gorgeous cover and banner by the talented @sugararmy07 "The biggest lie they ever told themselves was that it takes a villain to kill a heart, when all it really takes is five teenagers who are too tired to look out." 𐚁 Two years ago, Sydney Gallagher took her life. Today, her elder sister, Maia, rules the social hierarchy of the prestigious Eastleigh College as the undisputed queen bee along with the school's golden boy, Aris Callahan. However, beneath their pristine appearances and perfect smiles, are their circle of five starting to crumble under the weight of their individual guilt. No one is to blame for the tragedy, yet each friend remains haunted by their own failures, convinced their own limitations must be what struck the fatal blow. To survive the trauma, each friend, bound by betrayals, rivalries and hostility must come to terms with the weight of their choices, or let their collective blame destroy the remaining lives left in Sydney's wake. 𐚁 WRITTEN FOR THE 2026 TEGSA AWARDS

Broken and bereft of everything he ever loved, the king was ready to welcome death. But his nightmare was only beginning. Bound to a Queen who has vowed to make his existence a living hell, Evreux finds his grief weaponized against him. It shall be twisted by his own wife until the people he swore to protect will view him as the kingdom's greatest enemy. •☽✧˖°˖☆˖°˖✧☾• He was ruthless. He was beloved. He was feared. That is the great King Evreux of Sepphora. But everything changed when he had to tie the knot with a manipulator in disguise. Evreux always dreamed of becoming a great ruler who will protect his kingdom from anyone or anything that threatens to ruin it, even from the hands of the people he held dear. Lauriel, the clan leader of one of the most powerful tribes, strives to take control of him to gain the power she thinks she deserves all her life. Caught between them is Eowin, an assassin ordered to end the king's life. As the King's life transforms into a living nightmare, Evreux must find a way to save everything he loves, especially his beloved daughter, even though it might result in his own demise.

(X) CLOSED for new entries / first five prompt chapters are due by midnight EST on August 31st. (GMT -5) Welcome to The Ever-Generating Story Awards! TEGSA 2026 is here! Can you craft an entire storyline based on ten prompts in a specific order? It's not as hard as it sounds. (Really, it's not.) A song will be assigned to each of your ten main chapters. You may use their titles, the names of the songwriters/performers, or meanings to create your prompt. The best part? You have the freedom to interpret them in any genre you want. You know the prompts are calling your name. Are you ready? (Fanfiction is welcome as long as it's read as a stand-alone, and readers do not need prior knowledge of the original fiction to read it.)

The useful are respected; the useless are thrown away. That was the first lesson his father had taught him, and the one he'll never be able to forget. Arin Davos has spent most of his life trying to fit in with his family, hiding away every aspect of himself that would make him an even greater disappointment, from his inherited magic to the direction of his affections. He didn't hide them well enough. With the neighboring royals about to pay a visit to their storm-torn country, Arin's half-sister Savina quickly sets her mind on one thing, and one thing only: marriage to the prince of Belarune. But she needs Arin's help to succeed, and with his closest-guarded secrets held over him, he can't help but comply. One wrong word to their father, and he would lose everything he'd fought so hard to protect. When a foreign mage rumored to be the prince's closest friend arrives, he seems to be the answer to Savina's plans. However, the more time Arin spends around him on his sister's orders, the closer they grow, until he starts to see the possibility of a life where he no longer has to hide. But the calm never lasts for long, and when the storm finally breaks, Arin will have to choose between the family he has spent his life trying to please and the future he never dared believe he deserved. - - - - - - - - This is my entry for TEGSA 2026. We're currently in the first draft stage, and I'll be posting as I write, with minimal editing. I can promise decent grammar, but you might still stumble upon some inconsistencies and plot holes, which I'll try to clear up during edits before the end of the contest.

TEGSA2026 A century ago, Arakiel fell, now the world might fall with her. Exiled and imprisoned within the Temple for one hundred years, the fallen angel has done nothing but claim her innocence and provoke. When the Underworld's monsters rise, she is offered a single chance at redemption: stop them or remain damned forever. There's only one problem. Her guard. Lucan, a blind paladin with a shattered reputation and one final mission to reclaim it, is tasked with keeping her in line and protect her. He doesn't trust her. He doesn't like her. He does anything to stop her from acting reckless. And he certainly doesn't intend to fall for her. But monsters aren't always the greatest threat, it can be the pull between enemies. And sometimes the devil you know is the one who sets your soul on fire.

"Wanwan wake up," Liu Xiaowei screamed. "The man you are pining for sees you as nothing more than a nuissance. I am right here. I love you. Why do you have to be in love with your uncle?" he demanded. Mo Wanwan wiped the tears of her face. "My dad loved my mom too. That love left her broken and hanging from a ceiling fan when I was eight. Wang Shushu may not love me but I love him because he was there when I was starving, he was there when I was almost raped at the age of twelve, few feet from where my father lay drunk." she recalled. "But he doesn't want you," Liu Xiaowei emphasised. Mo Wanwan nodded. "I know. That is why I am going to love him till my last breath," she admitted. Mo Wanwan and Wang Yibai were neighbours. Wang Yibai was a teenager when Mo Wanwan was born. Yibai called Mo Wanwan's father Mo Ge growing up. In that way Wang Yibai became an uncle at the age of twelve. When Wanwan's mother committed suicide, Yibai was nineteen. Mo Ge was far gone in grief to realize that Mo Wanwan needed her parents more than Mo Ge needed his wife. Yibai became a guardian figure for Wanwan when she was seven years old. Eleven years later, Wang Yibai is a self-made man, a professor in a reputed university and the owner of a business firm that he founded when in college. At thirty-one, an orphan, Wang Yibai's only family is the eighteen-year-old Mo Wanwan whose father died of liver failure when she was fifteen. Mo Wanwan is in love with Wang Yibai but only because she feels Wang Yibai is unattainable. She doesn't want a love like her parents which ends in destruction. When Wang Yibai starts dating Liu Xiaoming, a business acquaintance, Mo Wanwan is introduced to Xiaoming's younger brother-Liu Xiaowei who sees through Wanwan's love. Xiaowei wants Wanwan to fall for him. The fact that he likes Wanwan is true. But it is also true that Xiaoming wants Wang Yibai and Xiaowei wants to remove the obstacle from his Jiejie's path. But whom does Yibai truly want?

TEGSA2026 Fleeing her abusive boyfriend, Merinda searches for her dead mother's best friend, hoping to start a new life and free herself from a past filled with pain. When she meets Cree Boland, another man with issues, Merinda's resolution to stay away from men weakens, and she can't decide whether to give him a chance. Just as things look like they could work between them, Merinda's ex, Jeff, resurfaces, threatening her newfound peace. Will Cree save her from her past or let her be dragged back into darkness?

Slamming the door in Justin Arlington's face wasn't exactly the best way to greet the real estate mogul. He had connections, and she didn't. Angelique DeCoeur knew she had to sell her grandmother's Victorian gingerbread house, but she wanted the chance to restore it first. As a journeyman carpenter reworking classic homes was her specialty. Finding a treasure trove of antiques and a locked jewelry box in the attic were the first steps toward her dream, but the journal turned her life upside down. As Angelique adjusts to the new truths of her life, can she meet the insane timetable she set, save her renovation project, and her sanity? Can Justin dodge her flying hammer and win her heart? This is a TEGSA2026 entry. 0the amazing cover is done by @lupe6583v on Wattpad. Thank you for your beautiful work.

Sean opened his eyes and blinked. This wasn't his run down apartment. There was a hand on his stomach. He lifted the quilt. Clothed. He breathed a sigh of relief but it didn't last long. He didn't remember last night and the woman lying beside him wore a gold band. Sean recalled his homeland, the place where he wasn't identified by his yellow skin of small eyes. Something like this would have disgraced his entire family. He tried to tip toe out of the bed and leave. That was when the woman stirred. "Where are you going this early Sean? It's Sunday. Everything is closed." the woman mumbled. Sean Thomas woke up in a strange woman's bed, a married woman's bed but the moment the woman woke up she started calling him her husband. She insisted that Sean had been the one who married her. She even took Sean to a building that they apparently co-owned. It was a Jazz bar smack in the middle of downtown Manhattan. But it couldn't belong to Sean who was an immigrant worker and dirt poor. But the woman insists that Sean is her husband and Sean wants that lie to be true. Esther David met Sean through an online dating app. Then the COVID struck and they were both confined to their countries. When Esther's grandmother died, she and Sean got married online through a pastor in Canada. Then Esther waited. When she finally meets her husband, he has a different last name and claims to not recognize her at all. Who is Sean David and where was he?

The dead have started calling the night shift. Mara Voss only wants to get through another understaffed night at Haus Abendruh-and make sure the dying Wiebke Tamm does not spend her final hours alone. Then an unplugged radio begins broadcasting The Last Request Show. Each song is dedicated to someone inside the care home. Some requests come from the living. Others come from people who have been dead for years. And with every song, the radio reveals another buried memory, unfinished love, or truth someone hoped would disappear with them. When Wiebke dies halfway through the programme, Mara realises the broadcast is not only speaking to the dying. It is speaking to everyone left behind. Before the tenth song plays, Mara must uncover what the radio wants-and decide whether remembering the dead is an act of love or another way of refusing to let them go. Because in Haus Abendruh, death is not the end of the night shift.