[[ONC 2026 Honorable Mention]] 25-year old Lee still hasn't figured out why they could not form any long-lasting relationships, even friendships for that matter. Aside from family members, which they are obligated to talk to, there is no one else Lee had even come close to calling a friend. Well, maybe except for one. -------- Submitted for ONC 2026 @OpenNovellaContest Using the following prompts : 29. You will meet many people in your life. Many will come and go, but some will leave footprints in your heart. 104. While wandering in the woods, you dismiss the rustling behind you as nothing more than wind through the trees until you turn around and realize it isn't the wind at all. 106. After waking at 3AM to a freezing room and a door you're certain you closed, you find wet footprints and melting snow leading from your bedroom into the hall. Realizing someone or something is inside your home, you follow the trail to uncover the truth. ------------- © 2026 J. Lee Kennedy. All rights reserved. Cover design © 2026 J. Lee Kennedy. Images used in this work belong to their respective copyright holders and are used under license or in accordance with applicable Creative Commons terms. Edited or altered images are copyrighted by the author in their final form.

Zobiya Hashmi never thought a rishta would change her life. She was the quiet one. The niqabi girl with the low bun and the burnt toast and the heart she kept behind seven walls. Muhammad Ali Shaikh was everything she wasn't - confident, easy, the kind of man rooms rearranged themselves around. He sat across from her at a family meeting and thought - This isn't a match. He was wrong. A story about two strangers who became each other's home. About the love that doesn't arrive like lightning - but like Fajr. Quietly. Certainly. Right on time. - What Allah Wrote For Us - By ~ Zobiya black🥀

She is an introvert and he is mute. What would happen if both of them are tied into an arrange marriage? Will their married life be filled with silence, insecurities and misunderstandings or wil the silence be the reason that would strengthen their relationship? Dive in to the story of Aarifah and Hassan.

What happens when two people got together because they had to and not because they wanted to? * * Meerub Raza, a free spirit 20 yera old with lively dreams and finding love like in her books, suddenly finds her life turned upside down when she founds out her grandfather is dying and he wishes to marry her with not just anyone- to Asad Idris, a self made businessman nearly a decade older than her. * * Asad at 32, has never found any time to think about love. He had a brother to take care of and money to earn. He agress th the marriage for the sake of the man who saw him when no one did. But yet he never expected her- young, impulsive and stubborn and full of life. Thrown into a compromising situation neither of them wanted- How does these two find love? When love isn't the reason, can love still be the outcome? To know.. Stay tuned.

Lia isn't your typical nerd whose world spins only around grades and accolades. Sure, she graduated as class valedictorian while leading the student council-but she also makes time for pilates, late-night hangouts, and real friendships. Then there's Atien-charming, effortlessly sociable, and co-owner of the local gym. Their friendship grew without pressure, without pretense: just study dates, workouts, shared routines... until somewhere along the way, they fell-hard. Did they mean to fall in love? Not at all. But were they struck by an invisible arrow buried too deep to pull out? Absolutely.

❧Arrange Marriage❧ Vaishali Mohite, 25 years old, A girl who believes no one could fall in love with her because she is ugly and ordinary. Ravish Patil, 30 years old, A guy who waited his whole life to fall in love with his wife because he didn't believe that relationships before marriage could work. In a world where love is often fleeting, can they find a lasting connection within the bonds of tradition? ❦❧❦❧❦ Tropes Arrange Marriage Age Gap Slow Burn Romance He fell first; she fell harder. ❦❧❦❧❦ The story and plot is pretty simple with little to no drama. The story will contain three Pov's - Ravish, Vaishali and Author. Do give this story a try. At least read 10 to 15 chapters to form an opinion about the story. ❦❧❦❧❦ Started ~ 24th July 2025 Ended ~ 1st Nov 2025

Ayana did not expect her crush to order from her kitchen service. She also did not expect him to catch feelings for her. But, life has a way of surprising her when she least expected it to. Now, she finds herself in the midst of a romance simmering between the two of them. ▬▬ pulan uni # 2 total wordcount : 13.2k words. © adelaide 2024.

Two stories intertwine for a few minutes every day. A short story, written from the perspective of a barista at a local coffee house.

Every night at 10:45 PM, a mysterious man with a steel tiffin appears at Tanu's failing European bakery in Ranchi, collecting her day's disasters with the reverence of someone handling precious artifacts. He pays too much, arranges imperfect pastries like art installations, and disappears into the November darkness with secrets that taste sweeter than her best chocolate walnut slice. When Tanu discovers where her lopsided buns and overbaked cream puffs actually end up, she realizes that sometimes the most beautiful things in life come wrapped in yesterday's failures. But what happens when the mathematics of love collide with family expectations, business ultimatums, and the delicate architecture of dreams built from leftover crumbs? Some stories begin with perfect recipes. This one starts with everything going deliciously wrong.

[compilation of one-shots] a cozy collection of bite-sized love stories, sprinkled with warmth, fluff, and all the little moments that make hearts race