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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

“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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“Peanut Butter Bananas” by Shaylyn Smith

Submitted to Contest #205

Every single morning, she gets up, tired as anything, and heads down the stairs to the kitchen. Before anyone else is awake, she rubs her eyes and yawns as she pours her first cup of coffee. Her mind floods with everything she must do that day. Drop Karl off at his new special school, go to work, pick up Karl from his school, take him to occupational therapy, come home, make dinner, and clean the kitchen. It is a lot to keep track of for one person but there is one thing that she must always do first. She tears a banana from the bunch and...

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“Divergence in an Upsetting World” by Keelan LaForge

Submitted to Contest #205

I don’t cope well with change. OCD is my constant companion and I need to keep it happy at all times. It likes plenty of notice and routine, and predictability. I was diagnosed as a child, so it’s nothing new to me, but it becomes much more complex in the life of an adult. I had an appointment cancelled this week, and it felt like the world was ending. I’d had it booked for months. I have to schedule my appointments at regular intervals, or I toss and turn on my memory foam mattress, worrying all night long. The hairdresser doesn’t get it. S...

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“Heart-Shaped Box Cutters” by Mariana Mier

Submitted to Contest #205

Callie’s entire body is shaking. She’s being ridiculous, she thinks. This shouldn’t be as hard as it is. Despite the fact that they’re shaking, her hands are clutching onto the heart-shaped box cutters as hard as they can. She knows she should let go. She’s worked to get to the point where she can, yet she holds on with all the force in the world. It’s not the first time she would be throwing out her box cutters. She has to throw them away whenever they get dull. However, this time is different. This time, there’s no identical pair w...

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“The Moon and the Mind” by Patricia Williford

Submitted to Contest #205

THE MOON AND THE MIND They say the crevasses of the mind expand with a full moon. Tiny fissures that snake through the cerebral cortex in all of us widen and grow with the pull of the tides. For many, this just creates a widened arena for the boundless joy and wonder they feel when gazing into the bright night sky. But for some, these growing, empty spaces in the brain are ripe for contamination by the world’s tilted, irrelevant logic or just provide fertile ground for the seed of disarrayed thoughts planted thr...

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“The Hunter’s Moon” by Danielle Dunmire

Submitted to Contest #205

The Hunter’s Moon By Danielle E. Dunmire The moon sees everything. At its zenith, the woods below are bathed in its white luminescence. The bonfire raging in a small clearing isn’t necessary for light, just the heat. The circle of people gathered around it clutch black robes tight about themselves to guard against the chill, their breath clouding as they speak. It’s too early for snow, but soon… The moon knows what’s coming. They only meet like this: under a full moon, matching robes, same intent...

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“Runner” by Christina Howdeshell

Submitted to Contest #205

TW: Death, fire, knives, suicide, blood Elisabeth's knees hit the ground with a soft thud, and she leans back to sit on her dirt covered feet. She stares up at the full moon, her only source of light in the thick forest, and lets out a loud, guttural scream. She can no longer run. She can no longer fight. She has no clue where she is, and with just the moonlight to guide her, there was no way she would be able to find her way out. He was close behind her. She knows his dog has her scent as she can hear that stupid mutt barking fr...

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“They've Come Undone” by Grace Heinz

Submitted to Contest #205

His name was Jess, but we called him Ghost. The act of which he was accused, he did not do— not intentionally, anyway. His grandmother knew about stars. These three facts hold themselves clear in my mind, distinct as the moon on the night of the Fourth. The crowd that night was so large that it bordered on inane; more people than we had ever seen at one place in our little lives. It moved like a sea creature from the amphitheater where our parents dropped us off. We stood on our tiptoes to witness the miracle. Slow and bulky, yet conseq...

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“Conrad Aiken Demands a Gin and Tonic” by Lisa Tankersley

Submitted to Contest #205

As the October full moon was flowing through the blinds in the bedroom, that unmistakable sound was happening again. As I began rising up out of the bottom layer of sleep, the clinking of the ice cubes in a high ball glass was vague at first, then louder – it was being deliberately shaken at me. It became nearly pitch black outside when clouds began moving in from right to left, covering the full moon; I squinted as I reached for my cell phone on the bedside table. I knew the time, but I still felt it necessary to look: insomnia so often cau...

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“Mercy” by Maggie Lovitt

Submitted to Contest #205

The coastline used to stretch out beyond the sea stacks, even at high tide. That was before the ocean had set its sights on the storied cliffside beneath our precarious village, and long before I learned the truth about her. The ocean. I was born with the knowledge that the sea had a taste for blood. My father named me Mercy before he took up arms and set sail for some far-off land that none of us would ever see in our lifetime. He was lost at sea, swept overboard during some terrible storm before the ship ever saw battle. I wa...

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“The Ring ” by Bill Gregory

Submitted to Contest #205

The Ring A full moon illuminated the apartment building at the corner of 82nd Street and Central Park West, highlighting the famous zig zag fire escape the city was famous for. Constructed at the end of the 18th century, for the rich and powerful that were building the emerging metropolis. It was an impressive building of sandstone and brick, 22 stories tall, the top two floors accommodating penthouses with huge balconies. The massive floor to ceiling widows edged in ornately carved bluestone affording million dollars views onto an...

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“The Taste of Music” by Virtual Chesse Emporium

Submitted to Contest #205

The Symphonia Performing Center is a sight to behold. Not only was it one of the oldest and most popular theaters in the world, it was an outdoor amphitheater. It was gorgeous in the daylight, but it's best seen at night. Lanterns are lit up around the audience, the cushioned wood seats gleamed brightly during the full moon and sheets of stars twinkle and wink over everyone’s heads. Never in my life did I think I’d sit here, but today’s my lucky day. After his self-imposed hiatus, my idol Ramone was back and I was seeing him tonight! When I ...

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“Forever alone” by Christopher Zelaya

Submitted to Contest #205

In the dead of night, a teen-aged boy emerged from the trees with nothing but a twig that he sharpened into a pencil and an old blue book he brings everywhere he goes. Especially here, during these nights when the moon is high above and there isn't a sound in the dead of night. Except for his footsteps crunching over the dead leaves and branches. He walks over to his usual spot in front of the lake, settling down and making himself comfortable. He sits on the rich leafy green surface leaning against a log as he begins his nightly ritual. Fli...

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“Fifteen Fathoms” by 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔭𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔯

Submitted to Contest #205

The ocean.Vast. Dark.Unknowable.It vies with the cosmos beyond our sky for the title of Final Frontier. Both are dangerous to us unless we don oddly similar survival gear. The ocean is closer to home, and is the more frightening of the two, for it is so easy to fall in without trying. But the ocean will only hurt us if we plunge in and stay too long.Breathe in through your nose. Inhale the wild briny scent that invades your nose and makes you feel as if you've taken a bite of too-salty fish. Taste the trace of it on your tongue. Li...

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“The Rabbit in the Moon” by Katie Moore

Submitted to Contest #205

“Mei?” 2 hours left. “Mei!” Would it happen again? “Mei!” The black-haired girl jolted back to the table in front of her. “Can you please pass the rice? It’s gonna get cold.” &n...

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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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