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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

“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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“Let it All Out” by Phoenix Goldman

Submitted to Contest #205

Daniel furiously slammed his bedroom door shut before falling face first into bed with defeat. Tears began to form in the ten-year-old’s brown colored eyes, but he immediately batted them away with his Jimmy Hendrix t-shirt sleeve. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Daniel blurted out while his head violently shook from side to side. The tears were now crashing down his neck like a waterfall. Daniel’s hope had slowly dwindled over the last thirty minutes. He was more than used to waking up several times throughout the night from a repeating graphic nightm...

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“The Dawn of time” by Imogen Bird

Submitted to Contest #205

It's Friday night again and I can't find my way to choir practice. I rummage around in my beaten up backpack for my dogeared notebook and flip through until I see 'Choir' written in large purple embellished letters. Copying the address from the page into the map in my phone I follow the directions and end up outside an imposing red brick building somewhere in the city. I remember now, it's the black door on the south side to get in. I look up the 4 digit access code in my notebook and punch it in to the box on the wall. Once inside though, I...

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“Keys” by Michael Robinson

Submitted to Contest #205

Eli sat in the middle of the room, at the center of the pentagram he had drawn in charcoal on the wooden floor and proceeded to cast the spell. Outside, the wind blew through the leafless trees, signaling the beginnings of the blizzard. He took the key to Agnes' diary and spoke a few incantations. He put that key aside and took out the key to Beth's Pontiac GTO, speaking more incantations. He placed that key next to the first and turned towards the two braziers on his left. Earlier that morning, he had burned the finger bones of Agnes and Be...

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“Vendetta” by Riddhi D

Submitted to Contest #205

I rummaged through the remainders of dusty candles and what looked like vintage household items inside of a rather sturdy ‘treasure’ chest. I had to move quickly in a way no one would notice me going in or out of this ratchet enclosure, which made it very difficult for me as my senses were interrupted by the constant filth - the place reeked of dead animals and grime. I had heard stories of my ancestors coming here to perform rituals, then being brutally murdered by the hands of commonwealth, burnt at the stake, sliced open, and stabbed in t...

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“Daddy's little girl” by Ambrose Cole

Submitted to Contest #205

CW: Depression, suicide, child lossIt’s a long way down from the edge of the bridge.As my legs dangle freely 70 feet above certain death, I can’t help but be mesmerized by the glimmering sheen of the gentle creek below as its currents glisten under the light of the full moon.Why is it that the river never stops moving?What keeps the Moon riding around the Earth, forever just an arm’s distance away?The world is complicated, and everything has its struggles. Now and again, a boulder will tread down the soft hills to disrupt the river’s flow. E...

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“IN FULL REGALIA” by Susan Catucci

Submitted to Contest #205

Levi knew more about what he wasn’t than what he was. He felt like a rogue puzzle piece. He was not athletic, he was not exceptionally funny or bright, he wasn’t interested in smoking weed, nor was he gleeful enough for glee club, and so on. A natural offshoot to being a one-of-a-kind kid is isolation, exclusion, one-ism, enjoying your own company comfort-thinking, learning how to harness introspection so that you become your own think tank and you do quite well with it. Of course, you’re the only one who knows anything ...

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“A Goddess” by David King

Submitted to Contest #205

He oddly liked the crisp cool tile nibbling at his soles as he walked out of the kitchen. He walked slowly, trying his best to balance holding un-corked bottle of white Moscato in his right hand and an already-filled glass in his left.It was only his second glass. Or fifth. He wasn’t sure. Each time he poured more than the last. But he couldn’t care less. The day had finally ended, and he deserved it.The meeting with his boss about his requested wage increase–the thirty bullshit-filled minutes of working a...

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“Come Back to Me ” by Kayleigh Shaw

Submitted to Contest #205

Trigger Warning: death and griefPauline knelt down on the ground, tears streaming down her face as she ran her fingers over the block of cement on the ground. It was odd to have a funeral at night during a full moon, but it was Mitchell’s favorite part of the day, so everyone agreed that it seemed only right to honor his memory. Her nose was red from the cold and the tears, but she didn’t care. “Our stories not over. It shouldn’t be over. It should just be beginning” she sobbed. Wrapping her black jacket around herself, she wiped the te...

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“Cases From Anon” by Linda Lee

Submitted to Contest #205

Bellatrix sat in front of her window, waiting patiently until she could see the bright white full moon. Patiently isn’t the right word to describe her, actually. Because if anyone saw her at this moment, they would see her legs shaking, her nose running, and her palms sweating. Yeah, she definitely wasn’t patient. Full moon was the monthly moment where Bellatrix got a new mission. No, not a mission to catch the wolves howling. Not a mission to see the mermaids acting stranger than their norm. But it was a mystery mission that came up...

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“Who Took the Socks” by Carissa Edwards

Submitted to Contest #205

The full moon gave the world an eerie blue tinge. Most would have done anything else besides going into the wood that night, but for Sara, it was perfect. Tonight was the night she would prove it was a werewolf stealing all the laundry. Every morning after the full moon, everyone in her village would be missing something from their laundry. At first, everyone thought it was a prank the local teenagers were playing. But the longer it continued, the more people couldn’t deny it was something else. Many in the village had wanted to call an exor...

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“Illegal Magic” by Joseph Peck

Submitted to Contest #205

Silent they crept through the woods, sure and steady. Spry and swift, they crept forth on bent legs, always hiding in the shadows of the trees. Their only light was the Full Moon, glaring down at them, cold and unforgiving. Nevertheless, even now the five of them could feel subtle power work upon their minds. Through the night they went, advancing in stealth. Following a dirt path worn with use, they finally came to a great copse of trees, within which lay a great clearing. In the center of the clearing lay a circle of tall, standing ...

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“The Night is for Sleeping ” by 27th Floor Candles

Submitted to Contest #205

Was it ringing? A searing bell or a demonic whistle casting nothing but sharpness into my ears? The pebbles of the dirt created an all too comforting bed to lie on while my vision stayed a blur and the blood from my ears pooled beside me. Flashes of light wisped in and out of my eyes, enough to make me dizzy if my body had the capacity for it. I forced my head to turn, touching my cheek to the cool damp ground. I tried to keep my eyes closed, but the persistent light tore through my eyelids, drawing my pupils towards its mystery. The sun? A ...

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“Of Seven and Ten ” by Cameron Michles

Submitted to Contest #205

“We should leave soon.” Willy’s voice broke through the silence. The crickets and rustling from a soft breeze filled the space before anyone thought to respond. “A little longer,” Alexander replied. The group of seven stared silently at the grave: a mound of dirt barely half a meter wide hidden amongst the tall grass of Vienna Central Cemetery. It was barely visible even in the light of the full moon overhead. Of the seven, cloaked in dark coats that brushed their knees and hats pulled down to their brows, no one argued. They didn’t quest...

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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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