On the run, Willow stumbles into a bandit ambush and is rescued by a lone traveler. He reluctantly agrees to help protect her on the forest paths if she can guide him to his destination. His distant demeanor suddenly changes after she returns his cloak, not realizing he is a selkie, nor aware that if someone returns a selkie's cloak, the selkie falls in love with them. As they travel, she discovers that he's everything she ever wanted in a husband, but learns that it comes at a cost - and that cost is his freedom. Note: If you're looking for a typical lore-based selkie story, I'm afraid you won't find it here. But if you're looking for a hopeful selkie and an uninformed human, then you have come to the right place. ONC 2025 awards: Ambassador's pick award, Round 2 winner, and Short List award. Based on the Open Novella Contest prompt #110: "20 days of freedom." Cover was made with incredible patience by: SayWatt74 (Cardin Watts)

Surrounded by a dark thick forest and population below three thousand, it is the town where the demons dance in broad daylight and shadows rule during the night. Of all the places, Simone's parents think that Elmdale is the perfect town to stay hidden from the loan sharks and be together as one family. With the mysterious deaths occurring for a decade and the administration trying to cover it up, it certainly is not a perfect place to live as a happy family... P.S: You can find this story on inkitt under the same title. ^^

Kenneth Dekker lives trapped in the hospital undergoing robotic lung treatment. He regularly escapes to the VR world Atlas Quest--his safe haven. There he befriends another player, a girl named Byrd. Over time, he takes comfort in having another human being to talk to as his health takes a turn for the worse. His lungs weaken, but Kenneth knows he can't afford the lung transplant. Still, he refuses to get financial help from his abusive mother. Without anywhere else to turn, he immerses himself in Atlas Quest. He grows close to Byrd and their friendship renews his desire to live life. However, his health issues still loom ahead. No matter what, he can't run from reality forever.

"Humanity's pride and greed will be the death of us" In 2025 B.E.F that saying couldn't have been more than true. After a devastating nuclear explosion had scorched one side of the world, people were forced to leave their home planet to Mars. A few millenniums after the global crisis, an ambitious girl, Nila, aspires to go to Earth like the rest of her colleagues. Though, when she arrives, it's not what she had expected and suspects something much sinister is going on. |HIGHEST RANK: #5 in Science Fiction| ~~~~'This magnificent cover is by @winterinheaven! Go check out her cover shop~~~~

Exciting news update - HAWK is in the very early stages of being adapted into an animated TV show! Please make sure to stick around and add this story to your shelves for upcoming announcements. Thanks so much for your support :) Kas Balera is used to a bit of chaos. As a space bounty hunter, capturing three Class-2 criminals should have been the most difficult part of her week, but when a disaster of epic proportions rocks the entire solar system, Kas is thrust into the midst of an adventure far beyond her wildest fantasies. With the help of a federal robot, a child genius, and her trusty ship - the Calista - Kas must use all her quick thinking and sharp wit if she's going to stay alive and uncover the new dark and dangerous mysteries of the galaxy. Pursued by evil X1 robots, bio-mech panthers and astral police officers, even Kas's kick-ass fight training and expert piloting can't seem to stop the entire galaxy from going after her. * Wattys Shortlisted * * Highest ranking: #1 in Science-fiction * Thanks to @CAPTAINSARCASTIC101 for helping with the blurb.

~ AVAILABLE ON AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/dp/164434193X ~ She hated riding the subway. It was cramped, smelled, and the seats were extremely uncomfortable to sit on for hours on end. Now add a group of crazy mask-wearing, weapon-wielding, maniacs to the ever growing list of reasons why Gemma hated riding the subway. Gemma Conners is your average eighteen year old and for the past two years she's been riding the subway to and from school with no problem. She always expected the same ol' same ol'. Cramped spaces, hard seats, and perverts staring her up and down and "accidentally" bumping into her and blaming it on the train as it jostled people into one another. Never did she expect a group of masked men to rush in and hold everyone onboard hostage, demanding that they all play along with their sick and twisted idea of a "game". It was either that or die. To add on to her ever growing list of problems, one of the passengers onboard just so happens to be Archer Daniels, your typical high school "heartthrob" and Gemma's classmate. Her day just kept getting better and better. With Gemma's luck, she'd be lucky if she lasted five minutes. Yep. She really hated the subway. *Book Cover Credit: Irah Marie* Thanks again for making such an AMAZING cover!❤️

A discredited biologist joins the fight to keep Earth safe when aliens reveal the shocking origins of mankind ... and their evil intentions are uncovered. Dr Toby Jardine's much-derided theory of 'Intelligent Design' is proven correct when he takes part in a clandestine meeting with extra-terrestrials. The encounter aboard the USA's Orbital Construction Facility results in a sensational disclosure; an ancient race of highly intelligent super-rodents played God to create and exploit life on Earth as a food source. With Darwinism debunked and the world's religions undermined, the danger of worldwide upheaval is extreme. A worried US President decides the revelations, and the very existence of the aliens must be kept secret at all costs. But when Toby discovers the seemingly benign visitors have an evil ulterior motive for their visit, he and his colleagues are forced to take drastic action. The unarmed team on the facility must find a way to eliminate the threat while maintaining complete secrecy ... or risk plunging the population of Earth into chaos.

"...and a little bird told me our king has been spending too much time in Purgatory, meeting with certain archangels." I was sure I didn't hear him correctly. "Lucifer and the archangels? Purgatory? I'll entertain your insanity, carry on." I tried not to laugh, crossing my arms over my chest. "He's there... you can't locate him even if you try, but I know. And there are too many angels there, living angels." Callum said. "They're hiding something, Ian. Deep enough in Purgatory that it's impossible to find." *** Megan had no idea she was the one being hidden... the one that could change everything. Caught between angels and demons, some more alluring than others, she's forced into a new reality that shatters the world she thought she knew. Who is she? What is she? *18+ - mature content ahead*

In the year 2117, constant pollution and nuclear bombing has taken its toll. The human body itself has gotten to point where the immune system is slowly deteriorating. Thousands of lives are lost just from the common flu. Sixteen year old Sadie lost her parents to a deadly car crash two years ago. When she finally moves beyond the deaths of her parents, she loses her grandparents to the common cold. On her journey to Northern California, she crosses paths with the arcane stranger Aiden. They soon realize what it truly means to think and what it means to know. One wrong move, and everything they have worked towards creating a better future for everyone will be for nothing. Passion kills more than guns ever will. CAUTION: Mild Language I'll be updating every week. Hope you like it!

A man goes throughout his morning, unaware of the people around him. This short story seeks to demonstrate how we can never really know what other people are going through.