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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 Grawg” by Lily West

Submitted to Contest #205

“Tonight the stars align for the first time in a century.”Big Chief Honcho flexed his leathery green muscles. He loved a good speech as much as any politician. Luckily, orcish speeches tended to be brief. He glowered at the motley company of magic users gathered in the feasting hall.“We gather for grog. And to repay old debts.”The politician nodded his tusks at the one-eyed dwarf who tightened his grip on his battle axe. Famine racked the plains and the pillaged ale was gone. To let the liquor run out would be both political and physical sui...

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“Trevor” by Jane Sparrow

Submitted to Contest #205

Trevor Christmas is Mother's day in our house. And by that, I don't mean Mothers day gets skipped, but rather that Christmas is the sun, and we are the planets. She has a laminated checklist stuck to the inside of the pantry, it stays there all year round. Under the subheading, October, is "decorating". It begins with a slathering of outdoor lights to the roof, gutters, walls — anywhere that can hold a hook or a nail. Inside, snowflake pom poms are hung from the ceiling and little reindeer trinket dishes are placed ...

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“Letting Go Under the Scorpio Moon” by CJ Souza

Submitted to Contest #205

It was a full moon in Scorpio, but young Aristelle’s mind was drowning in a whirlwind of chaos, leaving little space to contemplate which phase the moon was in. She never would have begun her journey had she realized what intentions the moon had held that night. Aristelle's sixteenth birthday should have been a day of carefree celebration, filled with excitement over which dress or hairstyle to choose for festivities. Instead, she found herself grappling with a weighty decision: which crystal would be the best companion for her as she travel...

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“Bedlam the Lich. ” by Jack Sink

Submitted to Contest #205

The moon sat perched atop two thin clouds. Its light shone on an ancient castle littered with holes and cracks in the foundation. Its once fierce and dominating series of towers reduced to a single withered pillar, barely holding its own weight up. A figure zoomed ahead in the night sky, its leathery wings appearing as a giant bat soaring into the single pillar of the castle. The beast let out a short sigh that bounced across the tower's stone walls. He descended a staircase leading to the lower levels of the castle.He surveyed the vast...

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“Full Moon Mystery” by Brwn Trout

Submitted to Contest #205

"It is a Full Moon tonight, Harold," says Sabri, a confident african american mother with sass and attitude. "Yeah, that just means the criminals have more light to run away with" Harold is an older detective, more world-weary and beat up, with a quirky sense for investigation. "I don't know, Harold; they say a full moon has some magic associated with it." "The only magic I want tonight is finding out what happened to this richer than god snobs family album." "What a weird thing for our perp to steal, no money, jewel...

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“From the Belly of a Blue Moon” by Misty Dyan Batson

Submitted to Contest #205

Parasites were living inside my belly, they made a new home there beneath my ribcage. My temperature must have been over a hundred and six. My brain was literally boiling in my skull but in the jungle, there was no thermometer and there was no doctor, there wasn’t even a bed. I lay on the dirt floor watching the full moon beam through the thatch hut window, I felt I could touch it if I could only raise my arm. There were 6 elders sitting in the dirt in a circle around me, three men and three women. I was still wearing the panties...

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“Dylan's Closet” by Zack Herman

Submitted to Contest #205

It’s Friday evening and Megan Reese is in her “happy Place”. She’s stretched out on the couch in the living room with the TV on a baseball game between her Reds and the Pirates. Megan is barefoot and dressed in a pair of cutoffs and an oversized T shirt with her long blonde hair in a ponytail. She’s worked hard all week as the manager of Rusty’s, a local burger joint and she deserves an evening of relaxation. Yes, it’s going to be a good night for her. However, when she looks out the picture window and sees the full moon rising, she knows ...

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“The Wolf of the North” by Gabriel Garcia

Submitted to Contest #205

In the medieval age, the Vikings were known by their enemies as ruthless raiders who pillaged and plundered all along the Franisk and Anglo-Saxon coasts. They were unrelenting in their conquests, with some establishing realms. Yet as time changed, the Viking way of life changed too. They became more like their neighbors, the ones they raided years ago. They became traders, forgo their pagan rituals, and put aside the berserkers they once were. However, only some people remembered. To the south, the Byzantine rulers heard stories from merchan...

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“Darkened days and night” by Rebecca Maric

Submitted to Contest #205

On the Sydney street near Wynyard stTion was crazed mixed up emotionally old homeless man ,each night,he went down to the old tankstream arcade which was situated at Wynyard station nopeolpe would pass him by as he would scream and hold a radio up ,he would have hoard of old radios all lined up on the table,some for wrecking and a scream then one radio played the same old song by the group exciters ...tell him. Years went the man had disappeared and the old tankvstream arcade ended up under demolishing for some new shops to be built there, T...

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“Rituals” by Shelia Boyd

Submitted to Contest #205

“Mr Canter?” It was finally my turn. I smoothed out my jeans and red tee then ran my hands through my locs. I got up and followed the assistant as we walked into the office slowly. It was a throwback from the 70s if ever I had seen one, complete with flowered chairs and fainting couch with a plaid design and a lava lamp on the table. A woman who I assumed was Dr Andrea Goch sat in one of the flower power chairs, her curly brown head down reading what I presumed was my file. Upon hearing me walk into the room she looke...

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“Whatever It Takes To Cope” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #205

Milly had been my pet for fourteen years. The day she died was when a part of me died too, another little piece of my heart. She was given to me at eight weeks of age, a tiny soft bundle of fluff. From the minute I held her, she clung to me as if her life depended on it, and in a way it did, and mine on hers. “Mrs Wilson, this is our way of saying sorry for your loss. We know how lonely you will be without Mr Wilson, so we thought a puppy would keep you company”, and all the girls from the gymnastics club that I taught at, stood on my fron...

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“The Quiet Escape” by Lynn Matchett

Submitted to Contest #205

The Quiet Escape “What is happening?” Cora asked her husband. They both watched the news on the television and tried to get a grasp on what was happening in their city. In a few short hours all the schools were closed and restaurants shut down. By the next day sporting events, conventions, dental offices, hair salons, airlines, hotels and retail stores had been closed. Everything was happening very quickly and after a few more days of watching the news it was clear the world was in for a big change. “I can’t belie...

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“Bellis perennis” by Ksenija Rubež

Submitted to Contest #205

People say that one cannot love an animal as they love another person. Unfortunately, one has to experience a loss of life to realize the falsehood of this statement. The pain is still sharp. As soon as I start thinking of that overwhelming event, an unstoppable wave of hot tears fills my eyes. I never thought that crying could be initiated so easily. Almost effortlessly. I find myself in the most random moments doing the most random of things, reminded of this reality, and I want to sob. I hold back my tears as I write this. He was so...

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“I'm Taking This” by Anabeth Faley

Submitted to Contest #205

Emily lifted the glass apple from the lip of the china cupboard. Flakes of gold sparkled in the sunlight when she gave the apple a little shake. The sun caught an edge of glass in the stem and flashed a rainbow of prismatic sunlight across the wall. Glittering joy quickened Emily’s despair. Only her quickened breath intake made a sound in the quiet house.Her mother was dying. She had in-house hospice care with on-site care givers. Her older sister Sara was buying the house to help finance the cost of the caregivers. It was a nice alternative...

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“The Lantern Corridor” by Mary-Ann Vosloo

Submitted to Contest #205

Lanterns hung from every doorframe and windowsill down the street that led to the centre of town. If you stand at the end of the street and look towards the centre, it creates a spectacular picture of a corridor filled with colour and warmth. This is the street that reminds me that the new year is almost here. It is the night when we come together to say goodbye and thank you to the year that is passing. The air is filled with excited chatter and smells that tickle the tongue with longing, as the townspeople are all slowly coming to the st...

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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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