Opennovellacontest2025 Stories

| Round 2, Ambassador Pick | When media mogul Richard Langley demands his children declare their love to inherit his empire, the refusal of his youngest daughter sparks a bitter family feud, forcing her to choose between healing old wounds or securing her place in the business world. ✦✦✦ The year is 2025, and the world of family legacies is as ruthless as it is glamorous. When Richard Langley, a powerful titan of the industry, announces his retirement, he demands his three adult children-Gwen, Riley, and Cora-profess their love for him in exchange for their share of the family empire. Gwen and Riley fall in line, but Cora, the youngest, refuses to bow to her father's demand and offers only brutal honesty. Enraged, Richard disowns her, casting her out of the family. As his mental state unravels, Gwen and Riley fight tooth and nail for control of the Langley legacy, manipulating their father and each other in a battle of wills and ambition. Meanwhile, Cora, heartbroken but determined, builds her own path to success in the media world. But when Richard reaches out, desperate and broken, Cora must decide whether to heal the rift or walk away for good. ✦✦✦ ✦ A modern retelling of Shakespeare's King Lear x Succession ✦ Cover design by @TheWildCyde ✦ Open Novella Contest 2025 | Prompts 31, 110, 111, 129 ᴄᴏᴘʏʀɪɢʜᴛ © 2025 ʙʏ ᴀᴜᴅʀᴇʏ ᴀʟʟ ʀɪɢʜᴛꜱ ʀᴇꜱᴇʀᴠᴇᴅ. ᴛʜɪꜱ ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴏʀ ᴀɴʏ ᴘᴏʀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇᴏꜰ ᴍᴀʏ ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇ ʀᴇᴘʀᴏᴅᴜᴄᴇᴅ ᴏʀ ᴜꜱᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴀɴʏ ᴍᴀɴɴᴇʀ ᴡʜᴀᴛꜱᴏᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴡɪᴛʜᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇxᴘʀᴇꜱꜱ ᴡʀɪᴛᴛᴇɴ ᴘᴇʀᴍɪꜱꜱɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇʀ ᴇxᴄᴇᴘᴛ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜꜱᴇ ᴏꜰ ʙʀɪᴇ

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. When Rowan returns to his uncle's estate, he expects nothing more than a tense reunion-until his silver ring, a childhood gift, starts whispering. Inside is Aria, his long-lost friend who vanished the same day he received the ring. Trapped by an ancient enchantment, she has been hidden from the world-and from Rowan-all these years. Now, as the magic sealing her away unravels, dangerous forces begin to take notice. To free Aria, Rowan must uncover the truth behind her imprisonment and the secrets his uncle has kept buried. A cozy, whimsical mystery with a touch of enchantment. Entered into the Open Novella Contest 2025 | ✔ @OpenNovellaContest - Rules & Guidelines: https://www.wattpad.com/story/387452246 **Prompts** 105: Your childhood imaginary friend, who disappeared years ago, suddenly returns--only this time, they're real. 75: You've worn a mysterious ring since childhood, but one day it opens to reveal a tiny creature telling you it's been trapped inside all along and more secrets are on the way. ©2025 E. S. Elias All Rights Reserved. Book Created & Published to Wattpad: 02.01.2025 Book Marked as Completed: 00.00.2025 Cover: Me @DesignsbyEH I used Canva.com | Cover is temporary and subject to several changes. Word Count: 3,714 / 20,000 Goals: Round 1 ✔ | 2,000 words ✔ Round 2 _ | 8,000 words _ Round 3 _ | 20,000 words _ LONGLIST _ | SHORTLIST _ Honorable Mention _ | Round Winner? _ | Ambassadors' Pick? _ Rankings:

Dorian expected a fortune. Instead, he inherited a library-one that holds more than just books. When a stolen book vanishes, portals to dangerous worlds start ripping open, unleashing beings from unknown realms. With reality unraveling and creatures slipping through the cracks, Dorian must track down the book before the chaos becomes permanent. But some secrets were meant to stay buried-and someone will do anything to keep them that way. Will he retrieve the book in time, or will his inheritance doom them all?

There's a new god of stories in charge, and he's decided it's time to ditch the old stuff - no matter the cost. All that stands in the way of this literary apocalypse is an amateur author with a bad case of writer's block and a rookie librarian on her first day. There's a whole world of stories to be saved - if only they can survive them first.

Tiasha Das has a particularly bad day when her boss decides to make it even worse by setting her up on a project with her rival. Simultaneously, arrives a parcel to her revealing secrets about a dear one she never truly knew. Watch as she navigates through her experiences, working with her rival and uncovering the secrets of an estranged family member. 132. >>We are company rivals. We hate each other. But why is it that every time I see you I get these unexpected butterflies?<<<< 43. >>During a wartime book ban, a young woman discovers love letters hidden in the margins of a historical book. As she reads, she unravels a mystery about her family and finds love of her own.<<

2025 Leighyeann A. Mies All rights reserved An entry for the Open Novella Contest 2025 [COMPLETED ON 30/4/2025] *** Difficult family situations, a dead-end job with an overbearing boss sucking his employees' liveliness, near impossibility to enter a stable relationship. This is why, to Silla Pierce and her friends, being chosen as the winners of the special "20 Days of Freedom" package is an honor. They realize they can do a lot more than they thought they'd do.

Stranded on Earth with no way home on a desperate quest, Blanc will do anything to return to Mehor Prime. Unfortunately, the humans confiscated his ship and his princess and took it somewhere impenetrable. While scouting to get it back, Blanc meets only humans on Earth who seem to have any knowledge of aliens. He knows they are thieves, but they are his only chance. Drafted as the muscle into their crew, Blanc must help them complete their mission to complete his own. All Blanc has to do is help their crew succeed where he alone has failed. Their goal: break in and expose the most classified and impenetrable place in America, Area 51. Open Novella Contest 2025 Prompt 72: An alien stranded on Earth for the first time is led down dangerous paths by criminals promising a way home. What they discover along the way may change everything.

28. On a beach vacation, you dive into the water, but it turns purple and suddenly you're pulled under the sand. What's waiting for you beneath the surface? 34. Your new job requires an out of town overnight orientation, but when you check in, you run into someone from your past that you never thought you'd see again. Casey (Cas) Galanis doesn't know whether to say she is a burn victim, or was, as it had been over a decade. While her body bore the evidence of her past, she was more than ready to leave every bit of the trauma from recovery and society behind her. Unfortunately, anyone back home that was still cruel about her looks wasn't going to change. They didn't want to see her as capable of caring for herself. The lowest point was her sister refusing to have her in her wedding photos, citing aesthetics. The out she found was in the hospitality industry, specifically an older, privately owned hotel. True, people would continue to be cruel to her. Even if they brought up her looks, they would be more concerned that their room was clean, the TV worked, the pool was warm, and they made it in time for the complimentary breakfast. And most of that, as a maid, wouldn't be her problem. That, and it came with a room that they couldn't be rented out. Which was odd for a hotel a short walk from the beach. The first hurdle would be the Tuesday night orientation. The second would be if she could learn to love the beach and all it's exposure. But there would be more surprises in store-the doctor who helped heal her and the dead Egyptian god who consumed any free time she had. Because of the possibilities in two men, life wasn't lonely anymore. Cover Art: Photo by Austin J. Best from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-smoking-1205388/ Other elements are Wikicommons, mods are mine.

ONC2025 Round 2 Ambassador Pick 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐎𝐬𝐤𝐚𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞-𝐚 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧'𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧, 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝. Unicorns are sacred in the kingdom of Unara, their magic a gift only bestowed upon the worthy-or stolen through death. Someone is hunting them, and if the killings continue, their magic will fall into the wrong hands. Determined to uncover the truth, Oskar sets out to find the culprit. But the deeper he digs, the darker the secrets he unearths--secrets that could shake the very foundation of the kingdom. A standalone fantasy adventure, The Unicorn's Blessing follows Prince Oskar before the events of The Girl with Scars, revealing the choices that shaped the man he would become. Entered into the Open Novella Contest 2025 | @OpenNovellaContest - Rules & Guidelines: https://www.wattpad.com/story/387452246 **Main Prompt** 12. While hiking through a forest, you stumble upon a unicorn's horn. **Secondary Prompt** 130. Protect this with your life. ©2025 E. S. Elias All Rights Reserved. Book Created & Published to Wattpad: 02.01.2025 Book Marked as Completed: 04.08.2025 Cover: Me @DesignsbyEH I used Canva.com | Cover is temporary and subject to several changes. Word Count: 26,234 / 20,000 Goals: Round 1 ✔ | 2,000 words ✔ | Round 1 Winner ✔ Round 2 ✔ | 8,000 words ✔ Round 3 _ | 20,000 words ✔ LONGLIST _ | SHORTLIST _ Honorable Mention? _ | Ambassadors' Pick ✔ Mentioned in Ambassador Newsletter ✔ Rankings: #ONC2025: #21 on 02.02.2025 | #15 on 02.03.2025 | #12 on 03.24.2025 #opennovellacontest2025: #15 on

After the Kerberos mission failed and pilot error is blamed, thusly blaming Shiro who can't defend himself, Keith wants nothing to do with the Garrison and wants to drop out. The head of the Shirogane family and commander of the Japanese garrison insists on a compromise - that Keith pilot for Ryo when he heads to Mars to perform at a concert. Only-- An event that wasn't pilot error occurs, resulting in them being stranded on an a tropical island on an alien planet with no clue where in the galaxy they are, needing to survive despite the tension between Keith and Ryo regarding -- well, everything. Disclaimer - I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender. This is written for ONC 2025, prompt 47. "A famous singer and their pilot crash land on a tropical island. With no one else around, survival isn't their only challenge."

THE DISSONANCE OF FORMS - That every alchemical change creates a resonance between what has been and what is to be. And in that space between, anything is possible. Vael has spent her life fighting for a place among the elite alchemists of the Society. Branded a thief and a criminal, it was a losing battle-until she stumbles upon a rare magical ingredient and brews a potion unlike anything the world had seen. But then the side effects start. Strange symptoms are spreading across the city. Someone is selling dangerous counterfeits of her potion. And if the Society of Magic traces it back to her, Vael can kiss her dreams-and possibly her freedom-goodbye. To fix things, Vael is stuck working with the one person more explosive than the potions she brews: a disgraced, trigger-happy sorcerer with a penchant for chaos. Their mission? Find the shady merchant behind the counterfeits before the Society finds them. But magic is unpredictable, and Vael needs to learn to master it if she's got any chance of fixing this mess. And as the web tightens around her, Vael realizes something far more dangerous is unfolding-something that could shatter the very fabric of magic itself.

Ayumi Mikuro has always been captivated by mysteries, and the strange black stray cat that roams her neighbourhood is her latest obsession. When she begins to suspect that the cat is more than it seems, her curiosity leads her into a hidden world of shapeshifters, dark secrets, and ancient artifacts. As she uncovers the truth about the mysterious feline and its connection to a secretive group of supernatural hunters, Ayumi finds herself entangled in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. With the fate of both the cat and her own life hanging in the balance, Ayumi must decide how far she's willing to go to protect the one creature she's grown to care for - a creature who holds the key to an unimaginable power. ONC prompt: 7. You've always suspected that the stray cat in your area is more than it seems. Now you're determined to catch it shape-shifting and prove it's a shapeshifter. But the closer you get, the more questions arise.

After a horrible accident that kills their parents, two young brothers Jesse and David are separated. 10 Years later, they find each other and start to reconnect. But with a traumatic past weighing on them and another accident threatening to separate them for good, it is up to the brothers to fight against the odds and their own demons for a chance to stay together. Written for the ONC 2025 contest prompts 'A single night can change everything. Even someone you thought you knew- like your closest friend' and '20 days of freedom'.

Fame, fortune, and millions of followers can disappear as quickly as they come, especially in an era where getting ''cancelled'' is just one viral scandal away. Hollywood's former golden boy, Finnegan Braxton, knows this all too well. Once a beloved teenage heartthrob, he's now branded as a notorious player, arrogant, and a lying cheat. With his career hanging by a thread, his PR team scrambles to salvage his image. Their solution? A reality dating show where Finnegan must prove he's not the heart-breaker the world thinks he is, but a man searching for true love. Everything takes a turn when Finnegan crosses paths with Aurelia Winslow - a recently fired librarian - who is unimpressed by him. After their public altercation goes viral, she's thrown into the contest. For Finnegan, it's a chance to rebuild his reputation. For Aurelia, it's merely a paycheck. Will Finnegan face the truth and reclaim his integrity, or will the spotlight expose him for good? Can he prove he's more than just a tabloid scandal, or will this love experiment be the final nail in his Hollywood coffin? ★| ★ | ★ | ★ |★ | ★ | ★| ★ | ★ | ★ |★ Open Novella Contest - main prompt 31, secondary prompts 126,128 130. © 2025 minsari // all rights reserved

2025 Leighyeann A. Mies All rights reserved An entry for the Open Novella Contest 2025 [Book #5 in the Face saga - spin-off] [COMPLETED ON 12/4/2025] *** Another chapter, more trouble for the infamous Sim siblings: Himchan, Daegwang and Seju. As Himchan finds a box that spells danger, he asks for Daegwang's help to uncover the secrets behind its content. Unity of intentions come in handy when it comes to facing the inevitable changes this discovery brings. However, the picture can't be complete without Seju, who gets dragged in external drama from apparently unsuspecting people, all when she's supposed to enjoy a rejuvenating holiday with her longtime boyfriend. Trouble has come for the three siblings once again-it's time to get out of it.

Years ago, the magic of the library helped Richard Tyler overcome fear, nor did his peers thinking him odd for always having his nose in a book bother him, yet as he headed into high school, he did find himself wishing for a peer who could also see the magic of the library. Vada Margaret Sultenfuss on the other hand, wants to become a writer while seeking a way to escape her family situation. As she writes her romance story, she doesn't expect to meet Romance, let alone the way her story would twist the magic of the library. Disclaimer - I don't own The Pagemaster or My Girl. This is being written for ONC 2024, prompt 60, "The magic of the library takes its toll - a love story so powerful that its echoes span eternity. But as you write, you fall in love with the character you've created. What happens when the line between fiction and reality begins to blur?"

Something strange has been happening at Whitmore College. For unknown reasons, students have been receiving powers on their 19th birthday. Maya always knew there was something different about her. As hard as she tried, she never quite seemed to fit in. She thought things would be different at Whitmore, but she was wrong. In a world where everyone around her has super powers, Maya finds herself powerless. Maya discovers an ancient prophecy about this individual without powers, and she finds out she is destined to save the university from evil forces. Will Maya and her supernatural friends succeed, or will she be known forever as the girl who is powerless? ***************************************************** Open Novella Contest prompt 24

K-pop idol Minjae and eccentric home chef Hana meet at a cooking competition, sparking a simmering rivalry that turns into a recipe for romance - and potential disaster for Minjae's career. ___ As the golden voice of the K-pop group Starlight, Minjae has the world at his feet - adoring fans, sold-out concerts, and a life most people only dream of. Behind the glamour, he craves something more: a chance to be himself. To show off his passion for cooking. But the pressure to conform to his family's wishes and continue as an idol means pushing that aside. When the chance to show his passion literally smacks him in the face, Minjae, under an alias, finds himself in uncharted territory, swapping the familiar stage lights for the stovetops of a local culinary competition. When quirky, fiercely talented Hana turns a friendly rivalry into an unexpected connection, Minjae finds himself drawn to her passion and ability to be true to herself; qualities he has long lost. Worse, as the heat of the competition ramps up, Minjae's schedule becomes difficult to keep up with, and he must decide whether his love for cooking is enough to risk shattering his status as an idol. Can Minjae handle this newfound connection while juggling both the cooking competition and his duties as an idol, or will he fall under the pressure of it all? ____ Prompts: 31 and 36 ONLY AVAILABLE ON WATTPAD Cover by TaeTaeGinger

In 2081, Mia has survived two attempts on her life-and learned she's far cooler than her best friend, Nate. But surviving a mad scientist after the proprietary tech inside her body is nothing compared to becoming the most wanted fugitive, with a bounty on her head. The surface is still off-limits, humanity lives underground, and CodeTech controls their every move-without their knowledge or consent. Scientists are scrambling to recreate Dr. Amour's rumoured, lost technology-tech that promised to improve their quality of life-but the government would rather see it destroyed. Mia knows the truth: life in the bunkers is no life at all. Her mission is clear-destroy CodeTech and free humanity from absolute control, as Grandpa intended her to do. To do that, she must trust that snarky voice in her head that isn't hers, fight like her life depends on it, and elude the mad scientist still hunting her. But to reach CodeTech's heart-the Hive-she must infiltrate the very government hunting her, and navigate every danger standing in her way. Easy-peasy, right? *** This is the long-awaited sequel to my 2021 Watty winning Sci-Fi, THE GOD CODEX. The story will continue from where the last book ended. Prompt 79 (modified): Instead of robotic rulers, this story has humans, high on power, and the lengths they'll go to control the population. All rights reserved, Eva Acharya 2025.