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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

“Ghost of the Sun” by Robin Butterworth

Submitted to Contest #205

Have you ever thought about the windows on a train. How essential they are. Think about it; travel by railway would have no association with romance if someone went and sealed them all up. No world to watch go by. Just a sealed carrier binding its inhabitants with mission rather than adventure; a landing craft to burst open at the station and unleash dull, grey hell on unsuspecting cities. Yet tonight I would have given anything to board them over as though the guard had announced the next stop would be the zombie apocalypse. I was making ...

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“Taken 2 Moonlight Ritual” by Patricia Merewether

Submitted to Contest #205

All three of us sat in a horse cart covered with a blanket draped across a pole, barely leaving enough room to sit upright. During our journey back to their mountain, we whispered if we talked at all. The driver stomped on the cart floor and yelled in a language we didn’t understand but learned meant: Stop! Quiet! The fair one is Bridget, and the dark one is Sala. I’m Anya. Each of our villages is far apart. We speak the same language but with different accents. Our stories are the same. Someone took us from our beds while we and our family ...

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“The Rite of Passage” by Ralph Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #205

A tranquil Navajo village is in a forest clearing near a cold mountain stream. Wayra loves fishing and playing with his friends. He lives with his mother and grandfather. Wayra's father died when Wayra was three. Sadly, he was killed by a grizzly bear while on a hunting trip. His grandfather is wise and teaches Wayra the ways of the warrior. Wayra's name means "gust of wind." His grandfather's name is Hashke'-Dilwo'ii, meaning "running warrior."On...

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“The Joining” by Sarah Newman

Submitted to Contest #205

It was dark, foggy and fresh in the forest surrounding their small village. A small group of women traipsed through the foliage on bare feet, heads bowed so as not to miss a stick to step over or a rock to avoid. At the front of the group walked the village elder, draped in a soft, thick robe of the purest white, baring a staff used with little effort despite her advanced years. As the women passed, they got progressively younger, until, right at the very end, a young of woman of 25 years trailed the rest. Aside from the village elder, sh...

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“Ace of Reluctance” by Gregg Voss

Submitted to Contest #205

France, Near the Front Lines, November 11, 1918 The cognac was deep amber, in a corked bottle with the brand name Martell scribbled in sky blue across its white label. It sat on a roughshod table that looked as if it had been constructed by a buck private with nothing better to do—four uneven cuts of plywood supported by four legs that bowed outward. Next to the bottle was a worn crystal tumbler, fingerprinted with a crack along its side, and next to that a dove-white ...

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“Women are werewolves” by Matthew Anderson

Submitted to Contest #205

It was late afternoon when Candice left the house. Her father had seen her to the door. There was a worried look on his face. “Are you sure you’re ready?” He asked for the hundredth time. “Of course,” Candice said. Despite her confident facade, she felt her anxiety gnawing at the back of her mind. She knew the broad strokes of what would happen tonight, but was still unsure if it would work. Would she be able to transform into a werewolf? All the women in her family had been able to transform, and while she had not been born a woma...

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“The Library of Ashes” by Cassie Gibson

Submitted to Contest #205

The Library of Ashes has a sort of beauty, the beauty of charcoal drawings and sepia toned photos. Its colours are all muted, the air is a constantly moving stream of small particles - misting the eyes and giving the impression that at any minute the entire edifice might collapse into dust. It ought to catch at the throat, to make it hard to breath - but it’s not. There’s a slight sweet woodsmoke smell carried on the ceaseless current of cool air. I’d always found it a calm place to be, I know my father found it disturbing to see t...

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“Malediction” by Eva Bernal

Submitted to Contest #205

Abbey woke the same way she had for the last five years, on her back and alone. She could see the palest of lights beginning, peeking in through the small crack between her filmy sheer curtains. Those curtains allowed her to watch the world awaken and move. She blinked her eyes rapidly, wishing for the millionth time that she could simply wipe away the tiny grains of sleep herself. She heard the soft rap on the door and Ms. Beatty peeked her head in. “Good morning Abbey,” she smiled warmly, as she did every morning, “It’s time to get u...

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“An Appalachian Tale: Mars Johnston and his Bees” by Catherine Buck

Submitted to Contest #205

An Appalachian Tale: Mars Johnston and his Bees When Mars Johnston's pa died, Mars became the keeper of the family bees. The ten year old knew he had been given a great responsibility; he couldn't be slack, especially if he wanted to have food on the table for his family. As soon as the sun started going down on the first day of Daniel Johnston's death, his wife gathered up her two sons to walk down into the meadow behind their house. All three carried strips of black cloth to place around the family's hives. Once the str...

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“But He's Waiting For Me...” by Rachel Marbach

Submitted to Contest #205

Eloise woke up to the sound of the phone. “Who on earth would be calling me at this hour?” she asked aloud, stumbling out of bed. It was her mother, the only person who usually called at all. “I just wanted to let you know,” she said. “That we’re celebrating your sister’s birthday at La Fontaine on Saturday and, um, if you’re up to coming, it would mean a lot to us.” “No,” Eloise said, checking the clock. “I already told you, I don’t do birthdays anymore, a...

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“How To Be A Good Glass Of Red Wine” by Tessa L Watson

Submitted to Contest #205

Being a shattered glass of red wine is no easy feat. However, it's become something I've mastered over time—a skill that, quite honestly, came effortlessly to me. I didn't choose to slip from his grasp as he attempted to place me on the dinner table. I never intended to be a relentless stain on the eggshell-colored wool that adorned the dining room floor. Nor did I ask to be subjected to the insults and the careless steps of those who foolishly walked barefoot amidst the shards. I didn't aspire to be another kitchen item awaiting replacement...

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“Four Seconds” by Heidi Poole

Submitted to Contest #205

One. Two. Three. Four. Her gaze broke from the dash and rolled to the lights which flickered to green, and it was an empty mind all the way home. Have dinner. Feed Timothy. Have a shower. Brush teeth. Read a chapter. Place a kiss on the bedside photo. And turn off the lamp. As usual, she woke to the screech of her own scream, sweat draining from her armpits and back with her chest convulsing so intensely she was unable to breathe. Like clockwork her Gran walked in with a torch, the light revealing her swollen eyes and tensed body. With a ...

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“Late of Heaven” by Luca King Greek

Submitted to Contest #205

It was a monastic start to the day for Stanley Jesseps. A cup of fresh-brewed coffee, a slice of buttered toast, a banana, and on the kitchen-table lay the small white To-Do pad that called him to action, invited him to seize pieces of the day. Sometimes he might append a new task that occurs to him during the morning’s repose, but on this Wednesday he rolled with the prior-night’s draft, prescribed moments of meaning amidst the dross of an old and bereaved man’s life. It is an orderly approach to living he thought, the cadenc...

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“Critical Inaccuracy, Chapter 4 of 7 - Even Beautful Tamers Have Thorns” by Jared Meeks

Submitted to Contest #205

It was just another pretty, promising, perfectly precious, spring morning. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming, yada yada. Only, today was not just a typical morning. For Alicia... "Ah, the day is young!", said Alicia, as she rolled out of bed, stretched, and began her morning routine. She started by walking into her bathroom and washing her face. A great way to wake herself up. Next, she brushed her hair. Not a single knot would ruin her cutesy appearance. And at last the finishing touch, putting in her flowery hair pin. "Beauti...

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“A Change of Seasons” by Andrew Bell

Submitted to Contest #205

A CHANGE OF SEASONS “You weren’t playing squash last night, were you, Mick?” He glanced over her shoulder, pretending to be absorbed in the carnage caused by a bomb blast in Israel. Stabbing a potato with unusual vigour, he put it into his mouth without meeting her gaze. He hunched over his food like a mouse trying not to betray its presence to a snake. ...

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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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