(ONC 2024 Longlisted) Not all fairy tales have happy endings, which Arthur is about to discover in a big way. After an especially bad day of work, he makes a wish on a star that all of the magical stories his Nana used to tell him when he was a boy were real. Life in the mundane everyday world might not always be great, but fairy tales might not be all they're cracked up to be either. Can Arthur get things back to normal or is he going to be stuck in a fractured fairy tale world (not so) happily ever after?

When the towns local Witch goes missing, her two familiars set out to find her. Matias only really likes one person, his witch, Eve. So when she goes missing one day he's determined to find her. Even if that means putting up with the annoying crow of hers. But there's only one problem, Matias has no clue where to start. Logical, the only right thing to do is blame the girl who's always hanging out around their cottage. Selene has been told to be scared of the witch that lives at the edge of town, and she is. Or at least she thinks she is. The witch is the only one who really stirs something in her gut, and it has to be fear, right? When a cat and a crow come to ask her to help them find the witch she's hesitant. How could she possibly be able to find her? But when no one else in town seems to be searching and the cat seems almost desperate she decides to help. How hard can it be to find someone who disappeared without leaving anything behind? *** An ONC 2024 Novella

Confined to the family's estate since birth, three sisters have never seen the outside world. Taught they are unable to leave home due to their long hair, Lexi, Lulu, and Fia secretly envy their volatile father and narcissistic mother whose short locks allow them to come and go whenever they wish. Raised believing their grandparents live in the TV set, the young women's knowledge about the outside world is skewed. On the eve of Fia's eighteenth birthday, life as they know it is altered when the girls find a young man unconscious in their yard. Believing he is an angel, they hide him in the guest house. Soon Fia's feelings for the man bloom and she finds herself sneaking to the guest house to be with him. When the lies the sisters have been told begin to unravel, Fia decides she will do whatever it takes to escape. The only thing holding her back is her long dark hair. Dogtooth x Rapunzel x The Castle of Purity Warning for abuse, swearing, romantic themes, alcohol addiction, blood, and typical Christine darkness. There is no SA. Best rank: #1 IN OPENNOVELLACONTEST2024 I started writing this story for the ONC 2024. Due to work and life, I could not finish it for the contest. Which made me sad...but I continued...at a snail's pace. Thanks to everyone who kept reading!

Araminta was called a witch. Now she's gone. And the last person who saw her is looking for answers. *** A Good Girl's Guide To Murder x Wednesday *** Two years ago, Araminta Green disappeared. Her neighbor and classmate Jordan Thompson was the last person who saw her, walking through a graveyard in the early morning hours. Jordan was intimidated by Araminta. With her pale-powdered face, black lips, spider-web eyeliner, and her love for tarot reading, it was no wonder that people speculated that Araminta was a witch. But Jordan was also intrigued by her dark aura, sensing that she may be as lonely as him. Maybe if he had reached out to her back then, she wouldn't be missing now. When Jordan is tasked with creating an investigative podcast for a college course, there is no question about which case he wants to delve into. With his cat Kiki as his co-pilot, Jordan sets off to answer the question of what happened to Araminta, even as his recordings constantly get disrupted by a cawing crow in the background. Following the trail of Araminta, Jordan discovers truths both about his missing classmate and himself, because while he hasn't vanished he is definitely lost as well. Will he be able to find both himself and Araminta? *** An ONC novella using prompt #81: The town's witch has gone missing and no one is looking for her but her two familiars - a crow and a black cat, plus the teen who has always been scared of her.

Skye Templeton is sick of living in a small village in the Scottish Highlands where everyone knows every single little thing about her. She's tired of her dead-end "situationship". She desperately needs to escape . . . So when a chance encounter opens her eyes to the possibility of a different life, she decides it's time to shake things up a bit. Moving to Glasgow on a whim probably isn't her smartest idea, but Skye is determined to make the most of her new life. Unfortunately, life doesn't always work out the way you planned . . . Especially if you didn't really have a plan in the first place! ~~~~~~~~ I initially started this story with the intention of entering it into the Open Novella Contest this year - I've since found out that it wouldn't qualify but I'm still using one of the prompts all the same! The prompt I'm using is: Prompt 45- "Keep your happily ever after; it ain't mine." And, much like Skye, I really don't have a plan for it yet, so let's just see what unfolds! ;-)

Two dueling tornado chasers compete to impress a famous self-taught scientist and storm-chaser, follow in his footsteps, and become his renowned protege. *** Twenty year old Halle Brennan's obsession with mega storms was born out of intense grief and feelings of powerlessness after her mother, Magenta, died in a sudden tornado. Dissimilarly, her nemesis, James Winter only embraced his famous father's storm chasing legacy out of duty. Despite a shoestring budget and and her youth, Halle exhibits an uncanny ability to track down deadly twisters. With her scientific mind and uncanny intuition, she intimidates James and his wealthy cohorts who rely on technical equipment and an expensive armor-plated all terrain vehicle instead of sheer guts and expertise. As a deadly storm descends on the Oklahoma plains, Halle, James and her best friends Amy and Naseem, are thrown into a monster, rain wrapped tornado that wants to kill everyone in its path. ONC Prompt No. 85 "If you do that again, I'll throw you out the freakin window. "What are you doing?" "Checking how high the drop is to see if it's worth it." *Cover models are from the movie "Divergent".

Attend opera concerts. Run a few errands. Enjoy a luxury apartment, wardrobe, and car, all expenses paid. Sounds like a dream job, right? There's only one catch. After nights of haunting musical messages and retrieving strange, pulsing items for her eccentric employer, Cleo unravels a conspiracy she definitely isn't getting paid enough to be involved in. As time goes on, she glimpses a fantastical realm of individuals that prefer to keep their powers a secret, and will do anything to remain unseen. Once unveiled, there is no going back to blissful ignorance. It all started with a paycheck. But in the end, Cleo may be the one paying - with her life. ~ cover by Laine from @avadel sticker by @SuVida777 *ONC 2024 Honorable Mention and Shortlister *Open Door Awards 2024 New Adult Winner *8CC participant January-February 2024 Completed Word Count: 31,180 Featured: @mystery 100. In a concert hall filled with hundreds of people, only you are hearing different lyrics to what everyone is singing. 27. Sometimes love is what drives you to take your next breath. Other times, it's revenge.

"When just being alive makes you a target, you learn to keep your head low." Being a nurse in an ER clinic, Eileen never had much time for romance. Especially, when job and education often came before everything else she's ever known. That is until she met Ursus. Funny and compassionate, he always seems to understand Eileen's feelings more then her own. She knows that she wants to spend the rest of her life with him, but you know what they say about things too good to be true. When a grey eye man that looks too close to Ursus shows up, Eileen learns that her world and the man she loves are way more then what she ever thought possible. With new people and new creatures to meet, Eileen will have to rely on Ursus if she wants to help make his home a better place. But with betrayal and heartache around every corner, Eileen will have to stay aware if both of them are to make it out alive.

When death is everywhere, what will you do to survive? All Hadriana remembers is slavery. Her home burned to the ground, she now works the fields of the estate, keeping a low profile to survive. That is, until she attaches the attention of a famous gladiator. Kind, confident, and wanting her, he whispers promises of a different life, a life free from the Roman's hands. That is until his skeletons, more dangerous and more violent then Rome itself, show their faces wanting revenge. Learning to survive is hard, learning to move on is even harder. However, unless Hadriana wants to find herself buried six feet under, she's needs to learn how to do both before his skeletons drag them both under ground forever. Lovely cover done by @final_girl13