Time heals all wounds. When you have the power to rewind it, you begin to wonder whether it's too much responsibility for one person to hold. ***** Sometimes, walking away is the scariest, yet the bravest thing one can do. Iris Fox would know; after returning to the coastal town of Emelle Bay, Oregon, and finding her life in shambles, it's hard to ignore the voice in the back of her head that beckons her to stay. Days turn into weeks, which turn into months, and Iris finds herself drawn to the heartbreaking reminders of how it all went wrong. Echoes of unfinished business and painful memories wash up, awakening the dormant power to rewind time, and Iris realizes she has a choice to make--she can either use her power to try and fix what has been stolen from her, rewriting her past, present, and future, or she can tuck the past where it belongs. Either way, there's only one conclusion. All actions have consequences. ***** Open Novella Contest -- prompts 24, 33, & 54 [[OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2024 ROUND 1 AMBASSADORS' PICK, LONGLISTER & SHORTLISTER]] © 2024 caterina george // all rights reserved

Anchor Morningstar owns and operates the Resting Point, a hole-in-the-wall tavern sitting right on the border between life and the afterlife where travelers catch a brief respite before passing through a portal for judgment day. For years, Anchor has lend a kind ear to those desperate souls and has offered words of encouragement as he polishes glasses and serves drinks. All this changes the second Cass stumbles into the bar. Carrying with her a tremendous amount of guilt and remorse, she begs Anchor to let her stay, so he offers her a warm bed and some tender loving care for the night. The outcome is not as expected. In hell, they say that soulmates are real and dangerous. They hold the power to bring someone back from the brink of death or tear their soul in half. Only the devil has no heart, and he has already claimed Cass as his soulmate. Warnings: 🌶️ High Heat Level 🤬 Swearing ☠️ Touch Her & Die 🦸🏽‍♂️ Anti-Hero 💓 Dangerous Love 💋 Two domineering, broody love interests who are hot and larger than life (but might deserve love) 😈 Dark Humor Read with caution! ~~~~~ This is my entry for ONC 2024 based on the following prompts: Prompt #7: You are the barkeeper, the owner and operator of the resting point between life and the afterlife, being a kind ear to those who have passed on. Prompt #25: Soulmates are real and dangerous. They hold the power to bring you back from the brink of death or tear your soul in half. And a devil with no heart is the soulmate that awaits you. Prompt #32: A drunk dare and the biggest mistake of your life. A sin you can't wash off your hands. After all, blood leaves its traces and so does the taking of a soul. | Round Two AMBASSADORS' PICK | ~~~~ © Sal Mason/Fire Rose 2024

ONC 2024: In college, it was a case of wrong place/wrong time. Eight years later, they have a second chance. But will they take the leap? ___ Prompt 14: "My muse, believe me, waiting for you has been a form of freedom." ___ Excerpt: "Don't look back." Ian stares at me through the screen with his dark, intense gaze. "Don't long for all the things that might have been. Don't chastise yourself for the decisions you've made." For a moment, his words render me silent. "Appreciate all those little indentations that make you who you are," he says with a tender expression. "And remember your superpower." "What superpower?" "Let yourself dream again." A tender smile crosses his features. "Focus that intense drive of yours on the future like you used to do." He's right. For so long, I've been living in survival mode. One foot in front of the other. Stuck in this nightmare, I haven't been able to see any other way forward. Until now. "You're free now," he says, "to make better choices that will make you truly happy." For a moment, I let my mind take me wherever it wants to go. Right now? It wants to be in Boston, beside him. But can I leave everything behind?

When Elven assassin's enslave a Fae Queen within her own mines - Chyrie is blood-sworn to forge the very iron meant to strike her down. With only a few months to sever the oath, her only hope lands in the palms of a forgotten Captain and his Sea Wyrm. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Round One 》✔️ 2k 》✔️ Round Two 》 ✔️ 8k 》✔️ Round Three 》✔️ 20k 》✔️ Longlisted 》 ✔️✨️ Shortlisted 》 ✔️✨️✨️ Lovely Cover by ©️ClaraElisibeth

Magic isn't just a story we tell - it's real, and it's everywhere. It's in the whispered words of ancient tomes, the forgotten cracks between worlds, and the hearts of those brave enough to seek it. Step into a world where myths whisper in the shadows, magic courses through every breath, and heroes are forged in the fires of the extraordinary. In this anthology, discover lands untamed, creatures unimagined, and the powerful forces that bind them all.

In a ruined world, what traces of humans remain? In an overgrown corner of a once-intact room, nestled in the roots of a young tree, a barely functional camera watches over the decay. Maintenance calls go unanswered, leaving it to conserve power, turning on its lens only when things get within its proximity range. Its largely monotonous world gets disrupted when a family of birds make the tree it rests on home. Mysteriously, their presence stirs a torrent of memories within its circuits, some intact and others corrupted. However, recalling memories comes at a cost, and its power, gleaned from the sun, gets drained faster than it can recover. Despite the risk, the camera cannot cease. It is compelled to observe and document the intertwining of past and present unfolding before its lens. As it continues it realises why the family of birds recalls seemingly unrelated memories. ? It was bound by a promise of the past, one that was corrupted beyond repair until an overlap between its owner and the birds were found. Now, repairs of core memories are underway and soon, the bigger picture reveals itself. The battery falls, and the past gives way to the present. *Longlister of the 2024 ONC*