ONC 2026 entry, prompt 5. Every day at the exact same time your cat slips out of your home. One afternoon, curiosity gets the better of you, and you follow, only to discover it's living a secret life you never imagined. My take, cats save the world as a backdrop to a romcom.

Daisy Marie "Dee" Del Buono and Luca "Kai" Romano have lived next door to each other their whole lives-but they've never lived in the same world. At school, Kai is untouchable: the star of the track, the golden boy everyone talks about, the name everyone knows by heart. He is the center of the stadium lights, loud and inevitable. Dee is a different kind of sound-the first-chair oboe who everyone hears but no one truly sees. She's the girl who lives in the static between band practice and her two best friends, hiding her 88-key heart behind a music stand and a wall of hoodies. And between them sits a lie they've both agreed to believe: They're not friends. Until one summer night, they cross a line they swore they'd never touch. When Dee's older brother, Arlo-Kai's best friend-leaves for college, everything shifts. The fence between their houses becomes a bridge. Late-night talks replace old arguments. They learn each other's secrets. They learn each other's smiles. Now it's senior year, and they're trying to pretend it didn't happen. Pretending they're fine. Pretending they can go back. Pretending the truth isn't pulsing every time they lock eyes across the hallway and across their bedroom windows. But the sweetest lies are the ones you tell to protect your heart- until the night they finally destroy it. "The Sweetest Lie" is a story about first love, quiet longing, and the moment when pretending isn't enough anymore. For fans of messy feelings, slow burns, and the kind of heartbreak you only survive once.

ONC 2026 In a world woven with secrets, silence can be deafening. Eighteen-year-old Luca Kant has never known the sound of her own voice; born deaf and raised under the suffocating grip of her controlling father, she is haunted by the shadow of her mother's mysterious disappearance. Did she flee from the clutches of a man who could be a monster, or did something more sinister happen? Nineteen-year-old Boy Harrison lives at the wrecking yard. He can speak, but hasn't spoken since he was four. He is haunted by nightmares that echo a woman's voice warning him that to remain safe, he must remain silent. Fate draws Luca and Boy together. Long-buried memories and cryptic connections between their lives begin to unravel. As they delve deeper into their entwined pasts, eerie parallels unfold-did Luca's father play a role in the dark mystery surrounding her mother's fate? Does he hold the key to both their truths? How is Boy connected, and who is the woman he dreams of? In a gripping tale of identity, resilience, and the haunting weight of silence, Luca and Boy must confront their monsters and uncover the chilling revelations that bind them on a riveting journey where silence speaks volumes and whispers could change the course of their lives. PROMPT 80 - Monsters don't live under our beds. They live in the recesses of our minds. (Variation of Edgar Allen Poe's famous quote.) My interpretation - Monsters didn't live under your bed. They sat at your table.

When a killer feral hog invades Verity State Park, Officer Rylee Harding quarantines the entire area until the threat can be eliminated. She soon discovers doing the right thing isn't easy, because summer has just begun, and the livelihood of Verity's residents depends on the seasonal flood of tourist dollars. Facing opposition from town officials, her neighbors, and even members of her own family, Rylee stands firm in her decision and risks her life and the life of her unborn child to face down the remorseless monster. This story is written for ONC2026 using prompt number 78: You begin to realize that nothing is quite what it seems. Updates every Thursday. Jowls, Copyright ©2026 by Dennis Royer, @dennisroyer All Rights Reserved. Cover art by Deviant Art / ArtVixen0520. Used by permission.

In which the shy girl finds herself master of the game and the basketball legend a mere player. ~~~ It was just a simple game. Scratch that. It was just an innocent discussion between two bored and lonely teenagers. Where was the harm in that? "Don't make a big deal out of it," I scolded myself out loud. ~~~ When Noah Hanower, star basketball player of the school, gets quarantined after returning from a country where an epidemic broke, someone has to step up to help him with the schoolwork. Ilana Martin gets stuck with the task of sending him her notes and finds herself keeping her identity a secret to help with her awkwardness, unknowingly kicking off a guessing game between the unusual pair. Will he be able to figure out who she is before his quarantine ends? Will these two be simple tutor-tutee, unexpected friends or more? Read to find out: one new chapter every Saturday!

All Yuan wants to do is finish her homework, but a surprise visit from a winged creature throws her world into chaos. Join them on their exotic adventure through the foreign lands of Kaasaam

Inspired by true events, 'The Blue Hour' is a story of political intrigue and doomed love set in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire during the summer of 1876. All Prince Hamid and the Belgian glove-maker, Flora Cordier, want is to pursue their forbidden love. But how can they amid backroom dealings, deadly conspiracies, and when an ominous prophecy seals Hamid's fate as the saviour of the Empire? ***** It's the summer of 1876, and rebellion, corruption, famine, and the impending threat of war plague the Ottoman Empire. As European powers circle like vultures for spoils, the century-old dynasty fears Allah has abandoned it. Presiding over the decline is the deranged Sultan Abdulaziz. A prophecy emerges that Hamid, second heir to the throne, will ascend to sultan-hood by summer's end. Fearing for his life and haunted by an inner darkness, he flees the palace. Meanwhile, Hamid's step-mother Peresto, and his enigmatic tutor, Reshid, conspire to fulfil the prophecy by betraying the Sultan and Hamid's step-brother, Crown Prince Murad. Intoxicated by love and freedom, Hamid pursues a secret affair with Flora Cordier, about to marry a man she does not love to escape her past. Over a few passionate summer months, they fight for their forbidden love to become the persons they dream of being, in defiance of society and of the powerful forces of history that conspire to drive them apart. Intimate and intensely atmospheric, 'The Blue Hour' encapsulates eternal themes of love, power, and the struggle for freedom. Blending the epic romance of 'Doctor Zhivago' with the rich historical detail and political intrigue of a Jason Goodwin novel, it is entertaining and vividly immersive, with deep emotional resonance. COMPLETED.