Onc2021 Stories

Time is a feckless bitch, as Zurilya has learned. When she wished for a happily ever after for her love and herself, she never expected to still be alive 500 years later. Trapped in a cycle of hurting each other, she is on the hunt for the fae that granted her the gift. She will have him reverse it or she will have his head. Or perhaps, his heart. _______ Written for The Open Novella Contest 2021

The Combat Anticipative Tactical Analysis Logical Artificial Intelligence Nuerosuite--CATALAIN for short--was the last hope of a dying nation, in a world about to be blanketed by a single global regime. She failed spectacularly. Broken, guilt-racked, and having lost everything, the last existing fragment of CATALAIN, or Caitlyn as she prefers to be called, destroys portions of her own code to prevent reactivation and shuts down for what she hopes will be the final time. Nineteen years later, Caitlyn is brought back online against her will by young members of a desperate resistance facing genocide in a nightmarish world where the global government has ordered the extermination of eighty percent of the world's population. Unable to shut herself down, a literal fraction of what she once was, and missing any of the data that might have helped figure out what destroyed her, Caitalyn is forced to confront both her past and her future in a war she never had any chance of winning.

Nora Abraham isn't a hero. In fact, she's far from that. A red-headed spitfire who is-WHOOPS- a descendant from a long line of telepaths, Nora never had any interest in the world of heroes, a world that her father has long been pressuring her to join. Until she received a letter from the Aurelia School for the Wicked and Vile, the number one villain school in the world, Nora didn't even consider going away to hero boarding school, let alone train to be a villain. But her mother's disappearance had something to do with Madame Aurelia, the wicked, never-seen-by-any-of-her-students, headmistress. Nora is pressured to go by her father, armed with nothing but her wits and the foggy memory of what really happened that day. The time is running out for Nora to find the truth. The deepest secrets of the oldest school in the world bombard her at every turn. Can Nora find the truth before whatever got her mom gets her next? COVER BY @IceBlueShadows who we do not deserve

Saint-Max is stuck in a time loop during a bank heist. His only chance of escape is finding the one responsible. But that's easier said than done as every time he thinks he's close to the truth, the loop restarts. ONC 2021 PROMPT 1: "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

Fairy Tales and All? Not Exactly.

[2021 WATTYS WINNER] It's summer for Mikey Marks, and that means everything is about to change. Usually, that would mean preparing for college, going to watch movies in the park with her best-friend-slash-sibling Roux, and an endless ray of sunshine over their small Florida town. Fate has other plans for her, though. Fate and biology. When Mikey grows a pair of horns and finds out she's half-demon, she tracks down her father at a local gas station and demands answers. As it turns out, Doug the demon is totally willing to help her rectify this situation. Together, the three of them set out on a road trip to a theme park in Nevada, where Doug has a friend who can help. That's not all, though. Things won't stop going wrong-- accidental cannibalism, Roux almost drowning, facing down demons wearing Mikey's face... Mikey has a lot to figure out, and she had better do it quick.

Monique and James have just moved to the county, to a house on the border of a wood, a dark wood, filled with magic and mystery. ****** When a mysterious door the size of an apple appears in the back of the garage, 10-year-old Monique and James have to investigate. After freeing a trapped fairy, the small magical creature tries to recruit the kids for a mission to save the dark wood and the fairy folk who live there. Monique jumps at the chance, but James is reticent. What could a couple of kids possibly do to save magical beings? If fairy magic can't save them, how could a couple of city kids? Regardless of his apprehension, James finds himself following his bold step-sister into the wood, the dark wood where magic is real and murderous beasts lurk. #OpenNovellaContest2021 Longlist

Noa knew she was different, but exactly how different she had no idea, that was until her overprotective mother agreed for her to accompany two complete strangers on an adventure outside their village. ~*~ an ONC 2021 story entry, Prompt #22 ~*~ "On occasion, an accusation of witchcraft has the power to set one on a wonderful, dangerous path." ~*~ Round 1 (2K words) qualifier ~*~

Angela is lost. In time. To the world. In the eyes of a boy who she should not love. Written for the Open Novella Contest 2021 (onc2021), based on prompt no. 43.

[COMPLETE ON PATREON] The not-so-small town of Love Lake is having a devil of a year. The lake itself is running drought-dry, hailstorms keep taking issue with good folks' shingles, and disease runs its fingers through the surrounding croplands. Even the night stars look melted in the heat. Many wallets are tight, and summer celebrations promise to be a subdued affair. Most students at Love Lake High are bored half to tears in their final weeks of class, watching their erasers melt on the windowsills and taking bets on which room of the school gets hot enough to burn paper. So when Jean Williams is first to spot a shadow at the bottom of the lake, it's no wonder the news spreads fast. Over the coming days, all eyes are on the water as it pulls back from an honest-to-god building. On the lakebed. Still standing, like the fish maintain it or something. Entertainment's hard to come by when it's too hot out to play ball, so the moment school is out, the popular kids are the first to propose exploring Love Lake's own mysterious ruin. Dante Moore is part of the team, though he wonders if he's most useful as bait. But he's not near the top of the class for nothing, and he's the first to suspect there's something more still lurking at the bottom of Love Lake... and that it ain't gonna stay under the lake for long. ❖❖❖ Complete on Patreon. Entry in Wattpad's 2021 Open Novella Contest. Longlisted. Complete. Comments and critiques are both welcome and appreciated. I write characters from many different backgrounds, with many different experiences. If you share those traits and find that I have misrepresented anything, please let me know! I am feedback-friendly and here to learn :)

A girl has to live with her grandma after her parents died. There, she finds out that she is promised to the prince. But when a servant also wants her, things get complicated. Who will she choose and who will leave empty handed? ---------------------------------- "You can't just have me. You have to earn me." ---------------------------------- This book is based on prompt 74. "Thanks to your parent's last will and testament, you find yourself living out in the English countryside with the grandmother you'd never met before and an apparent servant whose only goal is to make you fall in love with them. The problem here is that this grandmother has already promised your hand in marriage to a noble in line for the throne. "

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

Laurel finds herself competing in The Game. A deadly competition that only 1 will survive. But there's something about the game that just doesn't seem to make sense... Let the game begin. This is written with prompt 31 of the ONC of 2021. I'm may also just throw in some other prompts. Because I can. Cover art by @I-imagine-dragons

[Open Novella Contest Longlisted] A little girl meets a magical creature who takes her dream-surfing. When the dream world and real-world collides, she finds solutions to the questions she has been searching for a long time. ❤❤❤ When Aalo is advised to wear specs, she's all in tears thinking how her friends might react, until she realises that she has a unique specs-buddy. Pompom, the weird little Gyppie, breaks the rules of its world and takes her for a ride into dreams. At the same time, Aalo's life turns topsy-turvy with the arrival of a new person - someone her Maa wants her to accept as her Baba. Will Aalo choose her own happiness or her Maa's joy ? Dive into this novella for A 'Specs'tacular surprise awaiting inside.

A girl. A monster. A love story. Based on ONC Prompt #11: The child was afraid of the monster under the bed. Until the monster needed help. (Not exactly a children's story like the original prompt, though, if the cover didn't tip you off. LOL. It's more of a paranormal romance, sort of, now.)

"Take a picture princess, it lasts longer." His green eyes pierced into my soul and I bobbed my head up and down. "Left or right?" He scowled. "What do you mean?" "Which one is your good side? If I'm getting a picture, might as well get a good one right?" He scowled before storming off. Hazel: 1 James:0 __________________________________________________ The night sky is how I came to wish to fly. It is the most beautiful art, alive within raw energy, a song for the eyes. At times I felt as if I could feel it vibrating somehow, whispering in a way the ears cannot hear. I guess it felt friendly when the world of people felt so devoid of love. I wanted to see it right, in three dimensions, see the sculpture of divine hands. Hazel Matthews had no intention of attending her senior prom. However constant nagging from her school's very own golden boy made it hard to ignore. James was the kind of person that everyone loved to be around, well if you loved to be in the spotlight that is. The exact opposite of Hazel. He went to parties, played football, and was living out the optimum of the "high school dream." However he too longed for something. Maybe Hazel and James could long for something together. "Life is the most sacred of gifts heaven can bestow, that which is yours and those in the rest of creation. It is for us together to preserve and enhance paradise. Only the sense of love can do that. Only the philosophy of love can build a love-nexus." ~Angela Abraham. #ONC2021 Written by @OliviaSinger748, and @ebay13

[COMPLETE ON PATREON] A quiet two months in a small house at the edge of suburbia is Jazz's idea of a perfect summer. Even if the house isn't supposed to be empty. Jazz's uncle is an eccentric, self-proclaimed scientist with a tendency to wander off unannounced. His family is no stranger to this, but he's now been gone for a month, and Jazz's mother is starting to feel the stress. To keep his house in order, she gives the keys to Jazz and their best friend, Priya, who are more than happy for the summer retreat and a shot at independence in their last summer before university. As Jazz and Priya explore, they begin to find notebooks about a place that shouldn't exist: the Green Grass Weald, a world of giant bugs and oddly familiar infrastructure, viewed from a perspective that sounds bug-sized at best. They never expected it to be real. And they certainly didn't expect to open the wrong notebook and find themselves trapped in it like Jazz's uncle might be - with no known way to get back. ❖❖❖ Complete on Patreon. Entry in Wattpad's 2021 Open Novella Contest. Round I Ambassador Pick. Longlisted. Complete. Comments and critiques are both welcome and appreciated. I write characters from many different backgrounds, with many different experiences. If you share those traits and find that I have misrepresented anything, please let me know! I am feedback-friendly and here to learn :)

When her parents die in an accident, 27-year-old party girl, Adelaide Becker, sets her sights on inheriting the family fortune. But when the will is read, she is not surprised to find her parents are capable of ruining her happiness even from beyond the grave. If she hopes to inherit the family estate, she has to follow one not so inviting rule: move to the English countryside and live with a long forgotten grandmother. For a year. Begrudgingly, she packs her things and leaves the sandy shores of Greece for the small, ramshackle house her mother grew up in. Between the drafty room, the terrible food, and the young carpenter who seems more intent on sweeping her off her feet than fixing the roof, Adelaide is convinced her parents set the whole thing up just to punish her for indiscretions. She's determined to beat them at their own game and survive the year, but when her grandmother hands her a ring and a letter and declares her engaged, Adelaide might finally snap. *** ONC 2021 entry for prompt # 74. CW: Death of parent.

Sam was having a bad day when he got the letter from the IRS. You'd think his day would get better after realizing it wasn't from the IRS, but you'd be wrong. *** Sam Walker considers his biggest problems in life as his coursework for his engineering major and his lazy roommate Jake. But when Sam receives a letter from the Grim Reaper Services, Jake winds up dead, and the Grim Reaper himself tells Sam he's not supposed to be alive, his problems get bigger. In order to prevent his life from being terminated, Sam must take on a job from the Grim Reaper to catch a notorious serial killer before October 31. With the help of Death's sister and Sam's other two roommates, he must face dangers and watch his back if he's to stay alive. Or the serial killer might just get another victim. Entry for the Open Novella Contest 2021 - Prompt #57 Round One Ambassador's Pick Round Three Shortlist ONC Honorable Mention in Fun Summer Reads Awesome cover designed by @Saskatchewan7

/Entry Open Novella Contest 2021/ Ophelia is forced to live her life in pieces. After each year of her life, she dies, only to come back alive many years later, having lost everything of her past, except for her memories. She has learned to live without any attachments, but what happens when she robs a mysterious stranger at the Venetian Carnival? And what happens when she meets him again in her next life, when he should have been dead for years? Together, they try to find a solution to their problems in an adventure filled with mysteries, love, death and dancing. Can Ophelia find a way to stay alive for more than one year at a time? /Based on prompt 71: "This is our last dance, my dear." They said, to which you reply, "Then make it the best dance, my love."/