

They waited for the thunderstorm to pass under the eves of an old mausoleum. The thing was built to look like some sort of Greek temple or maybe a miniature government building. It had a dome on the roof. There was even a little porch with smaller versions of the columns at the Parthenon. Frank and Lisa got under the porch roof to shelter from the sudden rain. The rain came in from the gulf and it lasted for hours, drenching the New Orleans cemetery. Occasionally, lightening flashed and thunder cracked and rumbled loudly. The sun went ...

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“The Missing Link” by Vysh D

Submitted to Contest #205

Cruthetania was always my home. Or at least that is what my whole village thought. But that is not what I thought. I had grown up in Cruthetania for an eternity, and I was longing to leave it. I had heard many stories of the 'world beyond', as they called it and I genuinely wanted to know what it was. But whenever I brought up the topic, I was shushed. One day, I was walking the town circle to the market, as my mother had asked me to bring groceries. There was a large group of cosarths, who were like the heads of Cruthetania. As I wa...

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“An Unfortunate Birth, a Medieval Tale” by Kaitlyn Wadsworth

Submitted to Contest #205

(Caution. Mention of someone bleeding in this story)Long, long ago . . . there lived a Lord named Tytus who dwelled in a castle commonly known as Wadeley Keep. He had inherited it from his father-in-law, Lord Roland. On this day, Tytus stood near the bed holding an undersized baby bundled in a soft woolen wrap. The father’s green eyes sparkled in adoration at his son and heir while his wife Soona cuddled their newborn daughter in the comfort of the bed. Red-rimmed eyes and a flushed face made her look unwell.A full moon shone through the win...

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“Moonpieces” by Aqsa Malik

Submitted to Contest #205

On April 26th, I pack up a piece of the moon. Of course, I don’t actually know, or even care what the date is, but the reasons for its significance are twofold; the humans do, and this time, it’s late enough where I can secure energy for the entirety of next month. The drawstring bag tightens silently as I lump the wheat coloured chunk into its charcoal depths. Even in the few seconds that I held it, I could feel the healing aura seep into my cosmic latte pores, refuelling my social battery to a dangerous level. I will not, I decided, turn i...

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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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$250

Prize money

305

Contest entries

129

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 07, 2023 EST

Won by Lindsay Flo 🏆

Title: The Walk

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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