A short fiction based on characters from Khadija Mastoor's novel of the same name

|| a featured story || Aurora never planned on spending her final month alive falling in love. When she meets Gus, a curious boy who is all too eager to waste away the days with her, she finds herself trading in her month of solitude for a month with him instead. Under the summer sun, they promise each other a forever they don't have. All they have is August, and they try to make it enough. [Features a commissioned bonus chapter for the JCPenny #DreamPromposal contest] __________________________ Alex Light © All rights reserved 2018

When Helena finds a phone on the night train, she decides to text the first number in the list of contacts in order to figure out who it belongs to. ***** Helena Santos hasn't had the easiest life. At twenty-one, she's the legal guardian of her teenage sister, in the final year of her nursing degree, and working night shifts at her small-town's local bar. And things get a lot more complicated when she finds a phone on the train home and decides to text the first number in the list of contacts, in hopes of tracking down its owner. That contact? Adam Bauer; the charismatic, sweet, and refreshingly honest older brother of the person who lost their phone. As the two continue talking, they can't ignore the chemistry and growing feelings between them, but life is never that simple. To make things work, Helena and Adam need to juggle a troubled sister, a meddlesome ex-boyfriend, and one fat lawsuit - all intent on keeping them apart. [[word count: 40,000-50,000 words]] Content and/or Trigger Warning: This story contains swearing, mature themes, and sexual content.

After the accident, Noah Archer built a wall around himself. But Riley Dawson is curious about him, and she's determined to meet the man behind his defenses. ***** Riley Dawson has always noticed Noah. He was the most popular guy on campus, until he lost his parents in a car accident. Now he's withdrawn and silent. Mustering up the courage to give her condolences, the two end up talking, and Riley grows determined to help Noah find himself again. Every time she coaxes a smile from him, she can feel the ice around his heart melting. But Riley knows that Noah's loss is still close to him. She's opening up her heart, but can Noah do the same? He's got so much to lose, but now, so does she. [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]

there is a warrior in you. © y, 2016.

At 00:00, Cinderella ran away from her prince, leaving a glass slipper on the marbled steps of the grand staircase. At 00:00, I ran away from him. Unlike Cinderella, I didn't leave a single thing behind. © sonderingly

BLACK MIRROR meets PRETTY LITTLE LIARS in this multimedia thriller where an anonymous advice website gets hacked and the dark origins of the site start to come to light. (shortlisted for the 2017 wattys, #1 in mystery/thriller)

Every once and a while you meet someone who throws a wrench in your plans. A person who messes with your heart and your mind, until one day, you find yourself falling hopelessly in love. And for Zoe Hamilton, that person was Ryan Adams.

{Highest Ranking: #2 in Short Story} One collision. Two strangers. One unorthodox way to pay off her debt. Three weeks of late night conversations. One Date.

WARNING: UNDERGOING SOME SERIOUS (no pun intended) EDITING "Talking to yourself is one of the first signs of madness, you know." Hearing him say that yet again made her roll her eyes which only made that smirk on his face turn from that to a grin, "Ah yes, the first of the day!" Sirius Black was a lot of things -- he was rebellious and intimidating, but also quite witty and funny (or so he'd like to think), he caused more trouble than he would have cared to admit but ironically enough, was clever enough to get by. Not that he would need it. He was a lot of things, but he had everything within arm's reach. Arianna Riddle was a lot of things herself -- a lot to the point that she ended up attracting unwanted attention from a certain group of troublemakers.