In a world where death has found a voice, the living cling to survival behind the walls of Stillwoods. Outside, the Eaters roam-zombies driven not by instinct, but by the cunning of ancient, mind-controlling beetles. Aria never imagined, in her first ever battle, her only weapon would be a rusty trumpet... or that one note could turn the tide against a Prime, a lethal zombie unlike any other. In this fight for survival, sound becomes power, and every choice could echo through life-or death. #ONC2026| Prompt #36 #35 ‼️ Content/Trigger Warning: Contains gore, violence, some strong language. All rights belong to the author and no reproductions are allowed without the permission of @Renaissance111. Please respect the author's copyright. 😊❤️ 2026 C.S. Marie

Keywords: romance | haters to lovers | hollywood | mutual pining | murder mystery | time travel | inspired by a song You time-travel back to 2012, only to be cornered by a celebrity who insists you're "the key to saving their future," and they're determined to take you with them. "Because, you know, there's no end to the hypocrisy of the human heart." © 2026 EmmaJD This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

❝ DON'T GET LOST IN THE WOODS FOR THEY ARE HUNGRY ❞ Vesnyana died a long time ago. As a rusalka, she is now bound to haunt the waters that took her life - and drown hapless folks in their cold depths. However, the woods have become quiet over the years, and her endless hungerhas become more tormenting. That is, until the summer solstice, which drives young lovers into the trees in search of the magical fern flower. But only one of them is truly determined to find it. Which is but a game for other youths in the village of Lasow, to Yara seems like the only way to free herself from her sorrows. Little does she know what dangers await her and her best friend Levik due to her desperate pursuit. One of them, lurking in a cold river, desires the flower herself ... _______ ONC 2026 ENTRY: PROMPTS 16, 104, 114

If monsters need humans, and humans don't need monsters... which species is truly powerful? And what happens when humanity finally realizes that? The strategist Hugo meets Merille. She is not human, and so they stand in direct opposition. But Merille is unlike any monster he knows. She doesn't need him. Control is the answer. But how can he wield power when the rules have changed? It's time to control the system before it masters him. According to prompt 80. Monsters don't live under our beds. They live in the recesses of our minds.

Delilah Daine is the most ordinary girl in existence. At least that's what she wants everyone to believe desperately. After spending years in a residential treatment center as a pre-teen, she wants to be normal and fit neatly into the popular mold society creates for girls her age. She has a social media account, so she isn't considered too closed off, but she only posts nature photos and shares cute animal videos. She works as a librarian surrounded by people every day, but after work, she prefers to stay home and be alone. Her carefully curated existence shatters when she receives a letter from someone every doctor insisted never existed - a person who was supposed to be nothing more than a figment of her childhood imagination. Nathaniel Fitzpatrick knows he must leave Europe, especially after spending years caged in a delusional scientist's basement as a test subject. Only one thing keeps him from boarding the ship to America and disappearing for at least a decade - Delilah. A talkative little girl who once showed him he shouldn't spend the rest of eternity hidden in dark caves, only coming out for food. He decided weeks ago it would be best to write her a thank-you note before his departure and forget about her, the way he assumes she forgot about him. But now that it's time to board, he realizes a simple letter isn't enough. He needs to know if she's even alive and what kind of person she has grown into during the years he was imprisoned. People change, and he has to find out whether the only good person he has ever met managed to retain her kindness and compassion - or if she lost that battle the moment she grew up, the way most humans usually do.

Adventure, friendship, explosive action (and diarrhea), this book has it all! Blending surreal comedy with soft, psychological sci‑fi, "Local NPC discovers dreams" feels like Inception meeting meme culture. The result? Dream travel gone wrong. Two strangers accidentally meet in a shared dream and get stuck there - one a sarcastic girl who never asked for a sidekick, the other a lost NPC-like guy who doesn't even know how he got here. Their differences in character aren't even the worse things they'll have to overcome... « Do you see it? - What? - There. Right behind that tree. He squinted at the green uniform mass of bushes. Nothing particularly shocking around them, except perhaps a bald head poorly hidden between two shrubs. Great, another bald head. But this one was probably trying to put them back in jail.» Welcome to the nightmare they never asked for.

The Open Novella Contest is back for 2026! Join fellow storytellers and plant the seed of a tale that will blossom into a 20,000+ word novella within 12 weeks! Your epic quest begins February 1st, 2026, so mark your calendars with this date!

Randall Cashe, a mechanical and electrical engineer, joins a team of scientists in a Mars-mission habitat hoping to rake in a massive payday. Their goal: to produce their own air, water, and food while testing the building with simulated disasters. When the outside world succumbs to a lethal airborne pandemic, the hermetically-sealed structure is suddenly the safest place on earth. As tensions among the group of scientists rise, Cashe has every intention to not only survive, but thrive. After all, why would he let a world-wide apocalypse and a few murders prevent him from making a profit? The parts I publish initially will be 90% where I want them to be. Feel free to criticize anything.

Bendek was an Olympic fencer before a serious injury changed everything. During his recovery from major surgery-one that could have ended his athletic career-he started playing a rather unremarkable online game. But the people he met there were anything but ordinary. Their different cultures and perspectives brought him unexpected joy during his difficult times, especially one particular woman. Through their sharp, sarcastic minds, they developed a deep connection and strong feelings for each other. Unfortunately, they were separated by culture, religion, age, and the overwhelming question of how to navigate their situation. But one thing was clear to Bendek-his feelings for her were more real than any he had ever known.

In 1897, Charlotte Moreau has been in an abusive marriage for years and the only solace she has is in the quiet moments when her husband and children are asleep. She often spends time by the lake and usually finds it a place of solace until one day when she receives a message in a bottle from her former best friend Marie who passed away. She encounters a friend of her acquaintance, Julien Deroche, a man she despises. She begins to argue with him, telling him to leave her alone. She begins to argue with him, telling him vicious things and to turn the other way when they cross paths. When she goes to the woods to find a new place to escape from her daily hell, she encounters Julien and must come to terms with what happened to Marie because Julien knows the truth. And because of their connection to Marie, she begins to soften toward him until she begins seeing him every day in this isolated place. But then Charlotte realizes that she has fallen desperately in love with him. And her husband begins to suspect something when she has dirt on her dress nearly every day. She must choose between her heart and her duty to her husband and children.