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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

“Old Friends” by MeLynn Berkley

Submitted to Contest #205

Alarms were beeping rhythmically as people in scrubs hurried down the halls past my door. I sat in my wheelchair by the big window and watched as a red bird struggled to get the last few pieces of bird seed from the feeder. “I’m so sorry, momma.” My daughter cried as tears rolled down her pale cheeks. She gripped my wrinkled hand tighter, seeming to hold on for dear life. I gently placed my hand on her shoulder. “Honey, I know. This is the right thing to do. I’ll be very well taken care of here.” It was my 6th fall this month. A broke...

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“Lucid Dreams” by Rebecca Wiberg

Submitted to Contest #205

I walked into my room and looked at the bed. Between the graveyard shifts and my classes I had barely slept since the breakup. And I was starting to feel some serious contempt for the word “breakup.” The word seemed so casual. I was betrayed by my best friend, the only person who knew me better than anyone else in the world. I had lost my soulmate. I didn’t really know who I was without him. I could no longer envision my future. Whenever I thought about my future there was a black hole, so empty that just thinking about it made me want to gi...

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“Frank's Process” by Chuck Thompson

Submitted to Contest #205

My mom was special. She tolerated so much more than I could. I was about five when I remember her protecting me from a bad guy she brought home from wherever she went and found the bad guys. We had a process after that. She would unlock and open the door and close it again so she would have to unlock it again. This caused her to stall coming through the door just long enough for me to hide whenever she brought a bad guy home. “Why bring bad guys home?” I asked one morning. She explained they paid a lot more than ...

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“Calen’s Sandbox” by Krystal Brown

Submitted to Contest #205

“This is the playground to Nurse Riona,” said a voice through the crackle of my walkie-talkie. I picked up the black receiver and pressed the side button with my thumb. “This is Nurse Riona. Go ahead.” “We have a girl out here who said she hurt her ankle. I think she’s okay, we just can’t get her to come to you or get up.”I asked the secretary to watch my clinic as I hurried outside, searching for a student that looked hurt. I spotted a girl sitting on the blacktop leaning over her knees, with her upper half tucked face down into c...

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“Free” by Alessia Machado

Submitted to Contest #205

I thought that suicide was the only way to set myself free. There was nothing left to do. I tried repairing broken relationships. I tried to make myself feel useful. I tried to reconnect with the world, and I even tried therapy. Nothing worked. It was 10:00 pm on a Tuesday evening. I had nothing. All of my friends had moved away a couple of years ago. My family basically gave up on me and my depression. They bought me this small, crappy apartment that I’ve despised, but it was better than living on the streets, I guess. I had lost my j...

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“The Change” by Misti Silvers

Submitted to Contest #205

Racing through the woods on all fours, panting with a fierceness, Jason never felt more free. His animated instincts kicked in and drove him to the most unthinkable things. Wanting to live freely, he couldn’t believe this actually happened to him. At first he was appalled, but now he embraced it. Living by the moonlight wasn’t as bad as he originally thought it would be. He could be where nobody would bother him. At first the fur was daunting, but the fangs made it worth it. He could run faster than he ever could as a human and loved ...

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“Vice” by Chris Nique

Submitted to Contest #205

The glow of the Harvest Moon did nothing to guide his way into the Silentwoods. Mirth and joy still rang in his ears as he stumbled over twisted roots and jagged stones. He clung to it, held it in his breast hoping to steel himself for the task at hand.At the festival he had found peace. He ate heartily, laughed loudly, and smiled wide with his family and friends. The Silverbeards, Halguer, and even the Daromir turned out for the event. Assembled with his clan, the four families lined the river for a quarter mile. The smell of roasting meats...

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“THE GOD OF OAHU” by Randall Caporale

Submitted to Contest #205

Unlike Adam and Eve, we left the paradise. Not a Biblical eviction, but because we couldn’t make a living. Wife Sherrie and I moved to Kauai to open a school of metaphysical instruction: classes in meditation, healing and clairvoyant development. And we were a big hit: Lots of students, always busy, plenty of cash. But after two years, we’d pretty much healed and deep-breathed our way through the entire population of 30,000 and things cooled off. We decided to leave, though weren’t quite ready to jump fully back into the ...

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“The Wolf Within” by David Mac Mahon

Submitted to Contest #205

The Wolf Within I can feel the raw energy rising inside me. It’s as if the moon is feeding me, charging me. It's powerful, relentless, addictive. I will change at midnight, and Father says I will have an uncontrollable urge to feed. That’s what we do. We feed on the weak, the vulnerable. My mum and dad couldn’t have children of their own. They adopted me after my natural parents both died in a car accident not long after I was born. At least, that’s what I have been told. I was only a few weeks old, so I have no memory of ...

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“The Placement Test” by Jocelyn Nelson

Submitted to Contest #205

It was Placement Day, and the uncertainty of what that meant twisted Vierra’s gut. One look at her terrified expression in the mirror, and she quickly turned away from it without fixing her braided hair and yellow dress. Vierra, like every other 16-year-old taking the Placement test, had no idea how they would be tested. Discussion of the Placement after you went through it was strictly prohibited, making it the best-kept secret in all of Elemcast. Vierra walked out of her childhood bedroom, down the familiar hall of yellow and grey with the...

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“The Ritual of 369” by Zeeshan Mahmud

Submitted to Contest #205

Warning: Contains a scene of extreme violenceThere was an old-fashioned blackboard in the dining room. And just like the wooden times there were broken chalks and duster on the ledge.Soh picked a half-broken one up as puffs of calcified dust fell on her tiny palm. Then she got up on a small stool and scrawled:Let there be world peace!Let there be world peace!Let there be world peace!Then she took the duster and wiped it away.Everyday before breakfast she does it. Long before the others wake up. Some wants a million dollars. Some wants a Beve...

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“Blessed” by Sun Fei

Submitted to Contest #205

The morning dew dapples the dandelions with water droplets. She plucks each one from the ground—carefully, so the roots stay attached—and wipes each flower on the hem of her shirt, stowing them in the basket until its grassy bottom couldn’t be seen anymore. Eodalin chirps and wraps his limbs around her arm until she satiates him with a flower, letting him gnaw on the florets. “Is this enough?” The creature clicks his tongue. Yes. At the cottage, she uses a dagger to separate the dandelions into parts, into sections of roots, leav...

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“The Great Grand Stand” by Ian McKenna

Submitted to Contest #205

Cedar and old dog piss wraps around our scene. A dropped feather could fill the space with sound. A round table covered in a white cloth and a ring of candles sits in the middle of several individuals. In the flickering glow, Robert DeMois could see their shapes, some being small, tall, and in various widths. Yet there faces had lost their features. All the curves of the flesh were there, but gone were the blemishes and crevices that life paints with. Shadows pooled in the hollows of their cheeks and eyes. If not for the occasional twitch, R...

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“My Right Hand” by Julian Luse

Submitted to Contest #205

When Ealin was 15, like all of his fathers before him, he was bonded to his knight. Despite it being so long ago, he still remembered the ceremony well. Every tiny detail had been planned months in advance, everything from the tuning of the lutes to the color of the curtains set in meticulous detail. The full October moon shone brightly through the skylight, lighting up the ballroom floor as Ealin stood watching the guests. Usually, this hall was filled with people, but tonight there were only a few, standing at the edges and helping themsel...

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“The Nail” by Gregor Varga

Submitted to Contest #205

A large two-winged door with round windows opens and a man walks through it. He is wearing a green surgical hat and a mask over his face. Only the eyes remain visible to us. Those heavy, tired, black eyes. A green robe floats behind him wrapping around the entire hallway as it seems. He looks like a superhero. Or a villain. It all depends on what he has to say to us. I made my peace with it that he's the villain. Those eyes cannot in any way bring good news. It was around two o'clock after midnight. Almost half an hour as I started jab...

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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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