[ONC2023 Round 2 Ambassador's Pick and Shortlister] Getting over a loved one's death isn't easy. For Eric Gagnon, it's near impossible. A year after losing his sister, he's still struggling, questioning the meaning and purpose of life. He goes through the motions every day, not sure how much longer he can go on. With nothing to lose, he takes the advice from a neighbor and gets in the taxi that he'd only heard about but never seen. When the taxi drops him off, he enters a place he never imagined, stumbling upon someone he never quite expected. Through this journey, he discovers something that goes beyond meaning and purpose. Prompt 9 "There's an urban legend that's been circulated for years about a taxi cab that doesn't take you where you want to go, but where you need to go. One night, you stepped into the cab." OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2023

When Jordan Cameron was ten years old, his mother stopped speaking and was never the same again, going from one institution to another and ultimately to a group home. While his father explores the world as a well-renowned geoscientist, Jordan's older brother, Tim, is forced to raise him. Tim, eleven years older than Jordan, never had a normal childhood, living with their schizophrenic mother. Jordan lives in his own world, or so that's what it seems to the average person. No one, not even his brother, has ever given him a chance. That is until Tim's best friend comes along. Jamie Perron has a history of bad relationships, alternating between men and women. This last time he is kicked out by his girlfriend and has nowhere to go so he turns to his best friend, Tim. Jamie only knew Jordan as a child, but never did he think he would develop an unusual relationship with Tim's weird, quiet, and sullen (although cute) nineteen old brother through the course of one exciting and interesting summer. Warning: This story contains gay sexually explicit content and language that may be offensive to some readers. **** This story is no longer on Amazon.