What category to put this story in? Action, not really. Humour, hardly. Romance, not quite.
A category is the theme of the story. Then, where is the love category? Not a specific kind of love, like romance. The kind of love that someone has been deprived from for years and needs help finding again. The type that is brought about by family and friends, not a lover.
Being kidnapped and held at ransom is bad enough. The only thing worse is when your own parents don't pay for your release.
The next thing to happen is obvious. You're captors kick you out. After all, what's the point of holding someone for ransom when no one is willing to pay for them?
Now Vanessa is homeless and unaware of the environment around her. She'll try everything she can to survive in a world, that has been nothing but cruel to her.
+++
awards:
➵ Runner Up, Action Category, "Summer Book Awards" @Capybara100
Elliot's partner was his whole world, but after Allan's death, his ghost haunts Elliot's dreams. Everyone tells Elliot to move on, but he isn't sure he can.
*****
It's been a year since the love of Elliot's life, Allan, passed away. Everyone thinks he should have recovered after that much time, but Allan still haunts Elliot every night. He struggles to maintain relationships with his family, and despite a coworkers interest he can't summon up the courage to date. Elliot is living for the past, because to live for the present means he'll have to live with a hole in his heart. But the question Elliot has to face chases him through his monotonous days: is mourning Allan with everything he has truly living?
[[word count: 40,000-50,000 words]]