NaNoWriMO Writing Prompt - Day 13:

It’s your 18th birthday. Your brother gets you two boxes, but you can only chose one. They’re gifts he says. And, depending on your choice your life path will be chosen by you. You look at each gift carefully. One is wrapped up nicely, in the colors of Christmas. There’s a ribbon, a card with a message from the entire family, and it looks good. Except that it’s smaller than the other box, which is black in color. There are no ribbons or a card with a message. It’s just a black box, and nothing else. But because it’s a little bigger and more intriguing than the other, it looks more appealing than the other.

Each box comes with a lifelong responsibility. What they’re you’ve no idea or clue about. You just know that it’s a ritual followed by family members to usher in new adults. A gateway ritual to adulthood, if I may. You’re also aware that while you were young a lot of family members have gone missing right after their 18th birthday. And, you’ve connected those missing persons events with this ritual.

Your brother is just waiting, and smiling there. He has given you a time limit to decide. Once the time limit ends, he’ll decide for you.

How do you decide? What happens next? What’s in the box you chose? Do you wait for your brother to decide for you? What do you do?