Onc2024 Stories

[Slow Updates] Best friends November Adams and Jessie Reynolds-Somber have always been there for each other. November's supported Jessie throughout her childhood leukaemia, and Jessie's...done the equivalent in return. When November's seventeenth birthday doesn't go as planned, she takes a bus ride in the hopes that anywhere would be better than her family's stuffy apartment. Unfortunately, it only gets worse when she gets off at the local hospital and sees Jessie's mom in the emergency room. And worse, her family's avoiding November's questions. An unsent email may have the answer. On it is a bucket list: eight items, a letter, and a promise, from Jessie, that she'll explain everything when the list is complete. But the further through the list November gets, the more she learns what's going on, and the less she wants to know the whole truth. [FORMERLY AN ENTRY FOR THE 2024 ONC]

A dark family lineage. Secrets hidden away within rotting walls. And a mysterious Book that binds it all together... Oliver Wendell was only ever meant to write stories, lost within his own worlds of imagination. He was never meant to be a soldier. He was never meant to see his brother die. Yet in the midst of the first World War he finds himself caught within the wreckage of both grief and carnal destruction that has torn such worlds away. Seeking refuge from it all, the disgraced boy soldier hides himself away within the decaying seaside manor of his grandparents-- finding there a mysterious and unfinished book that has reignited his passion for the written word. Yet amidst the house's ancient bones lay the unexplainable, and beneath its foundations lay unimaginable horrors waiting to be awakened with a few strokes of a writer's pen... Written for ONC 2024 using prompt 66; A grim fairytale is unfolding before your eyes. As its author, it's up to you to put an end to this nightmare. And prompt 5; Horror is in the eye of the beholder. CW; This book contains graphic scenes, descriptions of war and PTSD, and details of eldritch horror. It is intended for readers ages 16 and up.

In a ruined world, what traces of humans remain? In an overgrown corner of a once-intact room, nestled in the roots of a young tree, a barely functional camera watches over the decay. Maintenance calls go unanswered, leaving it to conserve power, turning on its lens only when things get within its proximity range. Its largely monotonous world gets disrupted when a family of birds make the tree it rests on home. Mysteriously, their presence stirs a torrent of memories within its circuits, some intact and others corrupted. However, recalling memories comes at a cost, and its power, gleaned from the sun, gets drained faster than it can recover. Despite the risk, the camera cannot cease. It is compelled to observe and document the intertwining of past and present unfolding before its lens. As it continues it realises why the family of birds recalls seemingly unrelated memories. ? It was bound by a promise of the past, one that was corrupted beyond repair until an overlap between its owner and the birds were found. Now, repairs of core memories are underway and soon, the bigger picture reveals itself. The battery falls, and the past gives way to the present. *Longlister of the 2024 ONC*

A young girl is summoned by her grandmother on her deathbed, to share one specific story and present her with a gift. A love story with words that fill up all the blank spaces. She sets out to find this love story but does she have enough words to fight off the necessary evils? Only words can tell.

Everyone can read minds except for Ethan Langdon. And Ethan Langdon has the dumbest (and cutest!) thoughts Lukas Hoffmann has ever heard. ____ Lukas Hoffman's life in Brambleburg is about as boring as you'd expect for a town where everyone can read minds. He's used to his routine of dusting the LPs at the record store where he works and helping out his grandma around the house. Nothing in Brambleburg changes. No one in Brambleburg changes. Until Ethan Langdon stumbles in with the soggy remnants of a paper map, asking for the quickest route to Berlin. Ethan, it turns out, doesn't have telepathy, and as aggravatingly inane as his thoughts are, Lukas hasn't felt the excitement of meeting a stranger since.... well, ever. And the more Lukas listens, the more he starts enjoying Ethan's cute thoughts about life, the universe, and Lukas's dimples. ____ Might bring to mind: "Cherry Magic" but set in a fictive European town where everyone except the love interest can read minds. ____ Cover by @mygoodbones ____ Written for the Open Novella Contest 2024 using prompts 8, 75, 82, and 85. 8. You start singing along to a movie soundtrack late at night forgetting that your window is open. Someone from the outside starts singing with you. 75. You awake in the middle of the night to a voice saying loudly "May the force be with you..." 82. You wake up on a seemingly ordinary day to discover that your thoughts are not private. There is someone else in your head with you. 85. "If you do that again, I'll throw you out that freaking window. What are you doing?" "Checking how high the drop is to see if it's worth it."

2100. A mysterious ship, nicknamed the Chimera, appears in Martian airspace. It bears the symbol of the international space agency, the BASE, but there is no record of such a vessel. Word and rumour quickly spread. BASE investigator Leanne Ziegler is sent to inspect the ship and make contact with its crew. But the Chimera seems completely deserted, other than the imperious AI caretaker, Valkyrie. Down in the fledging Nerio colony on Mars, suspicion grows. The colonists are already turning against the ways of the BASE, creating their own Martian identity. This potential security threat could prove to be the final rift between Earth and Mars. Trying to keep control of the political situation, Nerio sends a mysterious and cold liaison, Ryan, to aid Leanne. But, in ten days, Mars will turn her guns on the Chimera. Leanne and Ryan must work quickly to discover the secret of the ship - and decide whether its fate under the Martian guns is deserved. [ONC 2024 entry]

When an orphaned, DACA, pre-med student with a secret gift and a fiery CEO with a legacy to protect are forced into a marriage of inconvenience, the Mayan Moon isn't the only thing causing turmoil. Roger Catzín, a pre-med student with a knack for healing wounds with a whisper and a touch, never imagined his nightly stroll under a blood-red moon would derail his life. But then again, Central Park has a reputation for surprises, and not all of them pleasant. Enter a dramatic old man with a cryptic message, and Roger's life flips from mundane to mystically entangled faster than you can say, Mayan Moon. On the other side of town, or more accurately, on the upscale side of life, Claire Williams navigates the corporate jungle with the grace of a seasoned CEO-a title she earned but now fears losing to the whims of fate, or worse, a grandfather who apparently moonlights as a matchmaker from beyond the grave. When Roger and Claire's worlds collide, courtesy of a will that reads more like a romantic comedy plot than a legal document, they find themselves legally bound in holy matrimony. Who said romance is dead? Mayan Moon is a novella that asks the important questions: Can a man who talks to the moon and a woman who commands the boardroom find common ground? Will they uncover the mystery behind the old man's attack and the secrets Chester Williams hid in his will? And most importantly, can two strangers fake a marriage without killing each other or, dare we say, falling in love? Dive into a story where magic is real, the moon is a guide, and love is... well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Roger and Claire have enough on their plates trying to figure out why fate (or a very eccentric old man) decided they're a match made in legal documentation. Mayan Moon delivers laughs, gasps, and maybe, just maybe, a belief in the magic of the unexpected. Participant in the Open Novella Contest 2024 | Prompt: A midnight stroll and a meeting with a frantic stranger.

Cassandra, Xavier and Carter join hands in this crazy cat and mouse chase as they try to escape the same fate they are entangled in. #ONC2024 Prompt 20. Three Strangers. Two secrets. One Key.

As the second daughter of the king, Elara has always had one future in sight: marrying for political ties. When her father suddenly dies under mysterious circumstances, her estranged uncle is selected to take the throne until her sister turns eighteen. As her uncle threatens to plunge her country into war with the Zestross, Elara must prove who killed her father before it's too late. With the help of a strange suitor, she just might be able to save her nation. #ONC2024 #opennovellacontest2024 Prompt 38: "I hate you so much, I can't even bring myself to kill you."

#47 A seemingly normal day ends with the disappearance of every adult on the planet, and it's up to the most unlikely of heroes to bring them back. #52 "And that is how that world was lost and a new one, our world, was born." #80 "Meet me next life." ~ The battles with demons were so commonplace, and their world shrank so much that everyday prayer changed. No "Give us this day our daily bread," but more "Can there be bread, tomorrow?" The former Commander 1st Class of the Holy Knights and Laypriest of Arden, Valentine Auger, fought these monsters that spilled into their realm for 2 decades. In his last battle, the Rapture began, taking any native creature bigger than a beetle from the face of his world--except for him. For another 2 decades, he evaded the demons he once fought, until even they were gone. He was facing his 60s when he discovered there might be a way to restore the world he once knew. It was a long shot, but it would be better than the years spent with two silent ghost dogs, seeing his memories collapse under rot and ruin, until the day he'd walk into his grave, left alone by the Goddess Arden. Little did he know that this task was riddled with the mistakes of the other times he chose this path, making the entirety of his existence an exercise in a living hell.

All her life, Idilia believed she was the strongest witch among her classmates. From a young age, she developed potions and spells that could make her worst enemies beg for mercy. She roamed the halls of Calathea Academy with her head held high. Until one day, she is wrapped up in the mysterious disappearance of the Academy's renowned professor. Will Idilia be able to clear her name and find the missing sorceress? Or will she crumble under the dark truth behind Calathea's rose-tinted glasses?

Hermione grew up reading fairy tales and other stories as an escape from her Cinderella-like life with her stepmother, her father none the wiser because of Ursula's underhanded tactics. Then, she learned magic was real, that the fairy tales--perhaps magic being real isn't a happily ever after fairy tale, but more akin to the nightmares painted by the Brothers Grimm. Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter or Worst Witch. This is one of my ONC projects for 2024. This is written for prompt thirty-six, "'Fairytales are real,' and there couldn't be anything worse.." The Cinderella storyline provides the main elements, but there are also elements from other fairy tale stories. This also fulfills a prompt for a collection on AO3.

LONGLISTED : When Agent Seven Three is sent on his first mission to the past, to sort out a problem with the timeline, he expects to be in and out in a couple of days. Identify what is causing the unplanned divergences and stop it. Simple, right? But when he encounters reporter Jack Brown, he finds the situation is far more complex than he was led to believe. And only when he meets someone he's not supposed to fall in love with, does he begin to really test his limits. SCIFI / TimeTravel / LGBT / Romance

He might become the next small town hero with stars in his eyes... and a monster in his veins. Good has a dark side. Evan Mack's football coach will do anything to win. He has the formula for success that took last year's starting quarterback, Xavier Rhodes, to the state championship and beyond. If Evan participates in the coach's secret fitness and diet program, money and fame, and even his high school crush, the girl of his dreams, Lexa Thorn, will be his for the taking. By winning all the big games, he could become a small town hero. But having your dreams come true, comes with a price, a dark side. Austin Campbell, this year's starting quarterback was found dead under mysterious circumstances, opening up the starting position for Evan. Rumors circulate that his death wasn't an accident as the police reports claimed. There could be a murderer lurking in their small town. Evan's greatest fear is monsters in the dark. The last thing he expects is to become the Monster in the dark. Problem is, that monster wants out, no matter how hard he tries to keep it locked in its cage. And when it comes out, no one is safe, not even the girl of his dreams, or the other girl-next-door with the glasses and straight A's who happens to think the world of him. Open Novella Contest Story Vampire/Werewolf Prompt #3 3. Your greatest fear is monsters in the dark. The last thing you expect is to become the Monster in the dark. Small Town Hero Cover Credits © <a href='https://www.123rf.com/profile_virtosmedia'>virtosmedia</a>, <a href='https://www.123rf.com/free-images/'>123RF Free Images</a>

Mortal races rise and fall at the whim of the gods, immortal beings transcending the bindings of the mundane. They have not been seen in the last century, not since the Great Fall, when mortal races bound together to fight their tyrant rule at the battlefield called Desolation. Their hand has been felt through the eons, however, shaping the world to their pleasure with wars, plagues and cataclysms. Especially among the humans. The mad goddess Endra, personification of a power that struck the other gods with fear, was struck down from the heavens, bound to the earth. Centuries passed, and by chance encounter she was freed again. Vengeance would be hers. Jayne cannot remember much of anything, her memory stripped from her, leaving only troublesome, chaotic dreams with no meaning. All she remembers with certainty is that she has been running from the powerful men who hunt her across the mortal realm, hiding from the mad deity haunting her every step. But she has run long enough. She will face whatever comes at her, be it the gods or monsters from the underworld. Or the truths of her past that begin to resurface. For in the end, only she can determine if she will triumph... or fall. Cover created by myself using Dream.AI Written for the 2024 OpenNovellaContest. (Core prompt) Prompt 18: With powers they said were a shame, a goddess is tamed into submission and fears her own destiny. Prompt 3: Your greatest fear is monsters in the dark. The last thing you expect is to become the Monster in the dark. Prompt 51: A band discovers that their songs has the power to control minds, and they are determined to discover how this power works... and how to use it. Prompt 94: I will become as monstrous as I must. © Kevin Cross 2024 If you find this book anywhere other than wattpad, then it is a pirated copy. Please leave this site immediately and if possible, report this to the author. Visit @moonlight-blade on wattpad to get the original version of this book.

ONC 2024: In college, it was a case of wrong place/wrong time. Eight years later, they have a second chance. But will they take the leap? ___ Prompt 14: "My muse, believe me, waiting for you has been a form of freedom." ___ Excerpt: "Don't look back." Ian stares at me through the screen with his dark, intense gaze. "Don't long for all the things that might have been. Don't chastise yourself for the decisions you've made." For a moment, his words render me silent. "Appreciate all those little indentations that make you who you are," he says with a tender expression. "And remember your superpower." "What superpower?" "Let yourself dream again." A tender smile crosses his features. "Focus that intense drive of yours on the future like you used to do." He's right. For so long, I've been living in survival mode. One foot in front of the other. Stuck in this nightmare, I haven't been able to see any other way forward. Until now. "You're free now," he says, "to make better choices that will make you truly happy." For a moment, I let my mind take me wherever it wants to go. Right now? It wants to be in Boston, beside him. But can I leave everything behind?

" i'd give up half of forever, just to be with you " in which gardenia and christopher enter an arranged marriage for the sake of their kingdoms, but end up falling in love along the way. -- oc x oc (onc 2024 entry) (prompt 88: Your father is forcing you to marry someone you just met. The night before the wedding, you tie your sheets together and make your escape through your window. Halfway down you make eye contact with someone doing the exact same thing a few windows over.) (COPYRIGHT! DemigodLegends © 2024) (cover by!: @-novxscomet)

The Horcades and the Horcanes are family names in a fairytale. Nobody thinks the present Horcades have any connection with it. People don't even believe the tale. The idea that the tale is based off a true story is only a speculation by few. However, the truth is scarier than people think. And when this tale turns out to have some truth in it, the Horcades realise that some stories are best when fictional.

2028. A disaster ravages the island city of Santcosmo, leaving the survivors shut off from the rest of the world on an island changed beyond recognition. Jem is an explorer in this new world, searching for a place she's not even sure exists. But after she accidentally releases a powerful force from an underground chamber she wasn't supposed to discover, the fragile way of life humanity managed to build is threatened again. Now Jem needs to find a way to fix her mistake, before the world breaks...again.

This is a story in which some may believe fairytales are all make believe, and just all a fantasy. But, hang on!! They're actually real! Read any further, and I will have to gouge your eyes out! Only kidding, but don't say I didn't warn ya! 😈 Prompt #36 "Fairytales are real," and there couldn't be anything worse.