The Eye has seen-the world will end, unless the apocalypse is properly thwarted. Unfortunately, this task has been handed to the two worst people for the job. Gadowyn Harker is a poison-peddling witch of the Gold City with a curse: if she loves, she will lose her powers-and herself. Beau "The Beautificent" Beguile (not his real name) is a smug necromancer who cons the rich and has a lifelong allergy to love, and all its messy bits. Now they must do the unthinkable: bring a dragon and a future knight-princess-sworn enemy of dragonkind-together, romantically. The world would do well to start praying; the chances of success are slim at best. Meanwhile, the Gold City teeters on the brink of collapse, undead roam the streets (entirely Beau's fault), and the end of the world draws ever closer. Somehow, Gadowyn and Beau must save it all with love-without falling prey to it themselves. First draft written for ONC 2026 | Main Prompts 11 & 98

She is sent to kill the dragon. Instead, she might become his only salvation. *** In a world swallowed by the Ever-Dark, Iva Vernigora is nothing more than a lowly servant in the house of the cruel Voivode Yakub Ivanov, Duke of Highroot. But when Voivode blackmails her with the lives of her parents, Iva is forced to pretend she's his daughter, as she infiltrates the royal academy of magic - Kolegium. Voivode Yakub's order is absolute: poison the Prince Konstantin Veliki. Prince Konstantin is the heir to the throne, the last of the line of Dragons - a Zmey warrior of light, who was blessed with a dragon-shifting gift. At a first glance, he is nothing but a smug, pompous royal, and everything Iva is supposed to hate. Yet every touch, and every shared lesson at Kolegium blurs the line between the enemy she must kill and the man she is beginning to crave. While Iva stalks her prey as a knife in the dark, waiting for the chance to extinguish Konstantin's light, she discovers that the dragon everyone fears is the only thing standing between humanity and the void. As the Ever-Dark Shades rise, Iva must make an impossible choice. Will she carry out her sinister orders and secure her parents' freedom, or will she stand by the Dragon in the battle for the world's last light? *** The Shades are coming. The Dragons are falling. And the Eternal Spark is waiting for its host. © 2026 EvelynHail Exclusively on Wattpad Based on prompts: 97. "When the world slips into endless darkness, something begins to move in the shadows and you must find a way to survive in a night that never ends." 4. "You discover that the dragon everyone fears is in danger, and you are the only one who can save it from the knight sworn to slay it ."

Edmund comes to the remote village of Black Thickett to escape the life grief has carved out of him. He wants silence. Distance. A place where memories can't follow. But Black Thickett is wrong in quiet, unsettling ways. The broken road becomes perfectly smooth the moment he crosses the boundary. The cottages are too neat, too deliberate. And on a noticeboard full of dry flyers, only one poster is wet. A missing boy, smiling as if he doesn't know he's lost. The villagers won't talk about the disappearances. The forest at the edge of the village seems to breathe, and the deeper Edmund goes, the calmer he feels... dangerously calm. The forest can quiet his pain. It can ease his grief. It can make him forget. But not everything that heals you wants you to survive. Welcome to Black Thickett, where you'll find my entry into the ONC 2026.

When a dragon seeks asylum from his deranged owners, a timid girl must choose between protecting or surrendering him to the influential family. Dedicated to Teddy, H.H & Eli, in honor of our childhood days. *** DAPHNE, a timid 12 year old has managed to live alone in the town's local library during her parents' messy divorce. Every day after school, she routinely tends to the library's garden, afraid of anything and everything. However, when a dragon's appearance in her life threatens her desire to hide away in peace, she discovers maybe standing up for a friend is worth more than running away. HILLBELLY, a young dragon who just witnessed his mother's death by the hands of the witches escapes in fear. After taking flight, he stumbles upon the slightly unkept but charming garden belonging to Daphne and begs her for asylum. Unfortunately, his owners' powers extend beyond their house in the dark woods and puts his new friend and himself in danger. *** A novella written for ONC 2026 Prompts: 3, 16, 80

A year ago, Carter DuBois plunged the world into an endless night, the remnants of his army made of sinister shapeshifters still lingering in the shadows as mankind fights for survival. In a last-ditch effort to reverse the damage he caused, Harper Jones visits Carter in prison just hours before his execution to offer him life in return for lifting the darkness, but he maintains his innocence. When Harper touches him, she's transported to a parallel dimension in the past. Now, she has to race against time to uncover the truth to save not only her own world but this dimension as well. Is Carter a scapegoat or is he the criminal mastermind everyone has made him out to be? If she gets it wrong, all will be lost, and that the Carter of this dimension is her husband doesn't make her quest any easier. ~~~~ This is my ONC 2026 entry based on the following prompts: #64: You touch someone who is accused of a crime and are suddenly transported to a different time and dimension. To return home, you must uncover the truth behind the accusation. But if your final judgment is wrong, you will carry the consequences yourself. #97: When the world slips into endless darkness, something begins to move in the shadows and you must find a way to survive in a night that never ends. ~~~~ © Sal Mason/Fire Rose 2026

The Open Novella Contest is back for 2026! Join fellow storytellers and plant the seed of a tale that will blossom into a 20,000+ word novella within 12 weeks! Your epic quest begins February 1st, 2026, so mark your calendars with this date!

A successful lawyer meets a carpenter through an AI (artificial intelligence) software, hoping to find love. But what they find is more than what they bargained for. __________________________________________________________ Ursula has all the book smarts and not an ounce of social skills. After a year of loneliness, she decided to take matters into her own hands and completes the creation of Adelaide--a brilliant AI meant to help people like her make real life connections. Looking for potential clients to test her theory out, the librarian hoped that Adelaide would function properly. But as the AI came to life, this matchmaking scheme of Ursula's might not end up as well as she once believed. The Clients: Erica Cresswell, a single mother who works hard to make a living for herself and her son, happens to be a successful lawyer. Most would say that Erica was doing well, but all that was missing in her life was a man, as her fiancé passed away a few years ago. Yet, her best friend, Claudia, played matchmaker to keep her friend happy. Although, all of Claudia's attempts failed, the women meet Ursula, an uncanny librarian, who might have the answer to Erica's problems. Halfway around the world, Esteban Novicio wasn't having much luck in life either. After being dumped by his girlfriend and losing a client over a rival, he didn't know what else to do. That is, until his best friend, Commodore, introduced him to an AI dating site, which led him to meet Erica's avatar. ~ ~ ~ ~ Written for the 2025 ONC & using the following prompts: Prompt 40: You were once a character in a deleted story, now lost and memoryless in the library. All you recall is your former importance. To rewrite your backstory, you must first outwit the ghost librarian, who won't stop offering unsolicited advice. & Prompt 131: "This girl is on fire!"

Two ex-best friends are invited back to the reality TV cooking show that caused their ruined relationship three years ago. *** Three years. That's how long ago it was when Luci Baker shoved a cake in Shae Brown's face. That's how long the fifteen-year friendship of Shae and Luci has been extinct. Now, the show that hosted the infamous scene has invited Shae back to participate in a bake-off with other baking "Fiascos" that were featured on Tiana's Kitchen. Shae is embarrassed that their debacle made it into Fiasco territory even though the episode they participated in never actually aired. But, they are also determined to redeem themself from the humiliating experience. The problem? Luci was invited back too. And she wants to be friends again. Will Shae's pride get in the way of their friendship's-and their reputations'-redemption? Let the bakeoff begin! *** Cover from @TaeTaeGinger! WARNINGS: extreme profanity, themes of mental illness, alcoholism, mentions of domestic violence and abandonment, enbyphobia, on page panic attacks and autistic shutdowns with unintentional self-harm during these attacks Chapter Title Teasers for July: • May 18th: 10 - Lemon Cakes and the Moons that Live in Them • May 23rd: 11 - Winner, Loser, Who Gives a Shit? • May 28th: 12 - Maybe the Real Prize Is the Friends We Made Along the Way This is technically #5 of the Fiasco Season of Tiana's Kitchen series, but it was the first one written. Watch my profile for more Tiana's Kitchen content! 1st Draft Published: February 28th, 2025 1st Draft Finished: - 1st Draft Word Count: 27,312

**When a gruesome prison death reunites an officer with her ex-best friend, feelings resurface as they investigate the deep-rooted secrets of an ancient penitentiary.** After eight years abroad, Lana Lippian has returned to the frozen asteroid of her birth as a Lieutenant in the Intergalactic Disciplinary Organization. It's now her job to police both Fenestra Prison and the surrounding penal colony of Subtus City. But when an ill-fated arrest leads to the death of an innocent teenager, Lana's estranged best friend (and childhood crush), Korona Tallow, begs the officer to imprison her in order to investigate what she believes to be murder. However, dangerous secrets lie behind the metal walls of Fenestra and Lana has her work cut out keeping Kor safe. Especially since the fiery nuisance has never been one to fly below the radar. Soon, sparks catch in the flammable atmosphere as the wary allies discover that both the mystery and their feelings go far deeper than either could have imagined. ||18+ Trigger Warning for Sexual Situations, Language, Violence and Death|| Featured on: @FreeTheLGBT @OpenNovellaContest @ScienceFiction @Wattpad

Vrinda Sharma, being elder daughter, makes her responsible in every sense. She has a lot of things in her life to take care of but nothing more hectic since that department is handled by sarcastically helpful sister. Sailu Sharma, a girl who could be anything but mundane. She is everyone's favourite but she's reconsidering this fact after getting to know about a boy. Viransh Pradhan, a boy who is a free spirited and loves to be in his own world, sports. But does anything else can effect him like sports does. Sailu pretends not to like Viransh but her mind solely stuck to him. But even if she gains courage to talk to him, she can't, why? Vrinda? What relation does Vrinda and Viransh share? Mere strangers or something else? Can Sailu ever able to gain courage to talk to Viransh? To find out we have to go through their journey in this book. An entry for ONC 2025:- based on prompt #113 Note:- this is my first time ever writing a book and English is not my first language... Pardon me if I make any mistakes... But do let me know, so that I won't repeat them again...