When Ailsa's younger sister, Mairead, is kidnapped by the same dark creatures that once stole her, she's forced to hunt her down before she's trapped forever. ***** Every child in Ailsa's village bears a scar. After Ailsa herself escaped the Otherfolk and returned home with her face and neck horribly disfigured, it became a standard practice. Before her, no other child had ever made their way home. Years later, thanks to Ailsa's sacrifice (and example), it seems the Otherfolk have left the island to steal children elsewhere. ... Until Ailsa's sister, Mair, is stolen. At risk of being named an Otherfolk herself, Ailsa vows to find Mair and bring her home. The only issue? Ailsa can't recall any of her life from before her own kidnapping, let alone how she herself escaped. With the help of an eerily familiar stranger (someone on her island she's never met? How?), Ailsa - at risk of losing her home, her mother, and Mairead - decides this time, she'll come home with her sister and her memories in-tact, no matter what it takes. ***** Prompts 16, 21

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 ."

After Travis McPherson dies, his fiancée receives a voicemail, recorded an hour after his passing. *** Candace and Travis have known each other their entire lives. First as best friends, and later, high school sweethearts. As far as anyone in their small town is concerned, these two were meant to walk down the aisle together. But when a flash flood takes all that away, Candace is left grieving and heartbroken. All she has left of him is a mysterious voicemail recorded an hour after his confirmed death. It's impossible, yet she plays it over and over again, desperate for the sound of his voice. And a sign. Something, anything to ease her aching heart. All as their lives flash before her eyes. Travis always told her he loved her to Heaven and back, and beyond the grave, sends a final, heartfelt message moments before his death. The only remaining mystery is how as death parts two halves of the same heart. *** (Prompt 90: You receive a voicemail from someone you love, recorded one hour after their confirmed death). Wired for the Open Novella Contest 2026

When her office burns down a successful editor must share a workspace with the most infuriating man alive or risk the promotion she's been working her entire career for. **** Chielozonam 'Elo' Williams is thriving. Not only does she have the job of her dreams she's about to make Acquiring Editor of PerfectRomance, the publishing imprint she's been working at for the past five years which would definitely prove to her judgmental father once and for all that he was wrong about her wasting her life away at a dead end job but she's also determined to enjoy the prime years of her youth. Endless fun and casual romps in the sheets are the name of the game. That is until the unthinkable happens. After Elo's building catches fire and burns down she has no choice but to share an office with the one person that makes her blood boil: Connor Price. Archenemies since their days at college Connor makes getting under her skin an art form with his well-timed scathing remarks and contemptible behavior. It's not long before they're locked in a battle of wits, neither willing to back down or give up. When they have to work together to acquire a potentially lucrative manuscript, they are forced to put aside their long-standing animosity for an adventure that will change everything they thought they knew about each other. PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION meets ANYONE BUT YOU meets THE HATING GAME in this contemporary rom-com about resilience, self-discovery and two sworn enemies who can't decide whether to kiss or kill each other. An ONC 2026 story inspired by prompt 40. You and your greatest enemy are struck by a curse that binds your lives together. The only way to survive is to share a kiss, but you would both rather face death than each other.

Fall, 2022: On the Bayou of Southern Louisiana. Ozzy, a 14-year-old artistic honors student, is looking forward to starting high school and the talented theater program. But a whirlwind trip to the ER and an MRI reveals Ozzy has a brain tumor - and later, a pediatric cancer diagnosis - changes everything. During a year-long fight for a cure in the hospital, hope comes to Ozzy and their Mama through art, music and letters from friends, family and even strangers. There are so many that some remain unopened, collected in a box that goes home with Ozzy after they are discharged from the hospital a year later. The box sits in Mama's closet for over two years. Neither Ozzy nor Mama have opened the box as they struggle to return to "normal" life when "normal" is no longer possible. Until today, 2026: when what begins as spring cleaning turns into opening the box, reading its letters, and finding a mysterious adventure in one that neither Ozzy or Mama ever saw coming. And it just may be the adventure 17-year-old Ozzy and their Mama need to reveal the unexpected, ordinary magic that can help them heal, move forward- and live. ONC 2026 Prompts Used: #79 (Main) - Additional: #16, #28, #69, #104. Stacie Eirich @spacetodream

Elite meets The Magicians in this young adult queer romance/mystery. Three months ago, Press Gregor was the most popular mage influencer at Vale Academy. He had the brand deals, the enchanted content and the boyfriend everyone envied. Then came that stupid garden party. Now Press can't remember what happened that day. All he knows is that his magic combusted, taking his reputation with it. And Mateo, the boy he loves, won't even look at him anymore. Fresh out of magical rehab, Press is forced to live under the watch of Dr. Alana Santos, the most powerful Arcanist on the West Coast. She also happens to be his ex-boyfriend's mother. Oh yeah, and she's the same woman who made Mateo break up with him. Living fifty feet from Mateo and pretending he feels nothing is its own kind of torture. But when a blackmailer gives Press seven days to leave Caldera Heights or they leak footage of his combustion to the blogs, he realizes the day that ruined him might not have been his fault. Someone wanted him gone. Someone may have even cursed him. Now Press has one week to clear his name, uncover the truth and figure out if the boy who broke his heart might take him back. The closer he gets to the truth, the more dangerous his questions become. Because whoever did this to him is still watching. Part of the 2026 Open Novella Contest. Based on the prompt "After being cursed, you go from being the most popular socialite to becoming a nobody". Updates on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Fallon never meant to survive the night. Broken by grief and haunted by shadows that she can no longer outrun, she throws herself from the cliffs into the storm-torn sea-choosing darkness over another dawn. Instead of death, she finds fire. A dragon rises from the waves and pulls her from the abyss. Ancient. Wounded. Hunted. When the beast vanishes, and a stranger with molten-gold eyes takes his place, Fallon learns the truth: dragons are not the mindless monsters the kingdom fears. They are shifters-rare, powerful, and nearly extinct. And Ambrose is the last of the Draco. The realm has already sent its most revered knight to finish what generations began: the eradication of dragonkind. If Ambrose is found, the Draco will fall forever. Fallon owes her life to the creature the world calls a monster. As soldiers close in and secrets of the old magic awaken in her blood, Fallon must choose between the safety of the kingdom that failed her-or the dragon who saved her. Protecting Ambrose means defying the crown, confronting the knight sworn to destroy him, and risking her heart to a being of fire and shadow. Because the greatest danger isn't the blade hunting dragons. It's falling for one. [Entry for the Open Novella Contest 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!