Onc2021 Stories

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

Online and offline. What's the big difference? Well, between living online and offline, Sky would better off be living online. He didn't need to worry about people knowing who he was, nor did he have have to stress about how other people looked at him. There was nothing wrong with being more open and daring online. Little did he know that being friendly online would bring about unwanted trouble offline.

What do you get when you combine afternoon detention with an Alien invasion, a homicidal teacher and an inter-galactic protection detail that you don't remember signing on for? Harriet, Eloise, Max and Freddie are about to find out. Welcome to Bogge Creek P-12 College, where this week, staying alive is the only academic goal that really counts for much. An Open Novella Contest 2021 story based on Prompt #4 ("You're a weapon, and weapons don't weep").

Complete! Raizia has already died twice and she's not planning on dying again anytime soon. The 20-year-old necromancer makes ends meet by offering her resurrection services to a select few for an exorbitant fee. There's just one condition: she will only resurrect souls who have died within the past three days, and only for five minutes so they can share final goodbyes with their loved ones. But then she meets Aris, an attractive soldier reeling from the recent death of his mother. Raizia agrees to resurrect her, but when Aris ignores her cardinal rule, all hell breaks loose. As punishment for his deed, Raizia binds the soldier into her service. But Aris isn't going to come quietly... Fantasy ~ Romance ~ Adventure ~ Novella - - - Written for the 2021 Open Novella Contest, based on prompt #66: When you die, you come back. But you never come back the same. There's always a price to pay for resurrection... Open Novella Contest 2021 Round One Ambassador Pick and Short Lister Completed! Image by Rav89 on Deviantart.

A mysterious statue of an eye appears in the sleepy town of Kessington, New York. It changes locations every night, with no way to trace how or why it moves. On the eighth day of its arrival, Andrea Miller wakes up to find it right on her front porch; the closet it's gotten to anyone yet. ... On the outside of the town, Roy Hockins impatiently waits for information from their scout sent into Kessington. As a Coven Hunter, Roy knows that the All Seers have sunk their claws deep into the town, a fog permeating through like wispy tendrils. The fog clouds anyone's mind who enters, causing them to forget why they entered in the first place. Roy must find a way to prevent those controlling the All Seeing Eye from striking with their next attack, especially as it would be the one hundred and eleventh victim. Once the All Seers have claimed that one hundred and eleventh soul...well, it would unleash a dark evil that not even the Coven Hunters could handle. ******************* Open Novella Contest (ONC) submission for 2021!

⭐Featured on OpenNovellaContest 2021 Round 1 Ambassador Picks|| Bea, Ali, and Sez travel far across the Pacific ocean with their parents to live with their sick Lolo who owns a mango farm in the Philippine province. The siblings--foreign to the new land, language, and customs--find it difficult to adapt to their new home. One dewy morning while following a trail of ants in Lolo's small mango shed, the younger child Sez discovers a peculiar insect and catches it, but to his surprise, the insect screams. A tiny human girl scream. But the fairy was hurt and cannot walk nor fly. With the help of her new friends, the children decide to help the fairy find her way back home before she misses her coronation and her fairy family realizes she's missing or else something bad will happen to Lolo's mango farm. ONC prompt #7 Children's Fiction

Fresh out of a troubled marriage, Annie Nolan is faced with picking up the broken pieces her ex left behind. She moves back into her parent's pool house and reconnects with her old friend, Noah. With a Pandemic taking over the world, Noah wants to be the one to fix her problems. Is it possible that after fifteen years, Annie and Noah could move past the friend zone and become more?

Aura awakens in The Sanctuary, a place known for repairing and rewiring humans. Nothing is known about their methods other than it works and those who enter leave happier. Except Aura doesn't remember signing up for their treatment plans. In fact, she doesn't remember anything at all. With her identity ripped away from her, she's filled with more questions than she can get answers for, and the worst part is that she can't leave either. When her memories begin to resurface, she starts to wish that they hadn't. - Featured On: @OpenNovellaContest - 2021 Honorable Mentions @ScienceFiction - Dystopian/Apocalyptic Fiction @PsychologicalNovel - Lost Souls @StoriesUndiscovered - Into the Abyss

*The Wattys 2022 Shortlister* Hooked: The Untold True Story of Captain Hook His name is whispered in fear but no one knows how the pirate Captain with a hook for a hand got his moniker... until now. Sebastian Einar, Crown Prince to the Kingdom of Nydeliar, hates the idea of becoming king. Since his return from the Five-Year-War, Bastian has tried to distance himself from the Crown, longing to explore the sea that lies adjacent to his coastal kingdom home. It seems like he will forever be grounded on land, unable to venture out and find the mysteries of the ocean for himself. But when Bastian's father, King Jasper, is unexpectedly assassinated in the night, Bastian knows that bringing his father's killer to justice is something that only he can accomplish. Abdicating the throne to his younger brother's care, Bastian sets sail on a journey of magic, pirates, and revenge that will alter his life forever. *ONC 2021 ROUND 1 AMBASSADOR PICK, Shortlister, and Honourable Mention* Written for Open Novella Contest 2021 (Prompt #1: "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain" ) and extended in length for the Wattys

Caleb's list of job responsibilities did not include saving his city from a drought. He was as far from the hero type as he could be, starting with muscles and ending with courage. When the ghost hunting club he had joined theorized their plight was due to the paranormal, he went along with it to appease them. No one could predict what he would find on the lakebed, or the path he would have to take to bring water back to the city. --- Word Count: ~20,000 The 2021 prompts #5 and #64 were used in the making of this novella. It was written for the ONC 2021.

Open Novella Contest 2021

[ONC ROUND I AMBASSADOR PICKS] "You can't burn all of the witches, dear child. Where one falls, another drinks her blood and rises." A sellsword discovers that perhaps, just perhaps, maybe the humanity she is trying to save doesn't have much humanity after all. © irya kadlec, 2021

[ SORRY ON HOLD ] What would you do when you see a door vanish before your eyes, and the person who stumbled out of it claims to have a package for you? Scratch that; what should you do? [ full synopsis inside ] ONC 2021: Prompt 70

Claire, Georgia, and Danny aren't your average ghost hunters. Their hit livestream channel "Creep It Real" rakes in thousands of viewers each time they go live. But what their fans don't know is that the trio fake the hauntings they come across at each location. And their next haunt is supposed to be no exception. While streaming at Grimwood Manor, the "haunted" estate their top donor suggested they visit, they begin to experience strange things. Things they never experienced before. Things that aren't natural, and that will undermine everything they thought they believed. The trio comes face-to-face with real ghosts for the first time, but these aren't regular ghosts. They're something vicious, and they aren't willing to let go. Not until all of their victims' hope is drained and gone. Claire and her friends will have to fight to get back what they had, even if they have to face their pasts and worst fears in the process. *Open Novella Contest IV Shortlister and Ambassador Pick! Copyright © 2021, Heather Dianne Cover and other graphics made by me

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 understatements.

Harriet Porter was a beloved friend, sister, and daughter. She lived a separate life from her family and hid the truth for years with none the wiser. She was loved and praised by all until she was knocked into a coma and woke up two weeks later with amnesia. Everyone says it was a car accident, but as her memories resurface and her friend goes missing, a darker twist lies ahead. ___ Submission to the Open Novella Contest 2021- prompt 54

ON HIATUS FOR EDITING This is just your typical coffee shop rom-com, except it's a magickal tea shop instead. Featuring queer witches, vampires, demons and many more, as well as lots of bastard best friend shenanigans, painful to watch gay panic and idiots in love. | My entry for the Open Novella Contest 2021, based on prompt #21 | A dating app, matching magical beings with normal folk, takes the world by storm.

Cora Anderson is a spy. Or more accurately, a special agent, specialising in tracking down the gangs and mafia of her city. Adrian Beckett is the opposite of Cora. He leads the gang known as the Robin Hoods and specialises in the capture and sometimes torture of criminals. When Cora gets assigned to investigate a meeting between the Robin Hoods and the mafia, things go horribly wrong and Cora somehow ends up captured by the Robin Hoods. When the two are forced to spend time together due to the unforeseen circumstances, something happens and the two worlds clash. When the dust settles, will Cora and Adrian come out alive? Find out in Love Me To Kill You!

Resurrected after he's murdered, Asher Wang thinks he has a second chance at life. He can rekindle old bonds. He can fix things. He can start anew. And he will kill. Asher mirrors his murderer in an attempt to lure them out while keeping up his stellar reputation, careful to hide this change within from everyone. His plan is simple: once they take the bait, they will die by his hands. His masquerade will pit murderer against murderer and bring answers to the surface. Yet, Asher knows better than to rejoice; a second chance at life may just mean his last chance at death.

ONC 2021 Fanfiction prompt 13 and Romance Prompt 71. This novella is a non-canon version of Superman, with some of the same characters and places. Lexy Logan is sent from an Earth like ours where Superman is a fictional character to one where he is a real man, Clark Kent. Clark befriends her and helps her live in his world until she has to leave. She falls in love with Clark and tries to hide her feelings to protect them both, but he falls in love with her, and can't hide his feelings, but they accept what they can share until she must leave.