Opennovellacontest2023 Stories

||WATTY WINNER 2023🌟|| Two strangers pretend to be a couple to win a dumb bet. The wager: they must enrol in couples therapy and fool their counselor. _________ Six non-refundable couples counseling sessions. That's how many Clementine booked for him and his girlfriend to sort out their relationship problems. What he didn't see coming was getting dumped as soon as he informed her of it. Enter Everett, a chaotic, curly-haired boy who barges into Clementine's life. He offers to fake date and attend the counseling sessions with Clementine. Unfortunately, they are both idiots. Did they really believe they could safely fake-date in a Wattpad book and NOT fall in love? ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 Might bring to mind: "Heartstopper" but with a ton more baking and fake dating 🌈 🎼🎶 This book has a Spotify playlist with a song for each chapter. To download it you can search me on Spotify @itsmeimthevampire - the playlist name is "Idiots To Lovers." 🏅🏅🏅 Watty Winner 2023. Shortlisted in the Open Novella Contest 2023. Featured on Wattpad profiles: @Lgbtq @FreeTheLgbt @Romance 🏆🏆🏆 #2 lgbt #2 lgbtq 📆 10/5/23 #4 gay 21/5/23 #4 bxb 14/5/23 #5 boyxboy 13/5/23 #1 gayromance 5/5/23 #1 gayshipsareyayships 14/5/23 Written for ONC2023 using prompt 39: On a blind date with a complete mismatch, you're increasingly uncomfortable but too polite to leave. Then an attractive stranger comes over and gives you an out.

Humankind has long since perished. But life goes on. Nature is slowly reclaiming the planet. A fire forces a young red fox named Kip to flee her den for the first time. Now alone and left half-blind, Kip must struggle to find refuge for herself and her two cubs. One thing is for certain: this nascent and feral world is just as dangerous as ever. --- ONC Prompt 13: You were at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and now you are running for your life! Cover art drawn by me.

Do you have an ONC? Wish to get feedback as well as discover other ONCs? Then stop by and join our ONC book club!

Two lovers. One is immortal, the other isn't. Aurelia is 1000 years old. A wish that saved her life as a baby turns out to be a never ending curse, as she watches her loved ones leave her, over and over again. Her solution? Give up long term relationships and never be hurt again - nice smiles and cute winks mean nothing but trouble. That proves to be difficult, however, when she meets one special soul and begins to question her 200 year old decision. ONC 2023 entry based on prompt #25: "If he smiled at you, he'll break your heart. If she winked at you, she'll rip you apart."

The new and attractive landlord has left everyone else wanting to make a good impression. But me? I've known something was off from the moment he shook my hand. There's just something wrong about him. Something . . . dark. But I brushed it off. And now it might be too late. Guess I should have listened to my instincts after all. __________________________________ This story contains profanity and violence. • ONC 2023 •

If you'd like to pick up mind-reading, look no further! This unorthodox guide by a normie draws on first-hand encounters with mind-readers, which means you get an outsider's perspective. If one day you find yourself unable to read minds anymore, or it suddenly occurs to you that you could never read minds, pray that 1) you do not expose yourself, and 2) you have this guide with you. Else, you're in for a wild ride. Hope the taxi from the urban legends exists in your city. It will make things a tad easier since it takes you to places you never knew you needed to be at until you're there.

London, 1857. Seventeen-year-old Leah Manston has always been the apple of her father's eye. A factory owner, he worked hard to ensure Leah had the best clothing, maids, and jewellery that money could be. But, when factory owners across the city keep winding up dead, Leah fears for her father's safety. With the police struggling to uncover the killer, she teams up with friend Ezra Wentworth to unravel the mystery before her father falls victim to this elusive killer. However, as time starts to run out, they realise that the killer might be closer than they seem... Based on prompt 62 'Hell is empty and all the devils are here. - William Shakespeare' (C)Spruce_Goose

Where there is misfortune, there is magic. It is a phrase Annabelle Baker has heard enough times to have it drilled into her mind. Everyone in town follows it, after all, you don't want to get on the bad side of the Wardens, Mere's staunch protectors. They already have more than enough on their plate... Life in Mere used to be easy. That is, before a mysterious plague rolled into town, infecting everyone except a lone pharmacist, her business associate and a group of charming strangers belonging to Varian Merradem's circus. The good Merian civilian that Ann is, she grows immediately suspicious of the latter, their arrival matching that of the plague slightly too close to be true. In an effort to chase the circus out of town for good, Baker accidentally finds herself amongst their ranks, hoping desperately to escape and solve the conspiracy of the mysterious disease once and for all. A story based on a Dungeons and Dragons game. If you enjoy a bit of simple fantasy, dramatic characters or a good circus wreathed in mists and mystery, this might be one for you. Prompt 54. As townspeople are overcome with a deadly sickness, it's up to you, the only one not afflicted to find the cause and cure. ~(✩✧✩)~✶~(✩✧✩)~ Chapter 1 • 1319 W (Total 1319 W) Chapter 2 • 970 W (Total 2289 W) Chapter 3 • 1038 W (Total 3327 W) Chapter 4 • 1264 W (Total 4591 W) Chapter 5 • 1304 W (Total 5895 W) Chapter 6 • 1279 W (Total 7174 W) Chapter 7 • 826 W (Total 8000 W)

ONC 2023 Shortlister & Nano Watt 2023 Shortlist Novella Inspired by the prompt: 28: Stumped on a history assignment, you stumble across a time machine that will bring you back to the time period you're studying. ↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹ It all began with an assignment... Why? Why did I pick Cleopatra?! All I wanted to do was to submit my History in English Literature assignment, so how is it I woke up in the time of Cleopatra VII? Not only that, I am Cleopatra. ↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹ After receiving a distressing text from her best friend, Thea finds herself in the location where he was meant to be working on a secret science project. However, upon arriving, she discovers that the project may have been more revolutionary than she realised. However, with great progress comes even greater betrayals and she finds herself stuck in a time she couldn't even formulate a simple essay on. ↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹↹ Started: 3 February 2023 Completed: 10 April 2023 Edited by: @TheRebeccaBlake NB: Word count excludes A/N and banners

Wemimo, a newly elected Saintess is called into Sfordsfield Gothic for her first assignment to eradicate afflictions, but no one welcomes her at her arrival. Long fallen from grace Shepherd John cannot wish for death, dealing with the after-effects of jumping into an active volcano. In a world, where the scales have fallen from everyone's eyes so that they can see the invisible, a greater evil threatens to surface if the veil of spirit and flesh is broken. Writing prompt #80

He's back, and he's out for revenge. 🙤 · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ · ₪ · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ · 🙦 When a secret hidden for 22 years is revealed, every part of Kalisha Morales' life comes tumbling down. The karma of a careless childhood decision has finally arrived on her doorstep with a surprise gift. She ruined his life and Aiden Bryant isn't going to let her go scot-free, not again, no matter how long it has been. Sucked into a battle of survival, Kalisha must become the predator and not the prey or risk losing her life this time. There is no good or evil. There's just doing whatever it takes to survive. Will he get to her first or will she outlive him? 🙤 · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ · ₪ · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ · 🙦 Oɴᴄ 2022 Pʀᴏᴍᴘᴛ: 49, 69, 33 ✎ Sᴛᴀʀᴛᴇᴅ: 08/02/23 ✎ Fɪɴɪsʜᴇᴅ: TBD Wᴏʀᴅ Cᴏᴜɴᴛ: TBD © 2023 Laz-lequil

Is he the greatest sorcerer that exists, or is he the biggest sham? *** Meet Aliath; the High Wizard of the Edvan empire as he searches for signs of the enemy within. He meets Hela, a mysterious girl who catches his attention. He later realizes that the enemy he sought was right beside him all along. And she has been tasked with one mission; his death! With war looming around, time is running out for Aliath. And he has a very important choice to make.

🏆ONC 2023 || Ambassador's Pick 🏆ONC 2023 || Round Two Qualifier One night is all it takes to change a life. There's something wrong with Felicity Farr. It's how she can't seem to do her job right no matter how hard she tries, and how she's still under her parents' thumb years after moving out, and how she looks at girls the way she should look at boys. So even though she can't fix anything, she tries to fix herself all the same. But when a blind date ends with her in an attractive stranger's bed, Felicity is forced to question everything in her life. Especially when said attractive stranger asks her to run away with her for a week. Clover Chai is beautiful, confident, and everything Felicity should avoid. But she captures Felicity like the drag of the tide, and as the week drags on, Felicity finds herself having to choose between her head and her heart---especially since she can't imagine her summer fling remaining a fling anymore.

Cassie Nightingale left England years ago and finally came back. The memory modification Hermione Granger used on her parents is no longer needed. Pansy Parkinson attempts to fight the stigma of voicing the opinion they should hand The Boy Who Lived over to save their own lives right before the war ended. Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter or Good Witch. This is one of my ONC entries for this year. For this one I am using prompt fifteen, "Three women. Three secrets. Three tangled lives."

[ONC 2023 Shortlister] ['23 RGAs Overall Winner] When the storm comes, who will you choose to ride it out with? In the sleepy coastal village of Porthdruro, the most excitement literature student Sally Tremaine experiences is the coming and going of the tide. So, when she runs into carefree photographer Flick Scott on a routine errand, the waves the girl makes in her life are beyond anything she's seen before. Flick is confident, passionate, and just plain fun - in short, she's everything Sally had never expected to find in her small world. Things aren't all fun and games, though. The rest of the village wants nothing to do with the boisterous traveller, and Sally senses there's something lurking beneath Flick's impulsive character, something she doesn't want Sally to see. And when another stranger follows hot on Flick's heels, Sally faces a choice between staying true to the place she calls home and protecting the girl that could take her beyond the horizon. As the storm draws ever closer, the questions rumbling in Sally's mind grow louder. What brought someone so full of life to a place like Porthdruro? Why is she so possessive of a simple camera? And will the toll of trusting Flick Scott be more than Sally can take? *** Written for #ONC2023. 50. "An attractive, mysterious stranger moves to your small town. While everyone is desperate to make an impression, only you notice something a bit odd about them." 51. "The problem with red flags is that I'm attracted to them." Stunning cover by the equally stunning @MiniMoxx. Adorable chapter-end graphic by the equally adorable @Metalcanine.

♤ One for Revenge ♤ ◇ One for Retribution ◇ ♡ One for Respite ♡ .•°•♧•°•.

"Hell is empty and all the devils are here" - The Tempest, William Shakespeare A curse-ridden young woman, drifts through life after living a lavish and deadly childhood as a changeling. Banished and cursed she attempts to piece together her history while also trying to find the cure to her vicious ailment. When she is betrayed and captured by gang that call themselves the Foxhounds. Her escape rests on the shoulders of its youngest member who is looking for his brother and thinks she's only one that can find him.

**In Necropolis, every afterlife citizen is dead, including Tyryn. While each soul is seeking to carve a path towards redemption at second chances, the girl who still bleeds crimson in the city of the dead is searching for answers to her very existence. ** When Tyryn and her rival are tasked with working together in search of a relic that will unite the four realms of Necropolis, Tyryn is ready to carry Nikos on her shoulders if it means returning to the realm of the living. Especially, if it can help her find the answers she's been searching for. If she is lucky, maybe Nikos will get that second death she's been silently hoping for, finally ridding herself of his presence. Because dying once and landing in Necropolis is never good. But dying twice means you never come back. There is only one problem...well maybe two. One-Tyryn needs Nikos to find the relic. Two-Killing, while a Necropolis citizen, means forfeiting your soul. This novella has been written for ONC 2023 Prompt 63: A rivalry between two coworkers has unforeseen consequences. © February 2023 With Talons and Blood By Gwen Jean

"If I cannot move Heaven, then I will raise Hell. And I will do it for you. Again, again, and again." *** Iris Irai, a half-demon of wrath, is living in anything but paradise. She works as a cleaning lady at the Paradise Resort, a hotel in the Florida Keys that is catered to retiree demons who vacation from Hell...and divulge in their sins on Earth. It's full of debauchery, depravity, and death. Iris doesn't want to be there; demons make the worst customers. She's paying off a debt for a virtue she committed years ago--and is still haunted by. Something is wrong. The tides are turning. The customers are getting rowdier. The sea, colder. Dead bodies becoming more frequent. Abilities going haywire. A hurricane is forming offshore, literally and metaphorically, and it will destroy everything Iris knows. ...And then there's the mysterious angel, Riel, who tries to kill Iris and shut down the hotel. She must work with him, exploring a strange hotel and equally strange Florida Keys, to find answers and dissipate the oncoming storm. Together, they learn that there is more than good and bad, angels and demons--and they maybe even fall in love along the way. *** For ONC 2023! The prompts used are: "Hell is empty and all the devils are here." - William Shakespeare (#63) and "An attractive and mysterious stranger moves into town. While everyone is desperate to make an impression, only you notice something odd about them." (#50) (Cover is drawn by me!) *** 1st Place Winner (Best Cover) for the Ambrosia Awards! 1st Place Winner (Best Protagonist) for the Ambrosia Awards!