ONC2025 Rafe Daring is not a hero known for his bravery. He is a farm boy known for being stubborn, cheeky, and doing things haphazardly, which always leads to chaos. When he flees town on his motorcycle, chased by the boy he'd turned into his nemesis, Rafe veers from safety to avoid his enemy. He ventures onto a strangled path through the forbidden forest, a vast stretch of access-restricted nature reserve bordering his family's farm. As with most of his decisions, this one also leads to disaster. Soon, Rafe finds himself injured and lost at the bottom of a steep slope, trying to find his way home. When he stumbles into a briar vine-covered wall, he decides that his only way home might be through what appears to be an archway clogged by vines. However, he is unprepared for what waits for him when he breaks through the thick, thorny briar vines. Finding himself in an increasingly dangerous and confusing situation, he realises that this time, he'd outdone himself in the art of making extraordinarily bad decisions. He has one question that stands out above all his other questions: "Who would be dumb enough to give an idiot like me superpowers?!" TW: Some chapters might have upsetting themes; reader discretion is advised. ONC2025 Prompt 1: You stumble upon a mysterious door made entirely of briars and thorns. As you step through, you're granted extraordinary powers. But with great power comes great responsibility - it's now your duty to save the crumbling kingdom. Word Count (WP Web) = 39 269

[ONC 2025 SHORTLIST] The Endless Brew lazes in the 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏. Its residents dedicate their afterlife to helping ghosts tie up loose ends. But when a cry for help echoes from the town of Wisteria, the tea house is thrown into uncharted territory. This time, their charge isn't a ghost-it's Nina, a living, breathing human with no apparent wishes to fulfill. Stumped and stranded, The Endless Brew's residents must unravel why she's crossed into their spectral world. As they take her under their wing, Nina finds herself drawn to Kai, a brooding, enigmatic ghost with a past as mysterious as his piercing gaze. Their electric connection might defy the boundaries of life and death, but it doesn't change the fact they're from different worlds, and their parting is inevitable. 🌸 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬: 𝑺𝒍𝒐𝒘-𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏, 𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒈𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈. 🌸 𝐎𝐍𝐂 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭: 15. 𝑨 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒑 𝒔𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓: 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎 𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕?

An isolated school for delinquents. An unsolved murder. And an eccentric club of miscreants that could hold the answers. But they could be facing worse than expulsion by unearthing buried secrets. One misstep, and they'll be the next victims. Estelle Hazelwood has two choices when she's arrested: juvenile detention or Richardson Academy for troubled youth. She used up her sympathy benefits. Now she's being shipped off to the mountains so her mother and stepfather don't have to deal with her anymore. Merit points define privileges. And she's forced to join a club that's in the bowels of the basement, beside a rickety boiler room, with a teacher who's certifiably insane. She should have chosen juvie. Broderick Winslow is in his second year at Richardson Academy for troubled youth. He doesn't need to be here. He's not troubled. He's prone to violence and may forget afterwards, but he's a model student otherwise. After a debilitating injury, he's been told he'll never run again. But that's not what keeps him off the field. He's been threatened with a bloody thrashing if he even tries to step onto the track. No longer holding the privileges of a jock, he's forced to join a mandatory extracurricular. He's not following the girl that he snubbed on the first day. It's a coincidence that they've chosen the same club for the year. And if he gets to spend his abundant free time bothering her into a fury, that's also a coincidence.

He's Irish Sass in a jersey. She's chaos in sequins. What could possibly go wrong? Galen McKenna has one rule: don't fall in love. Or fall over. Or fall at all, really-he's a hockey player, not a romantic hero. When the Irish wildcard lands a golden ticket to Crystalcrest Ice Hockey Academy, he's determined to finally get his act together, keep his past in the rearview, and definitely avoid screwing things up. Again. His plan? Train hard. Stay focused. No drama. Don't be a melter! Too bad nobody warned him about the glitter tornado on skates living in his new home. Hunter Fairlane lives to skate. She's got a championship to win, a promise to keep, and a skating partner who'd rather sulk than spin. But when Galen crashes-literally-into her life, the last thing she expects is for her heart to start skipping beats. She's skating for love. He's skating for redemption. When attraction sparks between the boy who's afraid to feel and the girl who feels everything, the ice might just melt under their feet. This stand-alone novel, featuring Galen McKenna, is a spin-off from my soapie, Hunting the Fairy Tale. No prior knowledge is required.

(THE DAGON SAGA 1) The walls of Forestvale Manor talk to me in whispers that no one else can hear. What should I do, and why do I have to be the hero of this story? I merely wanted to figure out the mysteries of the enigmatic abandoned mansion before starting my new life at university. And now I find myself here, embroiled in a conflict that began who knows when and calls into question my ideals and my understanding of everything that has occurred up to this point. Mia.

A family curse. A forced marriage. A runaway bride. And a wayward son. After years of misfortune, luck has finally shown favor upon the Truvow family in the form of Count Reginald Drewmond, but his kindness comes at a cost. Estella Truvow discovers she must marry the count tomorrow morning, a man she has never met, if she wants to save her family from ruin. Estella has other plans and she isn't the only one. This novella is being written for ONC 2024 using prompt 88: "Your father is forcing you to marry someone you have never met. The night before your wedding you tie your sheets together and make your escape through the window. Half way down you make eye contact with someone doing the exact same thing a few windows over."

Belle, an art student in need of a place to work on the paintings for her evaluation, makes the mistake of leaving it to her bungling cousin Craig to find that place for her. And find her a place, he did... "Craig! You said this house was, and I quote, 'pretty and quaint, rich in history and character.' You did NOT say that it was squalid and putrid, rich in bad odours and horror! Come on! The lights aren't even working!" "I am in a house that has seen smugglers, refugees and criminals passing through its hallways. A house where broken clocks kick up a storm of sound at random intervals, a place where time doesn't matter and every minute hand follows its own path. An old mansion filled with sounds and secrets. Really nothing to inspire peace of mind..." As a storm wreaks havoc and the house wakes up, Belle is increasingly bugged by one very important question: Is the man sharing the house with her real, or is he just a very sexy mop? Genre: Mystery/Humour/Romance This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. All rights are reserved by me as @MaggieOHighley. Please do not copy or use my work anywhere without my permission. Thank you.

When life becomes too hard to bear alone, someone comes along to bear it with you. A girl thriving on light and colour meets a boy trapped in darkness; their souls connect, and together they find love and healing... or something profound and corny like that. Excerpt: A girl wearing a rainbow is marching towards me from over the hill... I dare to turn my head slightly to study her. I can't have such a vivid hallucination and not make a point of appreciating it fully. I am a little alarmed, but as hallucinations go, this one is a lot better than the red and green rabbits I saw running over my grandmother's rug last night. Genre: Romance/Humour This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. TW: Please be advised that this story contains references to violence, self-harm, depression, anxiety, mental health issues, and other possibly upsetting themes. Reader discretion is advised. I reserve all rights as @MaggieOHighley. Please do not copy or use my work anywhere without my permission. Thank you.

A collection of all my short stories divided into categories. Though I'm marking it as completed, I'll add to it whenever I write a new one for some weird reason or another. Enjoy TW:- The stories in the Horror section might be disturbing to sensitive readers, as they contain references to murder, abuse, violence and other possibly triggering themes. Reader's discretion is advised.

What do you do when the girl of your dreams lives next door, but she hates your guts and will never see you as anything other than her best friend's annoying brother? You make a brilliant plan; that's what you do! This is a story about becoming friends and falling in love one crazy moment at a time... and having loads of fun along the way. Friendly Dating - Kira is written from Kira's point of view and can be read before, during or after this one, but they do contain some spoilers for each other.