2023 ONC
22 stories
Beyond Goodbye | #ONC2023 by oliviamj_
oliviamj_
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My superpower is invisibility. Not by choice. It's the only way I know how to be. Until the cute guy on the bus shows me how to fly, but there's a catch. And it has nothing to do with me being the one who can see him. But sometimes falling feels a lot like flying. And I don't know if I'm ready for either. Prompt 20: You finally build enough courage to talk to that cute someone you see every day on the bus. Their face turns dark as they respond "You shouldn't be able to see me."
All The Lost Souls [ONC 2023] by JanGoesWriting
JanGoesWriting
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[ONC 2023 Shortlister] The Hanscome Vacation Retreat had brought fun and happiness to hundreds of families over the years. But, when the last Hanscome guardian of the sprawling home dies, the once beloved hotel falls into ruin until developers give it a new lease of life. Now, potential buyers find themselves trapped in a house that has become home to nightmares and evil. Real estate agent, Maddie Bourne fights to escape the madness, to return to her family, but the house will not let her, or the others, go without paying a steep price. Only the mysterious strangers, Winter and Twilight, stand any chance of reuniting Maddie with her family. An ONC Novella, based on Prompt 62: Hell is empty and all the devils are here - William Shakespeare. A homage to the tv show, 'Sapphire and Steel', The Shining and Dirty Dancing. Cover created in Canva, using an AI generated picture.
The Lease Up by LJRae0328
LJRae0328
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Rescued from a blind date from hell, a career woman's one night stand with her would be savior has unforeseen consequences. **** Up and coming New York apartment manager, Vanessa Torres' life is going perfectly according to her five year plan. Well, everything except in the love department, but that will come later. On cloud nine from her recent promotion, she agrees to go on a blind date arranged by her friend. Little does she know her squeaky clean life is about to turn upside down, following a one night stand with a handsome stranger, who saves her from the disastrous set-up. Reputable, lease up closer, Gabriel Tate, loves to live life by the game of chance, with no long term plans in mind. Blessed with Adonis-like looks and a charming personality he's used to getting what he wants when he wants until one flip of a coin changes his life forever. Their lives become entangled in a heated competition to fulfill rental contracts for their respective employers, not to mention running in the same social circles within the apartment industry. They soon realize change and compromise are necessary not only within their careers but also life and neither expected to find love during the chaotic and dysfunctional rivalry. Open Novella Contest 2023 Prompts: #5 Flip a coin and make a life choice with it. Two choices, one coin, and no turning back. Do you dare? #25 "If he smiled at you, he'll break your heart. If she winked at you, she'll rip you apart. #39 On a blind date with a complete mismatch, you're increasingly uncomfortable , but too polite to leave. Then an attractive stranger comes over and gives you an out. © 2023 LJRae
Perturbed Kind | ONC 2023 by LLSanders
LLSanders
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Four strangers are trapped in an elevator and forced to reveal details about their most malicious deeds within the hour to prevent a fall to their death. But as secrets are exposed, tension escalates, leading to a reality no one is prepared for. ***** Tasha Pierce receives an anonymous invitation she believes is from her ex-boyfriend hoping to see her in the high-rise building where he resides. But upon ascending in the elevator with three strangers, one of them hits the emergency stop and demands they share details of their most malicious deed within the hour to prevent falling several stories to their death. As secrets are revealed and the hour closes in, who the people are and why they are trapped in a precarious elevator together soon becomes the least of her worries. ***** ONC Prompt 56: You are on a typical awkward elevator ride with a group of other people, and suddenly someone says, "So, I bet you are wondering why I've gathered you here," before hitting the emergency button. ***** | ONC 2023 Round 1 Ambassadors Pick | Copyright©2023 by L.L. Sanders
True Blue by moonraess
moonraess
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Kiernan and Montana aren't looking for complicated in their Chicago summer, but somehow complicated has found them. [co-written with @w1ldflow3r] [extended summary inside]
The Saltport ATM by MusicalKehleigh
MusicalKehleigh
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Jessi Albright needs a vacation. With few clients for her life makeover business, it's hard to justify getting away, even for a weekend. But when she finally gets away to a much-needed retreat in Saltport, her vacation is undermined by a misplaced credit card. Desperate for some cash, she makes an emergency stop at the local ATM. It was supposed to be a short detour, five minutes max. She got far more than she swiped her bank card for. Prince Tewen, a merman, kidnaps her and the $70 million dollars the ATM mysteriously gave her. The only way out is for Jessi to transform the prince into a human in twenty-four hours and get him into a gala in thirty-six. Even if such a makeover is feasible, it's certain to cost a fortune, a $70 million dollar fortune. From yachts to New York to sea urchin extract, this part-comedy part-absurd tail is sure to make you question your life choices as much as Jessi. #ONC2023 74. You have an ATM that gives you the exact amount of money you need to survive for the day. How you spend it is your choice. Today you are given $70,000,000. ONC 2023 Shortlister Open Door Awards 2024 - Best Blurb The NaNo Watt 2024 - Novella Grand Winner ONC Milestone Road Map: Chapter One: 2,321 words (2k) Chapter Four: 9,184 (8k) Chapter Nine: 20,241 (20k) Word Count: 25,310
KINK | ONC 2023 ✓ by rskovach
rskovach
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Five ordinary people. One risqué art exhibit. Many, many secrets. * * * This novella contains the stories of five individuals interweaved around a fictitious art exhibit called 'Kink: Attitudes Toward Sex, Then and Now' inspired by two ONC 2023 prompts: can we go back to the start when we were all strangers in the dark (#6) and three women, three secrets, three tangled lives (#15). * * * ONC 2023 Shortlister. This story is marked Mature for adult themes, language, and light erotica. It has been written under a pseudonym, but it is my original work.
TWISTED ICE (ONC 2023) by ericdabbs
ericdabbs
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Five friends, one is a killer. On fall break, twenty year old Eliza Goodchild sets off with four of her college friends for a remote cabin in Aspen, Colorado. When a blizzard strikes without warning, their SUV skids off an embankment and disappears into a wooded ravine. In the whiteout, they get lost and find themselves in a frigid wilderness where every wrong move can spell certain death. In their struggle to survive, they learn one of them is a killer. Everyone has secrets and motives, but when the killer claims a second victim, they realize all of them are targets in an icy twisted plot to get away with the perfect murder, or should we say, murders. Open Novella Contest 2023 ~~The Writing Prompt I selected~~ 5. Flip the coin and make a life choice with it. Two choices, one coin, and no turning back. Do you dare?
Aeipathy | ONC 2023 by Nicoismysenpai
Nicoismysenpai
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🏆ONC 2023 || Ambassador's Pick 🏆ONC 2023 || Round Two Qualifier One night is all it takes to change a life. There's something wrong with Felicity Farr. It's how she can't seem to do her job right no matter how hard she tries, and how she's still under her parents' thumb years after moving out, and how she looks at girls the way she should look at boys. So even though she can't fix anything, she tries to fix herself all the same. But when a blind date ends with her in an attractive stranger's bed, Felicity is forced to question everything in her life. Especially when said attractive stranger asks her to run away with her for a week. Clover Chai is beautiful, confident, and everything Felicity should avoid. But she captures Felicity like the drag of the tide, and as the week drags on, Felicity finds herself having to choose between her head and her heart---especially since she can't imagine her summer fling remaining a fling anymore.