Fairy Crosses
- LETTURE 660
- Voti 98
- Parti 11
Entry for the Open Novella Contest, 2024
Prompt #36: "Fairy tales are real," and there couldn't be anything worse.
After the death of her husband, Charlotte seeks a fresh start in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia. She wants to do two things: work her mundane job and spend the evenings at her cabin talking to her husband's ghost. All her hopes and dreams stayed behind in Atlanta. Now, she just wants a quiet place to live alone.
Right when she settles into mountain life, she finds a quarter-sized stone outside her door with a black cross etched in its center. She brings it to a library where she learns about the fairies that left it there for her. Her research leads her to an ancient Cherokee hunting trail where winged, fairy-like creatures dance among blue ghost fireflies and sleep in the branches of oak trees centuries old.
Charlotte is sure that her discovery is nothing more than a vivid dream. But as her obsession with Appalachian fairy tales grows, she only finds more fairy crosses outside her door, along with startling evidence that the Faye still roam the ancient mountain valleys.
This is a story about magic and age-old legends, but even more about how obsession can offer relief from difficult circumstances, although at the price of true healing.
Coauthored by Rowan Carver and C.B. Mokedi
Cover made by OmletteDanish (SleepDeprivedArt on Etsy) and C.B.Mokedi
Tutti i diritti riservati
Entra a far parte della più grande comunità di narrativa al mondoFatti consigliare le migliori storie da leggere, salva le tue preferite nella tua Biblioteca, commenta e vota per essere ancora più parte della comunità.
Potrebbe anche piacerti
Heart of Stone
To make ends meet now that her husband has died in combat, Patrice accepts the only job going in the small town-backbreaking work picking fruit for the local farmer. When the farmer asks Patrice to move the cows into the lower field, she thinks nothing of it until one cow decides to go on an adventure through the wrong gate. After moving the cow, Patrice notices a glowing gem in the long grass. Patrice decides that it has to be returned to its owner and assumes that the shadowy figure in the distance is that person. Transfixed by the stone and its magical powers, Patrice chases after the mysterious figure, forgetting about the world behind her. The true owner is Jarek, a merciless elf king who has little time for the games that the crystal is playing. Jarek's plans for returning to his world after the battle to save the humans in their global war are thrown into disarray when he realises that the stone will not return to him. Jarek has no choice but to do everything within his power to get it back. Without the crystal, he will die. One small stone will cause chaos for Jarek and Patrice when it binds itself to her and refuses its rightful owner. Determined to get his crystal back, Jarek takes Patrice to his world. He knows that the clerics will have an answer. Neither Jarek nor Patrice will be pleased with what they offer. With time running out, they must do what is necessary to save a king with no heir. © This story is copyrighted. No part may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of T.M. Watkins (xMishx) 2021Completa
The Cunning Man || ONC 2021
🔸️ ONC 2021 Shortlist & Honorable Mention 🔸️ In 1884, an accusation of witchcraft sent Cade Pellar running to Wyoming. A decade later, he's accused again by his own mail-order bride. The problem for Cade is that the accusations are only false because of a technicality: His magic's not witchcraft. It's Cunning. But either way, semantics are the least of Cade's concerns. Problem #1 is Mrs. Nora Pellar and the magic in her touch. Problem #2 is the Pinkerton that's been resurrected from his past. Problem #3 is that to solve the first two, Cade needs to embrace his magic. Which leads to Problem #4: He'd sooner die than become a Cunning Man. || Primary Prompt: #22 || Secondary Prompt: #63 ||Completa
Thirteen Points of Light
After a night on the town, Sarah wakes up to a miserable hangover. But it's nothing compared to what comes next. After attempting to light a cigarette, she feels that something isn't quite right. Soon she'll discover that everything is very wrong. My entry in the Open Novella Contest III, Feb 2020. April 28. Just got the news that Thirteen Points has made it through the second round. Now I have to finish by May 5th. I'm not as far along as I had hoped at this point, but I'm sure I can make it. May 4th. 12:10 am. Finished. Submitted. Good night. May 20th. Well, 13 Points made the Long List. I have no idea how many original entries there were but about 940 made the first cut. There's 150 on the Long List. Not bad for my first time out. Now we'll wait and see how we fare on the Short List. May 30th. Well, Sarah and company didn't make the Short List. I can't say I'm disappointed though. This was my first attempt at this type of writing . Thanks for reading and voting. Now back to Short Story writing If you are also in the ONC, Good Luck and have fun!Completa
In Search of Kasena (ONC 2024) | ✓
Torn between following a family tradition of being a bounty hunter-one that he's not particularly fond of-and following his dreams of being a private detective, Niel has always struggled to land himself a job and put the food on his table. Few people were willing to hire an untraditional bounty hunter like him, so when he gets an urgent invitation from the eldest son of the wealthy Ravillet family, he is more than surprised. Enticed with the promise of a generous payment, Niel is determined to find the runaway young lady of the Ravillet family despite the lack of clues. With the help of an eccentric adventurer, he follows the trail of mysterious Kasena and her accomplice all the way to an esteemed swordsmanship tournament. But with no clues to go off of, can they really find someone who seems to have vanished into thin air? ⁕⁕⁕ STARTED: 2/17/2024 FINISHED: 11/15/2024 Word count: 27.8k wordsCompleta
Sleepwalker, Awake (ONC2025 Entry)
If other worlds exist beyond the looking glass, how do we cross over to those foreign shores? What will we find there in the lands of whimsy and fantasy? What will find us? *** Malachi is a miserable man who's had one too many bad turns. On his last ropes, he's ready to give up the ghost when he finds the green door. Pulled into another world, one of monsters and demons, he is given new gifts and a new purpose. A crumbling queendom needs a hero and Malachi needs a new reason to live. The Sleeper must awaken and save the people of a world that isn't even his own. ONC 2025 Prompt #1: You stumble upon a mysterious door made entirely of briars 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.Completa
The Bond || ONC2022
[The Ambys 2023 Winner in Diverse Lit. Category] Bhallar, a young doctor with a hidden agenda to take down the ruthless Pharaoh: the supreme ruler of the New Kingdom, finds himself in a tight spot when Mayeen, his sister, whom he thought to be dead, ends up on a 'WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE' poster issued by the royal house. As bounty hunters from all over the kingdom gear up to take down the young girl and take home the prize money, Bhallar has no option but to change careers. He abandons his scalpel and takes up a dagger, unaware that just like him, all her life, his sister too has been hiding something from him, something that had led her to the Pharaoh's harem. Will Bhallar be able to save his sister? Or will they die, trying to escape the man their father had warned them about before passing away due to a mysterious ailment? Written for ONC 2022 Prompt used: 69 Start date: 27th February, 2022 End date: 28th April, 2022 This is an original story written specifically for the Open Novella Contest 2022. No part of this ebook may be reproduced. Copyright ©️ 2022 All rights reserved by GandalfofspaceAnliCompleta
The Taste of Iron
Humanity is struggling to survive in a world that's no longer theirs. Liv, a scavenger leading missions to the edges of the city for food, medicine, and iron, knows things are getting worse. Every trip feels more desperate than the last. Humanity has an expiration date-the forest, and the creatures that dwell there, just have to wait them out. When a mission turns out to be a trap and Liv wakes up on the wrong side of the tree line-alone, disoriented, and for some reason not dead-she learns the forest doesn't just kill people or take their souls. It changes them. She doesn't know what she's becoming. Only that it's something way stronger than what she was. And that killing things never felt this good. Murderbot meets The Cruel Prince-with a whole lot of psychological horror My entry for onc2025, based on prompt 125: I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. - Frank HerbertCompleta
Raven's Heir | ONC 2021 honourable mention
Sandrine is reluctant to take the job as a ghost hunter, despite her ancestral gift. And when she meets her boss and future partners, every fibre of her being tells her to quit-but she needs the money. How hard can it be to dispel the ghost of a bird? Soon, she finds herself fighting the advances of a medieval playboy, targeted by a flock of ectoplasmic ravens, and trying to solve the puzzle of the cottage in the lake. With disaster waiting around the corner, she truly has no time for a budding romance, right? ~ ~ ~ My entry for the open novella contest 2021. Prompts: No 5: There is a terrible drought ravaging the land, but when the waters recede from the local lake/reservoir, they reveal something no one expected to find. No 64. What should have been a simple task for a trio of ghost hunters quickly becomes something for which the term 'Worst Case Scenario' is the mother of all understatement. No 61. I would've lived longer if it weren't for Lorraine. There's only one issue... who's Lorraine? Words according to Wattpad: Chapter 1 - 1495 Chapter 2 - 1455 - milestone 1 reached Chapter 3 - 1469 Chapter 4 - 1552 Chapter 5 - 1563 Chapter 6 - 1620 - milestone 2 reached Chapter 7 - 1564 Chapter 8 - 1700 Chapter 9 - 1637 Chapter 10 - 1797 Chapter 11 - 1605 Chapter 12 - 1561 Chapter 13 - 1690 - milestone 3 reached Chapter 14 - 1842 Chapter 15 - 1762 Epilogue - 233 Total words published: 24545Completa
To make ends meet now that her husband has died in combat, Patrice accepts the only job going in the small town-backbreaking work picking fruit for the local farmer. When the farmer asks Patrice to move the cows into the lower field, she thinks nothing of it until one cow decides to go on an adventure through the wrong gate. After moving the cow, Patrice notices a glowing gem in the long grass. Patrice decides that it has to be returned to its owner and assumes that the shadowy figure in the distance is that person. Transfixed by the stone and its magical powers, Patrice chases after the mysterious figure, forgetting about the world behind her. The true owner is Jarek, a merciless elf king who has little time for the games that the crystal is playing. Jarek's plans for returning to his world after the battle to save the humans in their global war are thrown into disarray when he realises that the stone will not return to him. Jarek has no choice but to do everything within his power to get it back. Without the crystal, he will die. One small stone will cause chaos for Jarek and Patrice when it binds itself to her and refuses its rightful owner. Determined to get his crystal back, Jarek takes Patrice to his world. He knows that the clerics will have an answer. Neither Jarek nor Patrice will be pleased with what they offer. With time running out, they must do what is necessary to save a king with no heir. © This story is copyrighted. No part may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of T.M. Watkins (xMishx) 2021
Più dettagliLinee guida sui contenuti