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.

Where the evil Queen of Hearts and the eccentric Mad Hatter fall in love. --- Marra is the Queen of the Kingdom of Hearts. She is known to be heartless and cruel, a tyrant through and through. She has been searching for clues on how to find the mystical being called the Jabberwocky. As she sets foot on her adventure, she encounters different people and creatures who will change her outlook on life, including the eccentric Mad Hatter. Will she let herself fall in love with the madman? --- Based on the "Alice in Wonderland" franchise, particularly the classic books "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll. --- An Open Novella Contest 2026 entry. Prompt 44. "May I have this dance?" "Seriously? Right now, in this situation?"

(First draft - unedited) Evangeline Winterbourne thrives on the unknown. Driven by an unrelenting curiosity, she has spent her life chasing what history tried to erase. Unearthing ancient knowledge, deciphering forgotten languages, and dragging buried civilizations back into the light. Discovery is what she does best. It has never failed her. Until one expedition does more than leave its mark. Deep within a dense forest, Evangeline and her team uncover an ancient temple tied to a lost civilization. What they find inside refuses to stay buried. Whatever stirred there follows her home, settling beneath her skin, awakening something long dormant. Because Evangeline is not entirely human. Drakonian blood runs through her veins, a fractured legacy passed down through generations. Heightened strength. Accelerated healing. A heritage she never fully understood. Until now. As strange coincidences begin to stack and ancient artifacts whisper of memory and chaos, Evangeline realizes the past isn't finished with her. An ancient presence is stirring, one bound to her blood and to the choices her curiosity keeps leading her to. And it wants to be found.

[ONC 2026] When her best friend vanishes without a trace and the police refuse to look closer, she decides to handle it herself. What she doesn't expect is to cross paths with the city's most dangerous man. Now standing at the edge of something far bigger than she anticipated, will she walk away while she still can, or step deeper into the shadows? **** Kenna Sato is a florist with a quiet life, a love for true crime documentaries, and a loyalty streak that often overrides caution. Tenacious and determined, she refuses to sit still when someone she loves disappears. But chasing answers in a city built on secrets comes at a cost. Nikolai "Niko" Volkov rules the underground with cold precision and an iron grip. Feared, calculating, and always several moves ahead, he does not tolerate interference. Yet when fate throws him into Kenna's path, their worlds collide in ways neither of them expected. As danger tightens its hold and betrayal lingers in the air, an unlikely connection begins to form. In a game where trust is fragile and power is everything, can two people from opposite sides survive the storm they are about to face? Or will the darkness consume them both? [Story only slightly edited / proofread] Copyright © 2026 All rights reserved.

Nakeeta has spent her entire life training to enter the healer division of the army, but when initiation day comes around, she is assigned to the hunters; an elite group of fighters that are gifted the ability to shapeshift in order to fight the spreading corruption. Left with no other choice, Nakeeta must either adapt, or die. This is an entry for #ONC2026.

When betrayal fractures the kingdom of Averon, Prince Cassian escapes into exile with only one loyal protector at his side. Rowan was raised as the sworn blade of the Crown. He knows the prince is the only man capable of saving their broken homeland. As they rebuild power in the shadows, they build an army unlike any the world has seen. They will restore the throne. They will end division. They will avenge the betrayal. But when unity replaces doubt, Rowan must confront a terrible truth: A kingdom without division may no longer be a kingdom of men. ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── DISCLAIMERS ✎ a work of fiction (historical, psychological) ✎ this book might have dark/mature themes that could be upsetting for some readers. please proceed with caution ✎ characters and plot are all a product of imagination. resemblance to real life people, dead or alive, is entirely coincidental ✎ technically not proofread ✎ personal work (this is an entry for the Open Novella contest) ✎ PLAGIARISM IS CRIME

An orphan on the run from her past. A mysterious orb. A guild of thieves. A princess. A prophecy. Love and betrayal. A kingdom in need of a hero. Or a heroine.

Nox has worked as an assassin for almost his entire life, refining his skills and working up the ladder to be one of the best, being able to do any job in his field. But what if he's required to do a job that's not in his field? Follow the Assassin as he takes on a task most unusual for one of his caliber, making unusual allies, and faces the challenges associated with it. (My submission for ONC 2026, following prompt number 33 where a secret assassin is surprisingly and suddenly hired as a nanny, enjoy!)