Opennovella Stories

Earth, 2070 AD. 18-year-old Kai and his twin sister Zel are survivors. Two years ago, they lost their parents in an apocalyptic environmental disaster that ravaged Earth, killing many. Kai and Zel now live a scattered, nomadic existence along with other survivors. On a planet left devastated with few natural resources available, Kai and Zel work hard to stay alive. But while Kai goes deeper into Earth for answers, Zel looks to the stars. She is convinced that their time on Earth is limited, and that in order to save humanity, they must travel to Mars. And when a Martian spaceship crash lands into Earth near the Blue Ridge Mountains of their childhood home, Zel sets out on a journey to find a new home on Mars, the Red Planet. *Cover Design by @CelticWarriorQueen17 *Longlisted in Wattpad Open Novella Contest Winners, April 2019. *Second Place Winner for SciFi, Majestic Universal Awards, May 2019. *Second Place Winner for SciFi, The Creativity Awards, June 2019. *Winner, Most Engaging Characters - Fiction, The Futhark Awards, July 2019. *Second Place Winner for SciFi, The Grace Awards, July 2019. *Entry for Science Fiction in the Wattys, 2019. *Featured, Wattpad Science Fiction's Space Opera Reading List, 2020.

When he was sixteen, Lu Ten thought the Fire Nation would change the world. At age thirty, he realized it wasn't the world that needed changing, right at the same time some of his not so clever life choices started catching up to him. It was time to become wise, like someone he greatly admired, even if he couldn't do anything with said wisdom. Disclaimer - I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. This is both a giftfic for a good friend of mine, KelseyAlicia who encouraged me to go the route of Lu Ten/Ursa in my To Lose or to Gain series, but also an ONC project. While parts of this story arc are AU to where I intend on taking the To Lose or to Gain series others are not. The prompt I am using is number thirty, "'Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.' - Rumi."

**** Top Pick, 2023 Amby Awards **** **** HighFantasy Book of the Month, June 2023 **** To save the world, Mage Aria sacrificed herself, becoming trapped with the personification of Darkness within an impenetrable tomb of rock and magic. But she had not realized how much of a hell that would be. Dreams of deep despair haunted Tomas, a blacksmith with no apparent magic, where a wounded soul cried out from her torment, begging for mercy. Heartbroken for the dreamer, he sets out on an uncertain quest to free her. But there were those in power who did not want the dreamer freed, lest it also released the Darkness. Further, the link between Tomas and the dreamer was a kind of Darkness itself, one that would make him a fugitive in his own land.

Timballisto struggles with the scattered pieces of Martin's memory the best he can, telling Martin the past doesn't matter. Yet, in saying so he doesn't know how much the past does matter, particularly when illness befalls those helping to build Redwall, which will eventually become a safe haven for many. Polleekeen always knew, though, what lay in store for Martin. Disclaimer - I don't own Redwall. This is written for ONC 2022, but the prompt I picked for this was prompt was number seventy, "His eyes were cold and lifeless as he stared at me. 'You have no idea who I am, do you?'."

[ONC2021 Longlister] - In the mountains of Greece, wild animals start to turn on humans. The fever spreads and the cities of the Northern Hemisphere fall silent. In Australia, Blue and her friends hold their breaths, isolated from the rest of the world. As time passes, it seems that the danger has passed. Until Spring arrives. WARNING: Horror themes and some gore. Novella inspired by prompt #53 of the Open Novella Contest 2021: When wildlife starts rampaging, all the humans are forced underground. However, they come to a terrible discovery that being underground is no safer than being on the surface.

First, he was attacked in his own store. Then the Veiled Figure contacted him. Now Javier, a young fortune teller, is linked to a series of gruesome murders. Now a crossroad appears on the way, should he prove his innocence and get killed while trying? or join the dark group in their horrifying plans? ︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵ ︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵ After been contacted by a mysterious organization Javier, a young fortune teller, becomes one of the main suspects on a murder case that has the Portuguese authorities in the European spotlight. The case lead detectives, Bosso and Isolde, did their best keeping the commotion and gruesome details from the press but after almost a year following dead ends a new wave of murders has started. This time, the corpses have been found with a QRcode that redirects the authorities to a paged named "TCI". Yet every time they try to log into the site the page crashes and the IP changes. Javier knows a way around this and the answers to the riddles and puzzles that come afterwards but, can he help Bosso and Isolde while proving he is innocent? Or will the Hermit dig a deeper grave as The Wheel of Fate spins?

For the Open Novella Contest 2019, Suspense Fiction, Prompt 8, Mystery Man It's been almost a year since the death of Caroline Martin. A freak accident, everyone would say, but when Brian Anderson's memories return, he remembers the truth of what happened that day. Spurred on by what he recalls, he seeks out Amanda Barkley for the answers he's seeking, and perhaps foreclose the truth of what really happened to his beloved Caroline...

(ONC round two qualifier!) Once upon a time. . . There was a kingdom in the midst of a war. As troops were slain mercilessly, the king turned to the gods and prayed for a blessing. Thus, the dragon goddess, Tiamat, answered. She lent her aid to the kingdom in return for a hundred souls to become her offspring. The king, in a frenzy, accepted her offer without acknowledging the weight of his decision. When the kingdom was victorious, the king decided to go back on his word. The cost was one-hundred men too many; he refused to take that many lives. Furious, Tiamat swore to the king that when she had enough power, she would cause such devastation in the kingdom the king's legacy would be nothing but a story. Her power was depleted, but her fury was unlimited. It took the vengeful goddess a thousand years to gather the strength to deliver her child into the world. This child would carry the soul of a dragon that would slowly lose its sanity until it caused chaos throughout the world; the world the king had sworn to protect. There would be only one way to stop the progression of the mania before the world plummets into disarray. Yet, that is only for the dragon to know and the world to ponder. --- Cover by: 3uttdog Book One of the Dragon Secrets duology

ONC 2025 Prompt: "I am the pages of the past and the ink of the future. I course through the veins of many, though few truly notice me. I am what they search for in others, yet, I cannot be bought. I am the beginning, the middle, and the end. Tell me your story, and perhaps I'll grant you the love others have failed to find." Some love never truly fades. They just fall silent. Miguel and Desiree were each other's first love, but life always had a way of pulling them apart. Distance, ambition, family, and fear-one by one, the obstacles piled up, until their love became nothing more than a collection of unspoken words and forgotten promises. In the space between them, something else was born: The Silence. Now, years later, Miguel is a struggling writer, and Desiree is a small film producer. When one of Miguel's short novels an aching, intimate retelling of their past gains unexpected attention, Desiree's brother secures the rights to turn it into a short film. As Miguel and Desiree reunite to bring his story to life, old wounds resurface, and memories they once shared begin to diverge. Because love is never just one story. It's two versions of the same truth shaped by time, distance, and everything left unsaid. Told through the haunting voice of The Silence itself, this is a story of longing, misremembered pasts, and the echoes of a love that was never quite lost.

In the depths of the Netherworld, where shadows dance and eerie whispers echo through the abyss, the formidable Demon Lord Caius rules with an iron fist. Known for his ruthless nature and affinity for chaos, Caius finds himself confronted with an unexpected twist of fate when he encounters a mortal child, inexplicably spirited away into his dark domain. Initially intending to end the child's life, Caius is surprised to find no fear in the child's heart, sparking his curiosity and leading him to spare the child's life. However, he soon realizes that caring for a mortal child brings unforeseen challenges and emotions, forcing him to navigate unfamiliar territory while uncovering unexpected truths about himself. Embark on a journey into the shadows of the Netherworld as you join Caius and the mortal child on a quest of self-discovery and the forging of an unexpected bond. In this tale where even the darkest souls can find light in the most unexpected places, witness the complexities of their relationship unfold amidst the eerie depths of darkness. ── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── |ONC 2024 SHORTLIST |

Every year since the second Open Novella I've kept a writing journal and this is the one for this year.

Can Regulus' words speak louder than his brother's actions? There are many times Regulus doubts his ability to get through to his older brother who is unwilling to listen to anyone with the last name of Black, but a part of him wants to believe in Slughorn's pet project of forming a band and making music to bring house unity just as much as he wants to believe the songs he writers as Stubby Boardman might get through to Sirius. Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter. This is one of my ONC projects for 2024. I'm using prompt one for this story, "Sometimes words speak louder than actions."

Her past is a mystery; her future has been planned out for her for as long as she can remember. Cilla has never known a normal life. She's been training since the moment she could talk to complete one objective. She's never known what it's like to be a normal teenage girl, with a family and friends and school. But she's about to jump right into the middle of this elusive "normal" life. Even after preparing for years, will she be able to carry out her mission as planned? When she finally meets the target of her objective, strange new emotions threaten to uproot everything. But she is a weapon. And weapons don't feel emotions. Weapons only kill. ********** This is an entry for the Open Novella Contest 2021 - based on prompt #4: "You're a weapon. And weapons don't weep."

It only takes 2.4 seconds for a radio wave to reach the moon. After 4.5 hours, the wave reaches Pluto; by then we'd already lost Seattle. In 4 years the signal can make it to our nearest star, Proxima Centauri; by then the dead had taken over the United States of America. ︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵ My name is Fernie, and I've never seen a zombie. Not alive anyway. I've seen the destruction they leave behind, the families they break apart, and the world they left us. I wasn't alive when they walked among us, but I'm here now to pick up the pieces. A one-man-cleanup crew destined to save the world-or the fifty-mile radius of the world I grew up in. Apart we survive, but together we thrive. That's what The Wave has taught me. It's told me stories, sang me songs, and spoke of our history. I want to rebuild what we lost, but I can't do it alone. The Wave will help me find others, there has to be others. My name is Fernie, and I've never seen a zombie. I don't know about the world my great-grandparents grew up in, but I sure know it was bigger than fifty-miles. It's been nearly a hundred years since the world ended, how far do you think the wave is now? ︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵ How do you outrun the living dead? For three brave teenagers, the answer lies in their homes. One off the coast of what was once Alaska, one high in the mountains of South America, and another separated from them both by an endless sea. Alone they only have fragments of the history of their planet, but together they can discover where they came from. Join Fernie, Naira, and Kupe on their crusade to rebuild the world. While mountains and oceans may separate them, the waves that travel across the sky unite them. ︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵ mediocre cover art by yours truly <3 OpenNovellaContest2020 entry inspired by prompt 41. "Yes son, zombies used to be a thing."

The tale of two individuals; one a 22nd century journalist; the other, a cultural Anthropologist. Both of these people's lives will bring them under the shadow of the mysterious, and magnificent Melchior von Engelhardt. For seven years, "The Melk" reigned over the world as pre-eminent prince of technologists. He remade the world, some said, in his own image. Then, he was gone; as if he'd never been born. No one could even find a birth certificate. If only it were as simple as just finding a missing person. Mystery shrouds mystery, and one mystery is simply a gate to the next, to the next, to the next .... Author's note to reviewers: Apologies for the formatting issue with Chapter 3, which led to the protagonists' inner dialogue not being properly italicised. The proof was read in Word, and, presumably I accidentally copied over in plain text. Apologies for any confusion.

For ONC 2025 | Prompt 14 A middle-aged witch. One successful murder, one less successful murder. Add a dash of yearning, and it's the perfect recipe for disaster...or romance. Lee Morose, pronounced Mo-ro-say, is an appeals witch, which means she works her hardest to get innocent magical beings out of their punishments. After almost being drowned by a lake monster, Lee gets approached by Reef Marine, pronounced Mare-in, a mermaid who's been cursed with Living Death, the ultimate punishment given to those convicted of the most heinous magical crimes. But Reef claims he's innocent, and Lee has an inkling maybe the sopping-wet man before her is telling the truth. So Lee agrees to take on his case, and together they set out to discover the the real murderer. But there's someone or something, that wants the truth to stay buried. There's also the little matter of Lee's growing interest in Reef that goes beyond attorney/client privilege. A witch's life is never easy, and Lee's just got a whole lot more complicated. For ONC 2025| First Draft

On the outside she's made of thorns, but on the inside she's a beautiful rose. *** It's been 5 years since the day she left her abusive mother. For 5 years she's been staying in garden after garden, fighting for her survival. There's nothing unique about Rose, she's cold, she's lonely, and she's defensive. That's until she discovers her extraordinary ability to nurture plants, especially flowers. Curious to find the origin of her ability, and her drive to save lives, her and her newly found friend Cara venture to the cold depths of Antarctica. Running into missing crew members, and unexplainable events, Rose fights to save the lives of the people that've helped her. The question is; Will she ever be able to trust again, even if it means saving the lives of the people close to her?

Allison Rogers finds her sister, Hannah Rogers' brutally murdered body. With the determination of finding out what happened to her, Allison finds some sick truth while looking for the killer and wondering what happened to Hannah that one winter night. Warning ⚠ Book will contain description of extreme violence, abuse, self-harm, suicide, sociopathic behaviour and strong language. Author's note: The story, the characters and the city mentioned are completely frictional. None of the events that are going to happen are real and this entire book is out of my imagination. If any similarities with others are found, it is pure coincidence. Also there may be grammatical mistakes and if there is please kindly mention. Entry for the Open Novella Contest 2019!!