: Re: Symbolism of 18 Journeyers In my story, 12 year old Ruth has visions from another place and time which lead her to gather a group of kids for a quest. She is told there will be 18 kids,

@Hamaas631

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I see two parts to your question: signaling that 18 is significant, and signaling why it is significant. Assuming that you'll have Jewish readers too, don't skimp on the first part -- you want to give them something to notice and figure out, too.

Another answer addresses ways to show why 18 is significant. To show that 18 is significant, have it show up in various ways in the vicinity of the kids -- at a meal there's a candelabra with 18 candles; something happens at 18 past the hour; something costs 18 coins; a shelf contains 18 books; an office or hotel room is #18 ; etc. For an example (from TV, not writing) of this sort of thing, consider the TV show LOST, in which the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 24 were significant both together and separately, and some of those references you only notice after the fact, once you're looking for those numbers. You can slip 18s into your story in the same way. Make sure they always have something to do with the kids, and the astute reader will eventually notice that there are 18 kids, too. Avoid having 18 show up in other contexts.

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