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Start or end your story with a character performing (or refusing to take part in) a ritual or tradition.

Posted in Dramatic on Oct 3, 2025

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✍️ 67 stories

The Three-Hearted God

Submitted to Contest #323

Deianira had risen with the sun, donning her chiton and fastening the thick himation around her slender shoulders. With chestnut hair plaited down her spine, she slipped out of her house built of pale stone and brick before her parents could redirect her attention. Pails hung from each fist as she padded through cobbled-stone streets. The town was just waking, the soft flutters of women rising for their daily chores as the men dressed to sell their wares. The bakery in town was already puffing smoke from its chimney, and from the high point ...

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BLACK CAT WITH A WHITE HEART

Submitted to Contest #323

BLACK CAT WITH A WHITE HEART My eyes pop open and I look at my watch. It’s 2am. I close my eyes, and a stupid song is playing in my head as I roll over and snuggle in for what I hope will be another couple of hours of sleep. Slowly, I can feel my body coming to life, I know this time, regardless of what time it is, it is time to get out of bed. Another glance at my watch tells me it is 430am. I slide to the end of my bed and slip my feet into my fluffy slippers, my toes delight in the softness. My husband has already gone to the ...

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Silver Lining

Submitted to Contest #323

Trigger Warning: Violence, gun use, drug use, and sexual content. Reader discretion is advised. “42…43…44…45…” I counted as I heaved, sweat trickling down my neck, nerves tingling with soreness in my feet. I’d read somewhere in a cheap magazine that counting helped with focused breathing — whether it worked or not, I had no clue. Dust stung my eyes as I gripped the steering wheel tighter, forcing myself to forget everything behind me: the gunshots, the blood splattered across the floor, the six pounds of pressure on my arm from the shot I ...

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Too Late

Submitted to Contest #323

Trigger warnings: portrayal of mental health condition (OCD), death with mild gore, mention of child injury (non-fatal), intrusive thoughts. Tap your feet ten times, or metal will rain from the sky. Without hesitation, Zack raised his knees from the plush sofa he sat on and tapped his toes through scuffed sneakers. One… two… three… “Zack,” Dr. Mirek’s voice lulled, sounding far too sweet. “I thought you said you were going to try.” Four… five… He heard her but didn’t answer. He couldn’t risk losing count. Dr. Mirek leaned back in her sea...

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Chains in the Light

Submitted to Contest #323

His voice keeps roaring in my ear, “Run, they lie to you! This only ends in destruction! Run!” I’ve heard this chant and this ritual my whole life, but this time it feels different. We come here and get our treasures that our highest one so willingly gives to us after we make promises and give all parts of ourselves to him. Then those treasures fill us till the next day, but ever since that strange man came to our city, this ritual hasn’t made my heart feel safe and confident as it used to. My heart feels heavy; it hurts. A week ago, a stra...

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Chosen

Submitted to Contest #323

The parking lot was empty. Detective Claire Ross stood by her car, the cold ocean wind tugging at her coat as she looked across the quiet marina. The fading dusk cast long shadows over the town, and the hum of waves breaking against the shore was the only sound. This place—so peaceful, so ordinary—was a far cry from the chaos she’d left behind in the city. But something felt wrong. The stillness of the town held an uneasy weight, and Claire couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t just the ocean that hid secrets beneath the surface. Ethan M...

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Hand Soap! I Summon Thee!

Submitted to Contest #323

CW: Graphic depictions of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), germaphobia, and physical anxiety. Great. I’m in a public bathroom, even worse, it’s at a truck stop. Let’s take a road trip my friends said. It will be an adventure across the great Southwest desert, they said. They insisted I go so I did. One flat tire and three tourist traps later here I am, in the middle of nowhere, forced into using this abomination.I survey the disgusting scene in front of me. A floor that looks like it hasn’t seen a mop in years, a toilet where flushing is...

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A Tent on the Border of an Unnamed Kingdom

Submitted to Contest #323

Another step and she will no longer be home. It is tempting to freeze, but her fears would not be honored in any case. It is better to choose than be chosen for. At least that is what she tells herself. The tent is lavish. Unsurprisingly. Tub, dresses, furniture, rugs. The finest there is to offer. Ornate and frilled, a show of power and wealth that is out of place in the desolation surrounding them. Outside, snow drifts to the branches of barren trees, the sky beyond them a bleak shade of grey. Inside the tent, erected for the sole purpose ...

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A Reason to be Thankful

Submitted to Contest #323

A Reason to be Thankful In life, all deal with pain and strife,And sometimes God will send a light.Not a beacon or a beam,Or even a match whose flame might gleam.But perhaps a spark to kindle hopeTo grow and shine for all to seeAnd make a change in you and me. The weather could best be described as raw in a winter that seemed to last longer than usual. Perhaps life itself was becoming all too raw to match the season. A family doctor’s life is not made to be easy, but with increasingly sick patients flooding the office with flu, and a fell...

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Immersion

Submitted to Contest #323

The sun has finally settled behind the buildings of Brooklyn, and the soft swirls of dusk have dissolved into the sharp black of a winter’s night. She climbs out of the tub, ensuring she’s brushed off all the soap suds. She dons her robe and combs her curls with care. Tonight, she skips the usual routine, makeup and lotion and perfume, those tiny bites of feminine delights. Instead, she clips each bare fingernail and files them to neat squares, taking time to even out the edges. She looks down at her toes: still spotless and unpolished from ...

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Starlit Ritual: Whispered Journeys Through Night and Memory

Submitted to Contest #323

An Ode to Love, Loss, and the Magic of Looking Up A nightly ritual had once more quietly begun while gazing up at the sky before bed. In the past, this habit of pausing by the window had become something I looked forward to doing, even though I now had to do so alone. It was hard to believe that my dear man had passed away, leaving me with only sweet memories of the great times we had shared in this earthly sojourn together. We had found each other at the latter half of our life journeys, and what a marvellous half that turned out to be....

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The good seed

Submitted to Contest #323

August can feel the wet, cool grass beneath her feet. The cool breeze blowing her linen tunic, too warm for this time of year, but her mother told her it would be best. For whom? She feels the curls in her hair move with that same wind, and yet she feels nothing as she looks onto the path. The elders talking, offering words of advice and wisdom for the faint of heart. It is to honor those who have gone before. It is to provide for our ancestors as they have provided for us. She heard the teachings so often she began to believe it - un...

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What Have You Done

Submitted to Contest #323

Dude, you’re playing with things you don’t have any knowledge of. I’m not getting involved man; I told you this would all backfire on you if you played with these dark rituals. This is not for me I’m staying out of it. You’ve opened a portal to something very dark and sinister, and I want nothing to do with it. I know you want me to help, but no way. This is bad mojo. I told you to stay away from these ancient rituals. You didn’t listen to me and now you need my help to bail you out of this situation. I told you I wanted no involvement in t...

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Clean Enough

Submitted to Contest #323

Step on a crack…break your mother’s back. That is how we got here-the idea that tiny things could destroy the people I love. I look down at my hands, violently scrubbing each other, for the fourth time. I wonder if she hears me. I scrub faster. Germs. I don’t want to contaminate my home, my baby, or my family. I scrub. Again. Hot water burns, but not enough. Five. Six. Seven. I count how many times I scour both sides. Ten. I look down at my hands, now turned bright red from the continuous scrubbing under scalding hot water. The sting feels l...

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Only for Today

Submitted to Contest #323

I will not wash my hands today. Not at all. Not even thrice. Today is perfect for it- today is THE day for it. The weather is poor and only getting worse. I've no work and no plans and plenty of food that won't dirty my fingers. I can sleep and read and watch movies and not see another soul who might notice how dirty my hands have gotten. Today is perfect for it. I've written out my plan three times and know it by heart. If I don't take the step I never will. Today is the day for it. I will not wash my hands. I don't need to. My hands are ...

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