Melinda starts her first day as shift manager of Cozy Retreat with a personal disaster. After spilling coffee into the lap of the most influential food blogger online, she is sure her brief carreer as shift manager was over. An unexpected connection forms and all she needs to do is believe she deserves a second chance. But can Melinda trust her heart as she struggles to keep the secrets of her past and the footprints of her memories beat a path to her door? @XxxSistersxxX is my cover artist. Thank you for the amazing work.

Seventeen-year-old Aemilia, an orphan raised at a secretive Scottish academy, becomes obsessed with an ancient arch hidden in the nearby woods. When she deciphers its forgotten inscription, it opens a portal to a magical medieval kingdom. There she meets Brian, a young prince she cannot forget. Back home, the young man she had been enamoured of for years, Francis, finally returns her affection-but Aemilia's heart is divided between two worlds. As she continues crossing the portal, Brian's hidden destiny awakens: he is a dragon shifter whose power threatens both realms. When he is declared an enemy, Aemilia must choose-destroy the dragon to save her world, or protect the boy she loves. My entry for the ONC 2026.

In the silk-producing valleys of the Kingdom of Naples, Renza, the daughter of a respected silk merchant, has been raised within the careful order of family and tradition. Lucien arrives as a restless outsider, marked by a past he cannot escape. Around them move others bound by secrecy and survival, including a spy for the Inquisition trained to live between two worlds. As tensions deepen and suspicion spreads through Silk County, their lives draw toward a tragic event history has nearly erased. Echoing the ancient myth of Galatea and Acis in a 16th century setting, Silk County explores how love endures in fragile and often dangerous spaces, where even the most delicate threads can bind souls across time. #ONC2026 contest. Story is complete. Prompts: #16 - Into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. And a slightly modified version of #104 - while wandering through the woods, you dismiss the rustling behind you as nothing more than the wind through the trees until you turn around realize it isn't wind at all. Content Note: This story contains references to non-graphic sexual situations. It also draws on historical accounts of the Inquisition, including themes of religious persecution and some chapters contain acts of violence. While these elements, as well as 16th century attitudes toward women, are handled with care, they reflect the realities of the period and may be difficult for some readers. They do not reflect this author's viewpoint.

When Teia Cloto travels to Naples, Italy, hoping to steady a life already quietly unravelling, the last thing she needs is blind date that turns into an easy, unexpected friendship. Alden instantly makes the city feel strangely familiar in ways Teia didn't know she needed. Drawn deeper into Naples' ancient past and her own unsettling sense of déjà vu, the line between coincidence and destiny begin to blur. Staying friends is simpler. But Teia must confront whether destiny is a story we inherit, or one we choose to rewrite, no matter the cost. Water and Sand is a contemporary love story that reimagines the myth of Theseus and Ariadne, where love is a labyrinth and friendship feels like the safest way out. #ONC2026 contest. Story is complete. Prompt 24: Staying as friends is meant to be safe, but that doesn't mean it's the path you're meant to take; Prompt 28: Self-love often starts small, like planting a seed. With time, patience, and a bit of light, it will grow; and Prompt 29: You meet many people in your life. Many will come and go, but some will leave footprints on your heart.

Silas Greep is just an average guy... or is he? Everyone he encounters seems to have a different memory of him, as if he's lived a completely different life with each person in his town. It's a perplexing situation and he starts to question who he is and if reality is even what it seems. Can he get to the bottom of this before he completely loses his mind? Based on prompt 77: Everyone in town remembers you differently, as if each person has lived a completely different version of your life.

When the big, bad dragon meets his match, he's forced to do something no dragon has ever done before--find help. And with enigmatic knight Sir Crispin de Harriff-Scarnley hot on his scaled heels, it's science--in the unlikely form of humble and slightly sozzled apothecary student Alyx--he turns to as his saviour. Naturally, Alyx is appalled--knights are good and dragons are bad, right? Everyone knows that. But as he fights to save first his skin and then the dragon's hide, he'll discover that when it comes to concepts such as good vs bad, magic vs science, and nature vs 'progress', the choices aren't always as obvious as he might think. And he'll do it while dodging spells, grappling with gryphons, negotiating hangovers and, perhaps scariest of all, confronting his classmate crush. Meanwhile, in the background, a sinister figure looms...

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 ."

A counterfeit claim against a legendary wine ignites a high-stakes investigation in which a neurodivergent restaurateur and a forensic wine analyst must navigate forgery, deception, and their own unexpected connection to save a century-old legacy. Luc, owner of London's prestigious Le Rêve restaurant, faces a devastating crisis when a valued patron declares a prized vintage a fake. To protect his family's century-old reputation, he enlists Izzy, a brilliant but socially unconventional forensic wine analyst, eager to prove her mettle. Their shared autism initially creates an unexpected but undeniable spark of attraction, challenging their focus. But as they delve deeper into the complex world of wine fraud, they suspect a widespread conspiracy that threatens to destroy Le Rêve. Together, they must harness their unique abilities to expose the truth, safeguard the restaurant's legacy, and navigate their intensifying relationship, even as they battle their own internal worlds.