Opennovellacontest2025 Stories

Dorian expected a fortune. Instead, he inherited a library-one that holds more than just books. When a stolen book vanishes, portals to dangerous worlds start ripping open, unleashing beings from unknown realms. With reality unraveling and creatures slipping through the cracks, Dorian must track down the book before the chaos becomes permanent. But some secrets were meant to stay buried-and someone will do anything to keep them that way. Will he retrieve the book in time, or will his inheritance doom them all?

There's a new god of stories in charge, and he's decided it's time to ditch the old stuff - no matter the cost. All that stands in the way of this literary apocalypse is an amateur author with a bad case of writer's block and a rookie librarian on her first day. There's a whole world of stories to be saved - if only they can survive them first.

Earth is no longer home. Human population known...two. A choice to make...run and hide to survive or trust the alien boy whose species pushed the human race to the brink of extension. Being human is a dangerous thing on Earth now that it's inhabited by Taraforms, the alien race that nearly destroyed humanity. All that's left to do is run and hide in order to survive. This is the life that seventeen year old Avary Johansen has lived, all alone, for the past three years with no other humans in sight. Believing that she's the last of her kind, her only concern is how she will make it through another day. Just when she is about to give up hope, she comes in contact with another human being, Jordan Cooper, the one guy she despised in school. If he's alive, others might be as well. Now traveling together, they attempt to search for other survivors. But when Jordan gets injured, Avary finds an unlikely hero in Kadav, an intriguing alien teenage male whose father is tasked to find and capture any remaining humans. With the help of these two new companions, Avary fights to survive in a world that is now hostile to humans.

After a long journey to "find herself" (Steph's still not sure what that means, but that's what she's been telling people), Steph is back in town, on the hunt for a secret EP her favourite band put out before disappearing forever. But things have gotten weird while she was away. There's a new modern art exhibit causing chaos, an urban legend roaming the streets with a vendetta, and a new forbidden arcade game she can't stop playing. Her old best friend is almost certainly up to something. And her Spotify daily mixes have started...telling the future? As she digs deeper, things just get more complicated. Steph needs to connect the dots, and fast. She might not have found herself out there, but she sure found something. And now? It's coming for her.

When the mysterious teashop suddenly appears, one can't help but hear its call and wonder-what's its true purpose? *** Alicia Ward's ordinary life takes a fantastical turn when she encounters Aidan, the elusive boy once believed a figment of her childhood imagination, now real and impossibly intriguing. Following him leads her to The Crooked Kettle, an enchanting teashop hidden from ordinary eyes. But curiosity leads her astray when she steps into a corridor filled with endless doors, each one offering glimpses into magical realms where reality is fluid and the impossible becomes possible. Where each door leads somewhere and nowhere, anywhere but her world. Trapped now in this place where reality bends at whim and magic comes alive, Alicia must navigate this bewildering place and find her way back to The Crooked Kettle's parlour if she ever wants to return home. And with the help of her once-imaginary friend, Aiden, and charmingly chaotic vampire, Harley Hatter-Sinclair, who has an uncanny ability to make her heart race and cheeks turn red, Alicia might be able to do just that. Or not. Will she be forever lost in a world where dreams and magic intertwine with reality? Everything and nothing is possible within the magical worlds of The Crooked Kettle. ______ All graphics were created by myself, with their subsequent credit and rights reserved for Andre Di Rosa (me).

| Round 2, Ambassador Pick | When media mogul Richard Langley demands his children declare their love to inherit his empire, the refusal of his youngest daughter sparks a bitter family feud, forcing her to choose between healing old wounds or securing her place in the business world. ✦✦✦ The year is 2025, and the world of family legacies is as ruthless as it is glamorous. When Richard Langley, a powerful titan of the industry, announces his retirement, he demands his three adult children-Gwen, Riley, and Cora-profess their love for him in exchange for their share of the family empire. Gwen and Riley fall in line, but Cora, the youngest, refuses to bow to her father's demand and offers only brutal honesty. Enraged, Richard disowns her, casting her out of the family. As his mental state unravels, Gwen and Riley fight tooth and nail for control of the Langley legacy, manipulating their father and each other in a battle of wills and ambition. Meanwhile, Cora, heartbroken but determined, builds her own path to success in the media world. But when Richard reaches out, desperate and broken, Cora must decide whether to heal the rift or walk away for good. ✦✦✦ ✦ A modern retelling of Shakespeare's King Lear x Succession ✦ Cover design by @TheWildCyde ✦ Open Novella Contest 2025 | Prompts 31, 110, 111, 129 ᴄᴏᴘʏʀɪɢʜᴛ © 2025 ʙʏ ᴀᴜᴅʀᴇʏ ᴀʟʟ ʀɪɢʜᴛꜱ ʀᴇꜱᴇʀᴠᴇᴅ. ᴛʜɪꜱ ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴏʀ ᴀɴʏ ᴘᴏʀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇᴏꜰ ᴍᴀʏ ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇ ʀᴇᴘʀᴏᴅᴜᴄᴇᴅ ᴏʀ ᴜꜱᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴀɴʏ ᴍᴀɴɴᴇʀ ᴡʜᴀᴛꜱᴏᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴡɪᴛʜᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇxᴘʀᴇꜱꜱ ᴡʀɪᴛᴛᴇɴ ᴘᴇʀᴍɪꜱꜱɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇʀ ᴇxᴄᴇᴘᴛ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜꜱᴇ ᴏꜰ ʙʀɪᴇ

2025 Leighyeann A. Mies All rights reserved An entry for the Open Novella Contest 2025 [Book #5 in the Face saga - spin-off] [COMPLETED ON 12/4/2025] *** Another chapter, more trouble for the infamous Sim siblings: Himchan, Daegwang and Seju. As Himchan finds a box that spells danger, he asks for Daegwang's help to uncover the secrets behind its content. Unity of intentions come in handy when it comes to facing the inevitable changes this discovery brings. However, the picture can't be complete without Seju, who gets dragged in external drama from apparently unsuspecting people, all when she's supposed to enjoy a rejuvenating holiday with her longtime boyfriend. Trouble has come for the three siblings once again-it's time to get out of it.

Ava and Josh are company rivals, competing with each other relentlessly ever since Ava joined the company. But what started as healthy competition evolved into a relationship where there's nothing but animosity. In a turn of unexpected events, they're forced to work with each other and put their rivalry aside.

Elenore was supposed to be dead. Even now, years later, it's as though her body and mind remember this fact. With each passing winter she felt her debt grow heavier, the truth of her existence scorched into her mind. Her life was an exchange. A desperate plea from her mother, bound in blood to a mysterious deity that haunts the windswept moors. She would be born a healthy, living child... Yet at the age of twenty-four she would be swept up into its world as its bride. Her soul forever bound to it. Her heart filled with a treacherous longing. Each night it haunts her dreams and by day her eyes are plagued by visions of a world filled with dead things and a kingdom that crumbles under ground. ............ Iris would do anything for her daughter. Kill for her even, if she had to. She never intended for it-- for him-- to ruin it all. One stupid mistake, one moment of desperation had damned them all. She had only wanted to keep Elenore safe. To keep the last remaining piece of her husband alive within her. The price for this was heavy. Too heavy. And with Elenore's twenty fourth birthday quickly approaching, Iris wonders how far she may need to go to keep her daughter safe. Written for ONC 2025 Prompts: 1. You stumble on a mysterious door made entirely of brambles and thorns. As you step through, you're granted extraordinary powers. But with great power comes great responsibility-- it's now your duty to save the crumbling kingdom. 13. When you challenge a magical being, the rules are simple: you must finish what you started, no matter the cost.

When Darlene Hathaway is discharged from the hospital, the first thing she does is go to her dance studio. Sure, she might not be taking ballet classes anymore, but it's better than being alone. The first person she meets there is Hope McKaye, an up-and-coming comic book illustrator, the only student at her high school to graduate at sixteen...and Darlene's childhood best friend, whom she drifted away from in ninth grade. Hope's happy to see her again, and she's even willing to let her stay at her apartment for as long as she needs, despite Darlene's hesitance about letting her back into her life. But her entire life can't be made up of late night walks on the cold beach and following Hope around her various jobs. Darlene has to come to terms with why she's here--why she's freeloading off of someone who used to be so close to her instead of forging her own way in life---in order to move forward.

Supervillain Ranvi De Witt is somehow not in prison yet, but her superhero nemesis is. When he asks her to consult on a murder-case that could free him, at first, she's thinking only of the money (well, at first, she laughs in his face, but after that, she's thinking only of the money). But when her dim-witted minion (and actual best friend) is brainwashed to act like a fairytale princess, she realises this murderer is targeting her as well as her nemesis. He's got a lot of power, even if he's literally butchering the fairytales he's forcing his victims to recreate. And he's supposed to be dead. 'Surrounded by Idiots' is a comic fantasy novella about morally grey areas and the power of stories: how some of them can cage you, while others can set you free. ONC prompts: 50. A supervillain has a midlife crisis and decides to become a superhero. But redemption might be harder than they imagined. 59. 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.

× ONC Round 2 Ambassador Pick × Dorothea thought she had her life under control. Sure, she's not super rich and successful, and she doesn't have a gorgeous, loving partner by her side, but she's a barista in a local coffee shop who swore off of relationships, so she doesn't expect anything better. That is, until one short encounter at work flips her world upside down. Sofia Amaro has been Thea's number one weak spot since their high school days, but whatever they had ended five years ago. She left the town, and Thea moved on-or so she thought. When Sofia suddenly returns because of a work project, and a friendly round of drinks turns into a lot more than either of them had in mind, Thea is conflicted. She's a different person now. But Sofia is too, and she's not the same girl who strung her on for over a year. So when she tells Thea she wants to be more than friends now, Thea has to decide whether she's willing to take the risk once again. Perhaps some mistakes need to be made twice. ~ ❤️‍🩹 ~ Entry written for Open Novella Contest 2025 Prompts: 120, 121, 18 Genre(s): NA Literary/General Fiction PUBLISHED: 2/20/2025 COMPLETED: TBA

28. On a beach vacation, you dive into the water, but it turns purple and suddenly you're pulled under the sand. What's waiting for you beneath the surface? 34. Your new job requires an out of town overnight orientation, but when you check in, you run into someone from your past that you never thought you'd see again. Casey (Cas) Galanis doesn't know whether to say she is a burn victim, or was, as it had been over a decade. While her body bore the evidence of her past, she was more than ready to leave every bit of the trauma from recovery and society behind her. Unfortunately, anyone back home that was still cruel about her looks wasn't going to change. They didn't want to see her as capable of caring for herself. The lowest point was her sister refusing to have her in her wedding photos, citing aesthetics. The out she found was in the hospitality industry, specifically an older, privately owned hotel. True, people would continue to be cruel to her. Even if they brought up her looks, they would be more concerned that their room was clean, the TV worked, the pool was warm, and they made it in time for the complimentary breakfast. And most of that, as a maid, wouldn't be her problem. That, and it came with a room that they couldn't be rented out. Which was odd for a hotel a short walk from the beach. The first hurdle would be the Tuesday night orientation. The second would be if she could learn to love the beach and all it's exposure. But there would be more surprises in store-the doctor who helped heal her and the dead Egyptian god who consumed any free time she had. Because of the possibilities in two men, life wasn't lonely anymore. Cover Art: Photo by Austin J. Best from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-smoking-1205388/ Other elements are Wikicommons, mods are mine.

[ONC2025] | [Shortlist] Marlot and Ké live in the slum of Cyberion, where they belong to the lowest level of society due to their individual flaws. They fear, but also looking forward with excitement to the 'twenty days of freedom' that will determine their adult future. Outside the gates of Cyberion, they discover that things are very different than they thought. They must choose whether to return to the suffocating tech city or embrace their new - unknown - life. ... Prompt 110: '20 days of freedom'

A battle trading card company creates the ultimate battle game, and people of all ages flock to play the new, immersive game of monsters and tactics. When Charli finds her new game board and limited edition card set destroyed by bullies, a friend steps in to help her out. Only, he can only give her a beta test version of the battle board and a children's card set. With the inaugural battle competition set to begin, Charli must use her wits to make her weak card set work well enough to enter the competition, but she faces people with more experience, more cards and better battle boards. Can Charli make her way through the stages with only a children's card set and a basic battle board, or will the competition prove too much? An ONC novella, based on Prompt 67: "A trading card game company creates real-life versions of their creatures. What started as fun and games quickly spirals into something far more dangerous."

"Threading on thorns is easier than letting go of my tiger lily. Again." Grayson Ji WenXiang, a legendary cultivating green serpent has been tempted by an offer from Perennial who now is the colossal of the opposite kingdom. Tempering with his yearning for an old love, Grayson eagerly bargained with Perennial without considering the consequences that soon unfold and disrupt his life. While he struggled to uphold the martial reputation he had built for decades and safeguard his tiger lily, Grayson found himself battling with lethal choices all over again. 🌹Open Novella Contest 2025 | ONC 205 | Longlist 2 on 22 May 2025 ||. This story is written in conjunction with the ONC 2025, and can only be found on Wattpad only.||

3. When the most powerful and evil wizard creates an army of metal warriors and casts them throughout the land, it's up to a group of retired heroes to save the day. Samantha Hansen (Haira) was a Nebraskan farm girl until she became The Chosen One in the lands of Driftwich and Everwoe. For a time she was a beloved hero, but after they beat the fearsome and demonic dragons, it turned out she didn't know enough about the people she saved to fit in. Her oldest companion-a young wizard named Brom-took on the name Majus and played the society he knew all too well into favoring him for kingship. He didn't mind if she became his queen or if she lived the life of a barbarian of the north, as long as she could serve as a reminder of past glory. At first, it was a forced retirement from saving the world when she turned 30. Then it was the realization that she was aging and her body was changing, in a land with no modernized healers. Healers were antiquated, few, and often vestal virgins like St. Murin. She quit her job as a figurehead right along with the title for hero to run off for the wild plains of the southeast. It was the only place that looked like an almost untouched Nebraska. Unfortunately, the rogue known as Ice followed her out and made his home close enough to be a nuisance. And he remained her only annoyance until the rustbuckets started building a train through her town, bringing the king's order to the wilds.

[NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON] The Endless Brew lazes in the 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏. Its residents dedicate their afterlife to helping ghosts tie up loose ends. But when a cry for help echoes from the town of Wisteria, the tea house is thrown into uncharted territory. This time, their charge isn't a ghost-it's Nina, a living, breathing human with no apparent wishes to fulfill. Stumped and stranded, The Endless Brew's residents must unravel why she's crossed into their spectral world. As they take her under their wing, Nina finds herself drawn to Kai, a brooding, enigmatic ghost with a past as mysterious as his piercing gaze. Their electric connection might defy the boundaries of life and death, but it doesn't change the fact they're from different worlds, and their parting is inevitable. 🌸 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬: 𝑺𝒍𝒐𝒘-𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏, 𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒈𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈. 🌸 𝐎𝐍𝐂 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭: 15. 𝑨 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒑 𝒔𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓: 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎 𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕?