Onceuponnowcontest Stories

When you've been playing online games as long as Devon has -- you do a lot of killing. It's what you expect. What you don't expect is for one of the creatures you've been killing to suddenly beg for its life! And when you learn that some myths thought to have disappeared from the world centuries ago haven't disappeared at all - but just found new homes - well then things get really interesting! Originally entered into the #OnceUponNow contest, I've now entered the story into the #Wattys2016 writing contest. I Hope you enjoy reading the story, and comments and critiques (and even votes :)) are always welcome. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

-Top 25 Finalist- Our parents always warned us about talking to strangers on the internet but did they ever warn us about frogs? Highest ranking: #440 in Short Story (c) Copyright 2016 by Littleninjamari

There' a private war In the world of Genies and Witches Only one Genie was able to get away. Then the war begins. In the middle of all the hate and war, Jack happens to find love. copywrite@mariapagan2016

Earth have different portals that led you to different worlds, Tomas always loves to read books that contain magical stories. He never thought, that one of the stories he read as a child will actually become reality. In a different way and different time.

A helicopter ancient changes a young girl's life forever. Things that she once didn't believe in suddenly became much clearer.

Autumn has just turned fourteen, fantastic. One less year to wait until she's out of the foster system. But, surprisingly her birth father shows up rescuing her from her bad situation and whisks her away to his home in Hawaii. It's a tropical paradise. White sand, flowers of every color and clear blue water. While exploring her new home she falls into a hole that turns out to be a cave. She only remembers hitting her head and singing. But what does it mean?

A young spoiled Princess seems to find everything funny. She loved and lived for practical jokes, especially when she was behind them. On her fifteen birthday, she happened to pull a joke on the wrong person, then her life totally changed. copywrite@mariapagan

A modern take on the classic tale "Ugly Duckling". A young girl is dropped off at an orphanage after her mother simply doesn't want her anymore. This girl goes through her life constantly being put down. Everyone tells her she isn't worth it, and she starts to feel that way. With a love of nature and animals this girl starts to grow and mature. Many trials and challenges put her through hard times in her life. Will she always be the ugly duckling? Or will she one day grow into a beautiful swan.

Fallen stars never stay on earth. Such is the case of sixteen-year-old Carmen Esmaier, citizen of planet Terra and daughter of two of its most revered heroes. Shielded by her vigilante of an aunt since her parents' deaths, Carmen doesn't dare mention her dream of following in their footsteps and joining the army. But that all changes when a team of scouts arrives at the colony to host a contest, the prize being a coveted position in the army. For Carmen, that doesn't just mean soldiership and escape from her aunt, but a chance to work with Casper Conduir, her childhood hero...and perhaps something more than that. It doesn't matter that she'll have to navigate a jungle of carnivorous trees and the discrimination of half the colony just to get to the contest. It doesn't matter that she arrives an hour late, nor that she has no weapon. After all, she just needs to fight for her happily ever after, and it'll come...right? #MayJustWriteIt #ProjectWomanUp Cover by @Homely8

#OnceUponNow Cindy was a girl who worked hard and got little recognition. When faced with an amazing opportunity in the modeling industry, she is shut down because she simply didn't fit the stereotypical criteria. However as all good tales do, Cindy's story has a twist and it wasn't because of a Fairy Godmother or a glass slipper. It was because of the purity of her heart and the little ray of hope that was provided from a boy named Jaxon.

*When a child reads their first fairytale, they dream of being a princess or a hero. They dream of living in a castle and having a Happily Ever After. That one fairytale becomes what we base our dreams on. Whether it's going from rags to riches or waking with a kiss, it becomes a part of who we are. For me, those fairytales are the reminder of something I will never have. Happiness.* Carson has always been on her own. Ever since she can remember, she has been in and out of foster homes and constantly unwanted. She has no idea where she comes from or who her parents are... all she knows is that she's alone in this world and that's never going to change. What happens when one night... her life is changed forever? ***********************

After an explosion leaves Charity Bosworth horribly disfigured and her parents dead, she believes that the only people that will ever love her are her two older sisters. It's been six years since the accident, and at twenty-two, she works in the back of her family's florist shop designing and creating floral sprays and centerpieces. It's a great job, one she's good at, even though her real passion is photography. The one day she is running late and hurries out of the house without covering her scars, is the one day her sisters leave for lunch and forget to lock the front door of the shop. As Cheery is photographing her latest centerpiece creation, Brax Hudson walks through the door and into her life. Brax, an award-winning photographer, sees her differently than other people do. He looks past her scars and insists on getting to know her. Her sisters encourage her to go out with him and she finally agrees to a date. But when Brax has a family emergency and has to cancel at the last minute, she realizes it was too good to be true. She isn't dating material, not that she ever thought she would be. Hurt and disappointed, Cheery picks herself up to make her weekly visit to the burn unit where she'd been a patient for two years. Speaking with one of her doctors, he reminds her that her scars are only skin deep... what's in her heart is all that matters. With a million questions on her mind, she goes to Brax's photography studio where he shows her why he is the perfect guy to see past her beastly scars and live happily ever after.

"I'm dead?" He shrugs and looks back at his tablet. "Yeah." I stand despite the pain it gives me. "I can't be dead. I had my whole life ahead of me." "I'm sorry...?" He doesn't sound very sorry.

A young girl goes to visit her grandmother for the first time. Her only family that she had left. While Nora was in College her parents vanished out at sea. They were on a cruise that crashed, not all the bodies were found. She comes across a fancy bottle, that changes her life completely.

When do you say no? Is it when you need too, or is it way before? Can you say no to temptation, or death? Can you defeat death? Can death defeat death? All likely hood of death fighting death is slim, and so are the possibility of Gods and their affairs. When Gods meddle in each other's lives, plans to murder each other are struck- no matter how loved the God may be. All is fair in love and war, isn't that what they say? But love and war have never been fair- in the slightest.

Evanth DeRoss. Beautiful. Rich. But money cannot control life. Even when you most want it to. When she falls ill, Evanth knows her time is up, and she's made peace with it. Especially with the auburn haired, green eyed, young man who seems to appear like magic. Maybe he is. Or maybe she's just crazy.

Shrek will always be Donkey best friend. I should know, never got paid for my adventurous Shrek, doesn't matter, for I know, it will always belong to me. This is how Donkey came to be. Dreams do work, sometimes other just take the credit.

In the heart of Castle Aanca, the museum of Fables and future sciences, stories become a lot more lively. Prince Alfil, the leading hero in his Fable, is one of the most popular exhibits in the museum being the spitting image of every little girl's dream prince...if he could manage to stay in the same room with one for more than five seconds. With pressure of being shut down by a major laboratory when they come with an experiment of their own, the director of museum hastily introduces the new additions. However, when mysterious incidents begin affecting the other Fables, Alfil brings it upon his self to find the truth. But with a fear that makes it impossible to interact with his fellow Fables, let alone fans, can Alfil save his home--or be ERASED forever? Cover image from: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ee/87/66/ee8766ec40f95514e0dca98ed4b46771.jpg

ARISTA DOES NOT like monsters or dragons, but sometimes to slay a monster, you have to embrace your inner monster. In this modern day retelling of A Thousand and One Nights, sometimes, you just have to survive one night in order to survive a thousand more. ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ [#574SS]