Onc2023 Stories

Four strangers are trapped in an elevator and forced to reveal details about their most malicious deeds within the hour to prevent a fall to their death. But as secrets are exposed, tension escalates, leading to a reality no one is prepared for. ***** Tasha Pierce receives an anonymous invitation she believes is from her ex-boyfriend hoping to see her in the high-rise building where he resides. But upon ascending in the elevator with three strangers, one of them hits the emergency stop and demands they share details of their most malicious deed within the hour to prevent falling several stories to their death. As secrets are revealed and the hour closes in, who the people are and why they are trapped in a precarious elevator together soon becomes the least of her worries. ***** ONC Prompt 56: You are on a typical awkward elevator ride with a group of other people, and suddenly someone says, "So, I bet you are wondering why I've gathered you here," before hitting the emergency button. ***** | ONC 2023 Round 1 Ambassadors Pick | Copyright©2023 by L.L. Sanders

There's an urban legend that's been circulating for years about a driver that doesn't take you where you want to go, but where you need to be. One morning before daylight, Cenicienta stepped into his cab! Once inside the taxi, she skims the newspaper and reads about the increased bounty on the bandit plaguing the neighborhood. Wishing to escape her slavish life, the burglar's bounty seems appealing, and she becomes interested in catching him. The cabbie stops in a lonely alley, insisting it's where she is destined to be. She hesitantly disembarks, intending to catch another cab further up the road, which disappears as soon as the cabbie speeds off. Thereupon, Cenicienta stumbles upon a drawing of her six-year-old self with a note hinting at a secret treasure and also chances upon the handsome Robert Warren, who is quite taken with her. Cenicienta begins her search for the bandit at the Magnificent Seven Balls, the place of his intended thievery. At the balls, she meets Robert Warren, whose stepfather, Sir. Henry Moore tries to steer him into the arms of the young Elle Anderson, his deceased best friend's daughter. Robert meanwhile gets caught up in Cenicienta's life. The two grow closer and sparks fly. Cenicienta, in her pursuit to solve the mystery of the midnight bandit plaguing her town's elites, discovers a most sinister plot that wrought a terrible wrong upon someone very dear to her, and which threatens her relationship with Robert. Will she be able to help right the terrible misdeed and save her relationship with Robert, thereby changing her entire life?

Alex and Sameer are friends for the last two and a half years. They have always been loyal to each other. They wouldn't have imagined separating from one another even in their wildest of dreams. But life...life can throw unexpected curve balls, anytime, anywhere! One summer, Sameer decides to go on a holiday. But when he returns, he is utterly shocked to find his best friend missing! Worse still, nobody has any recollection of his friend ever existing! Not even his family! People begin to call him crazy for crying over a friend who never existed! On one side, he's mad to have lost his friend, and on the other, unsure how to convince people of his friend's existence. Will Sameer find his best friend? Or spend his life in an Asylum? Dive into the book to find out the mystery! Happy reading! *Written exclusively for the ONC 2023 India*

Wanda Maximoff was adopted by Lady Sif's family when her family died in Sokovia. Raised in Asgard as a goddess, Wanda got used to the Asgardian culture, which favored war and slavery and looked down on magic users such as herself. Frost Giants have been slaves to the Aesir for centuries, since Odin's war against Jötunheim, and the heir to the Jötunn throne is still missing. When Wanda is tasked by the Sorcerers Guild to find a new slave for their hall, she chooses a very peculiar Jötunn that catches her eye at the market. He's different from the rest, much more beautiful and enigmatic. His name is Loki, and he soon poses some very interesting doubts in Wanda's mind. For starters, why does he call her a "witch", and why is he capable of doing magic even if he has the shackles on? ----- Marvel AU

12 An evil sorcerer offers you an immense amount of power-but it comes with a price. ~~~ When a King has three sons and only one kingdom to inherit, he raises his heirs to serve different purposes. Fjell-og-dal had a wise and business-friendly Crown Prince (Pawel) who could rule justly in times of peace, and a decisive warrior in the 2nd prince (Olbretch). What would such a king do with a 3rd son? Anselm was a fool, a prince stuffed full of fairy tales, useless in days of peace or war. Or was he? Neither were the cause of devastation in their kingdom-something malignant was changing their world. Perhaps the king had known he needed a 3rd path, where someone was trained to understand the strange ways of fairytales, in order to save them all. The problem is that Anselm isn't a fool, and he doesn't trust what his father made of him because a man trained for foolishness isn't needed once the folly has been averted. Every step his father laid out for him was a brilliant lunacy-a lie wrapped in truth. He brought his brothers along as a precaution-to save them or to save himself? The 3rd prince had no clue. What awaited the brothers at the end of their journey was immense power with a terrible price-but only 1 had to pay. Would they make a good decision in a series of consequences that they could not run from?

The Kalki Chronicles - Origins takes you into a realm that pits Indic history with futuristic sci-fi. Based on the murky, big bad world of Bollywood, where the fortunes of superstars are decided every Friday, we meet the enigmatic, quintessential bad boy of Bollywood Rudra Pratap Rudy. And on the other hand, barely making ends meet in the madness of Mumbai, we have the aspiring journalist turned gossip column writer Adrija Ranganathan. There was no way, these two could have a chance at love, no way in hell. Yet, the heavens decided that these two will have to clash, in order to kickstart a series of events, that will end in the culmination of the age of Kali. This is not just a story, but a journey, spanning generations. This is not a story about beginnings, middles and ends. This is a story, where everything is about to end.

"The pain of freedom is better than the pain of slavery." - Saladin *** For almost a century, a part of humanity has lived underground, in a bunker designated to shelter the vulnerable from the unending war. The people in the bunker, known as the Division Two people, had no knowledge of the outside world except from the reports of the news reporters. Amna, a typical twenty-year-old girl from Division Two, never questioned the absurdity of the rules until a series of strange events began to occur in her life. One by one, her friends were taken out-a punishment for those who defy the law. And when her supposedly dead brother appeared after her wedding day, she realised that everything was a lie. Together with all the 'fallen' people, they strive to overcome the upper class' control over the vulnerable people. Would they be able to bring about a revolution and save the people from being trapped in the bunker forever? ** Based on Prompt 67 from Open Novella Contest 2023. The war had been going on for over 100 years now. Not that you'd ever seen it, living in a bunker your entire life. But one day, a news war reporter suddenly says, "I can't do this anymore. Everything is fine! They're lying! Th-" And the signal cuts out. * Thank you for giving my story a chance. I hope you like it and I would appreciate your feedback. :) The cover is made by @bookloving_pearl

Grown up in the simple town of Forn, as the daughter to an innkeeper and ex-soldier, the youthful Marion Barwick aspires to become a soldier herself. Beaten down time and time again by life, she is eventually broken and takes on the role of innkeeper her father always hoped her to have. Here, she reunites with an old friend after losing her partner, who invited her to his wedding. The night before the wedding he confesses love to Marion, as well as his family-in-law's likely plans to murder him during the wedding ceremony in a coup of revenge on his family. Determined to save her love and live happily ever after, she elopes with him. Before they can make it off of the palace premise, he turns back to save his family. Now alone and grieving, Marion is left to pick up the pieces of her life to remind her she is worth of love, no matter what. An homage to simple fantasy, short bittersweet romance stories and stories without teenage protagonists. This story is a short recollection of the life and mind of Marion Barwick, a simple woman in search of a meaning to her life after losing her partner. This romance novel is focused on self-discovery, family and found love. Based on a Dungeons & Dragons game. Prompt 55. Since you've been going out for quite some time, your love arranges for you to meet their parents. When you get to their house and you enter the front door, you hear them say "I'm sorry" as the door closes behind you. ~(✩✧✩)~✶~(✩✧✩)~ Chapter I. • 1627 W (Total 1627 W) Chapter II. • 1974 W (Total 3601 W) Chapter III. • 2530 W (Total 6131 W) Chapter IV. • 1869 W (Total 8000 W)

My grandmother, or Nanna to me, has passed away. My family has requested that I be the one to head to Nanna's and clear out her stuff for the house to be sold. Sifting through Nanna's stored memories, I locate a box containing love letters, government files, and security requests relating to Harold Holt. Harold was Prime Minister at the time and disappeared to sea when picnicing with his family at the beach. Missing presumed dead. Can I piece the puzzle together of my Nanna's history? This is my entry for the ONC 2023. Prompt #7 You go to sort out your grandma's house after she passes away. While cleaning out the Attic, you discover she may not have been the person she's led you to believe she has and that she has played an important role in a historical event. Discover her story.

Dara stood there, watching this girl and he swears the world stopped to breathe her in because.......God she was beautiful. And no his heart didn't skip a beat, it picked up like an athlete running a marathon. Suddenly, he is so alive, living and breathing for this girl in a xanthous dress. Yellow was Dara's new favorite color

Five friends, one is a killer. On fall break, twenty year old Eliza Goodchild sets off with four of her college friends for a remote cabin in Aspen, Colorado. When a blizzard strikes without warning, their SUV skids off an embankment and disappears into a wooded ravine. In the whiteout, they get lost and find themselves in a frigid wilderness where every wrong move can spell certain death. In their struggle to survive, they learn one of them is a killer. Everyone has secrets and motives, but when the killer claims a second victim, they realize all of them are targets in an icy twisted plot to get away with the perfect murder, or should we say, murders. Open Novella Contest 2023 ~~The Writing Prompt I selected~~ 5. Flip the coin and make a life choice with it. Two choices, one coin, and no turning back. Do you dare?

Free-spirited homebody Erica doesn't want to be queen. Which is fine, because her single, independent older sister Gemma is more than ready for the job. But their father doesn't care about any of that. He thinks a queen ought to be married and producing heirs (Yes, he really says producing heirs) if she is to take the throne. No matter how hard the girls try to convince him, the king will not budge. Gemma needs to get married at her upcoming birthday ball or he passes her over in favour of her sister being the next queen. Desperate to turn their circumstances back right-side-up, the two concoct a plan to find someone for Gemma to choose who will definitely not choose her back. But in order to do that, Erica is going to have to work together with her longtime crush. Who doesn't know she exists. She'll have to keep her feelings in check if she's going to convince him to help, but she might want to offer him a little something in return. ~ * ~ * ~ This is one of the five novellas I'll be writing for this year's ONC! You can find the rest of the stories (Hang it Up, Christmas at the Cabin, Love Lies & Red Eyes, and Runaway Fiances) on my profile! This story is based on prompt #49: "Master the rules of the game until you can play it better than they can."

Eletonias is a kingdom of great technology and pain. Magic is banned, and those found with it face a fate worse than death at the hands of the King and his machines. Runa barely leaves the candlelit alleyways she calls home, working with a rebel group to overthrow the rulers who have forced her to hide her true self. Cyrus is a prince, grappling with vicious court rumours and a secret that could soon become fatal. Desperate to protect himself, their worlds collide when a series of deaths and a shattered crown reveal a darker past than anyone could have expected. But, to save the kingdom and their lives, they must first discover that things will be a lot harder when hell is empty and all the devils are here. Trigger warnings - fire, blood, swords, death, dying, dead bodies, demons, soldiers, skeletons The trigger warnings are not shown in each individual chapter at this point, sorry Main prompt- 62

✨️ONC 2023 Shortlisted✨️ 'And I knew then, with an earth-shattering certainty, that everything I'd worked for, strived for, suffered for, had just turned to dust. My life as I knew it, scattered along the pavement with shards of windscreen and the contents of my stomach.' As the ruling queen of her elite private school, Annabel Sinclair has the brains and ruthlessness to go far. But an unexpected pregnancy and an 'incident' with a golf club and her ex-boyfriend's car leaves her expelled and disowned by her friends. Suddenly she's shipped off to the wrong side of town and forced to live with her estranged dad. If that isn't enough drama to deal with, his eccentric neighbours, the Grady's come into her life. Annabel doesn't need their unique blend of chaos as she's desperately trying to cling onto her old life. And she definitely doesn't need the spark that's growing between her and Connor Grady... ✨️Open Novella Contest 2023 entry✨️ Prompts - 69. I had a marvellous time ruining everything - Taylor Swift 44. Music is the bridge that can join together people regardless of their differences. Connect your diverse characters through their love of music. Trigger warning - references and detailed descriptions of pregnancy.

"Who's your favorite zomenby?" Rellek clapped happily. Dao looked up from his files and gave them a death stare. "Not even a week ago you bit off my ear." "Not the point. My point is, you don't even know any other zombie who's an enby. I've got to be your favorite." "This is about my ear!" "You grew it back!" Rel made a face at the memory of trying to chew Dao's ear. They loved that cartilaginous part of humans but now they knew that vampire ears were a no-go. "It tasted like sawdust in my mouth." "Well, I liked that one. It's taking me some time to get used to the new ear," Dao huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "And how do you know what sawdust tastes like?" "Desperate times, Daomir, desperate times." *** Daomir is patient. He is as patient as a vampire can be. He has waited a thousand years to find his true love. What's one more day? It's a blink of an eye when you're a vampire. But when an oblivious zombie, who wants to eat him, turns out to be his soulmate in the middle of an apocalypse, Dao finds himself signing up for another century of patience for Rel to catch up with his feelings. *** Here's a funny spin on the vampires, zombies, and apocalypse trope, set in India.

[❌] archived "When you touch a mirror, and it ripples like water, dive in." Those are the words that send Arya on a wild goose chase to uncover the secret behind her aunt's disappearance. Arya always loved a good mystery. When she learns about the existence of her mysterious aunt, who vanished almost two decades ago, she can't help but be hooked. With nothing but a strange memory box and a shard of a mirror, she's ready to take on her family's deepest secret. But what was meant to be just a simple summer pastime turns into a wild, magical adventure when Arya stumbles upon a strange new world. ✽ ✽ ✽ This is my first ONC entry with prompt number #29 - the one used in the opening quote. A novella tied to a bigger storyline I'm currently working on but can be read as a standalone! Original story and cover by Tiana Lambent Created for the Open Novella Contest 2023

The Elders claim we'll meet our mates at this event. But I don't believe them. I have no interest in seducing one of their pretty omegas, enter an unbreakable vow, and be bound to one single person for the rest of my life. It's just a silly party. Nothing meaningful. I'll just have fun for the night and let the elders complain about the young generation tomorrow...

Humans have discovered a way to Mars and need a group of volunteer astronauts to be the first humans to see if it's safe for more of the population. Sil has dreamed of this her whole life so it's no surprise when she volunteers as captain, along with Eliza, Axel and her childhood best friend Tarquin. While investigating the planet, a sandstorm catches them unawares so they hide in a cave for safety, but end up discovering secrets that could just make or break their mission. Confusion, betrayal, friendship, all lead to this one point, but in the end: A sacrifice has to be made.

[Bauhinia Legacy Series, Book 4.0] 🏅HONORABLE MENTION IN ONC 2023🏅 Written for the 2023 Open Novella Contest: It's easy to get away with crime in a packed, unruly and newly built city--Cantonesia: The Jewel of the Orient. That's what Amelia Yeung's family has been doing for decades. She's part of Cantonesia's most notorious and elusive mafia family, the Bauhinias. On Amelia's next mission, which involves the Governor of Cantonesia and his family, she makes a dangerous mistake that takes away her freedom. Thus, she is forced to make a deal with two formidable forces. But scandals and secrets await her wherever she goes, and Amelia unearths one that could damage the Governor's reputation. She begins to question the moral integrity of those around her as the situation unfolds. To make matters worse, government agents are on Amelia's trail. She knows if she's captured, it could be the end of the Bauhinias. Now Amelia has to evade the law and help them at the same time. Will Amelia be able to solve her Cantonesia caper? Or will the government get to her first? ****** ONC Prompts used: #15, 33, 75 ****** Accolades: 🥇1st: Best Writing in the Phoenix Mini Awards 🥇1st: Best Epilogue in the Starlight Mini Awards 🥇1st: Action/Adventure in the Serenity Book Awards 🥈2nd: Action/Adventure Genre in The Katana Awards 🥈2nd: Action/Adventure Genre in The Fluorescence Awards 🥈2nd: Best Antagonist in The Philosopher Awards 🥈2nd: Best Antagonist in The Ambrosia Awards 🥈2nd: Best Prologue in the Starlight Mini Awards 🥈2nd: Best Bright Cover in the Best Book Cover Awards 🥉3rd: Hidden Gems Category in The Phoenix Awards 🥉3rd: Action/Science Fiction in The Philosopher Awards 🏅Honorable Mention: Best Protagonist in The Ambrosia Awards 🏅4th in the Wonder Awards: Best Worldbuilding 🏅ONC Round 1 & 2 Qualifier 🏅ONC Longlister & Shortlister 🏅FEATURED on the ONC Ambassador's Pick Reading List 🏅FEATURED on APIFantasy ****** Cover by