The stars whispered to amateur astronomer Levi, and to his alarm, one by one they disappeared within the abyss. But when he witnessed one such disappearance, the star fell to him and took a human form. Explaining Celesta's sudden appearance to suspicious townspeople became an insignificant problem when a Darkness threatened to consume the universe, one star at a time, including the one that warmed his world. A fantasy story written for the 2026 Open Novella Contest, utilizing prompt #69: The stars are disappearing one by one, and only you can hear their whispers.

ONC 2026 entry, prompt 5. Every day at the exact same time your cat slips out of your home. One afternoon, curiosity gets the better of you, and you follow, only to discover it's living a secret life you never imagined. My take, cats save the world as a backdrop to a romcom.

A neglected housecat runs away from his family and is tempted by the alluring world of the ferals, who steal from the human society that cared for him. 🏆AWARDS 1st Place - The Future Banned Writer Awards 2023, Fantasy (Score: 58/60) 1st Place - The Sapphire Awards 2023, Action/Adventure (Score: 96/100) 1st Place - Books of 2023 Awards, Fantasy 1st Place - Readers Choice Awards 2023 (SUAW Book Club), Other 1st Place - Golden Awards, Best Title 2nd Place - The Wonder Awards 2023, Fantasy (Score: 95/100) 2nd Place - The 2023 Flower Awards, Fantasy 3rd Place - Books of 2023 Awards, Best Character (Misha) |Featured on Wattpad's UrbanFantasy reading list: Cities of Wonder| |Featured on Wattpad's Stories Undiscovered reading list: Tales of Adventure| |Featured on NewlyWrittenBooks: Going on an Adventure| ***** 🐈 When his human family brings home an attention-stealing baby from the hospital, Akhi the housecat runs away from his best friend and the only home he's ever known. Upon entering the sewers, he discovers the world of the ferals, where animals rule and danger lurks just beneath the pavement. In order to survive, Akhi joins a group of bandits and finds that the freedom of being a feral has its perks - provided he can overcome the guilt of stealing from the humans that cared for him. 🦴 Meanwhile, Misha, the family's loyal retriever and Akhi's best friend, finds herself forbidden from searching for her missing family member by the mysterious Circle of the Paw. Torn between obeying orders and finding her friend, Misha must overcome mercenaries with sordid pasts, noblebeasts in charge of underground fiefdoms, and divided loyalty in an effort to reunite her family. ⚔️[Trigger Warning for violence and substance (catnip/milk) abuse] Cover art created by Liz Casal

Geoff and Naomi are dead, and they're depressed, but when Geoff's cat Bernie dies as well, they embark on a wild journey to find it in the underworld. ***** When Geoff dies, alongside his girlfriend Naomi, they end up sharing an apartment in the Underworld as skeletons. But after a few years, Geoff starts suffering a mid-death crisis. What's the purpose of going through the motions as a skeleton if you can't really live? Then he gets word that his cat, Bernie, just died and he can collect him and bring him home! Geoff and Naomi hurry to get Bernie only to discover that, due to a clerical error, their cat has been lost. With the hunt for Bernie giving new purpose to Geoff's un-life, he and Naomi begin a quest to get back their cat. Battling skeleton pirates, climbing the sky ladder and facing off against the villain who took Bernie, Geoff is determined to find his purpose - or die a second time trying! [[2018 Wattys Winner - The Originals]] [[word count: 30,000-40,000 words]]

The Wind in the Willows is a children's novel by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Alternately slow moving and fast paced, it focuses on four anthropomorphised animals in a pastoral version of Edwardian England. The novel is notable for its mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality and camaraderie, and celebrated for its evocation of the nature of the Thames Valley. The novel was in its 31st printing when playwright A. A. Milne adapted part of it for the stage as Toad of Toad Hall in 1929. Almost a century later, it was adapted again for the stage as a musical by Julian Fellowes. In 2003, The Wind in the Willows was listed at number 16 in the BBC's survey The Big Read.