Onc2021 Stories

[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 :)

[COMPLETE ON PATREON] In the daytime, Stephanie-Ann is the quiet girl in her grade five classroom, keeping her head down to avoid drawing attention. She passes the hours daydreaming, imagining fabulous worlds and wishing that reality was a little more like her dreams. At night, that changes. A cozy forest frequents Stephanie-Ann's dreamland: a place of her own, free of other people and full of small, magical creatures that love her more than her family's cat does. She has treasured it as her closest-kept secret for years. This year, though, something has begun haunting the Candle Forest. A frightening encounter with it gives Stephanie-Ann her first nightmare in years, but she wakes to a bigger surprise: she accidentally brought a magical creature she rescued into the waking world. The line between the two begins to blur as she tries to get it home again. She might not be the only person in the forest after all. And she might need other people's help to save it. ❖❖❖ Entry in Wattpad's 2021 Open Novella Contest. Shortlisted. Honorable Mention: Stunning Worlds. 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 :)

[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 :)

Cherish thought she'd escaped her past years ago--settled down in some forgotten, sleepy town, gotten a steady job at the local library, and subtly hidden the witchcraft books donated from the local covens from the public. Cherish Harmond was wrong. Her cedar tree had screamed at her before dying on her front lawn that morning. Cherish hadn't even realized trees could scream. Faced with the desperate plea for help from a stranger, the past she thought she had successfully outrun has returned, and she must come to terms with it, to use her powers for good--because if she doesn't, she might unleash a curse onto her sleepy, normal hometown forever. **Submission for ONC 2021 ***Please note, this is also available on Amazon via ebook and paperback***

I don't know my past. I won't know my future. But all I know is that I'm about save the world! _*_ After meeting with a tragic car accident, Aqsa Jameel loses all her past memories as well as finds difficulty finds retaining new ones. As time passes by, she starts to settle with her 'new' life until one day, life decides to drop another bomb on her. She gets a mysterious message that says: "Agent 23 has been activated." Um, Agent 23 who? ______ Cover design:- Sakina Yusuf Started:- February 28th 2021 Still ongoing ______

Malise is given one last chance to prove herself, or else, she'll be kicked out of her coven. And the world isn't safe for a witch on her own. Elvira hates witches and her only goal is to find a cure for her sister's magic. But when she gets put on trial for witchcraft herself, it changes everything she thought she knew. Enemies, and yet, they slowly find themselves bewitched by each other. This is my entry for the Open Novella Contest 2021, using the prompt: "On occasion, an accusation of witchcraft has the power to set one on a wonderful, dangerous path."

When Project Re-Connection forces a grade 10 class into an assignment based on building relationships and overcoming the social isolation caused by the pandemic, a group of teens quickly learn that there is more to everyone than they thought... For quiet, controlled and introverted 15 year old Millie, she is about to face her biggest challenge...16 year old Ray, an equally quiet Indigenous classmate she thinks she has figured out. Millie reconciles the things she is learning about herself and the people around her while helping her closest friends with their own epiphanies.

Lola Castaneda never imagined herself managing the boys baseball team. She never imagined finding a family in those boys. And she never imagined herself falling for the wrong boy. Lola's day started off as normal as one should be: being stalked by her best friend's sister. As far as Lola was concerned, that was pretty normal. What she wasn't expecting, though, was to be approached by Taylor Harris, the definition of everything right in the world. She knew him because of her best friend, Sophie Jones. Since Sophie was the manager for the boys baseball team, Lola knew most of the baseball boys. It still surprised her that Taylor would talk to her, inviting her to the baseball group chat that included Sophie. It surprised her even more when her own sister asked her to fill in the vacant managers spot. Lola wanted to say no. Everything in her being told her to say no. She just didn't know why she said yes. Now her days were filled with watching the boys practice and fetching their gear, which was a little demeaning. She went along with it anyway since it would be a great addition for scholarships related to baseball. While being the manager, she befriended the worst player on the team -- Noah Dawson. He was always getting made fun of behind his back, so she decided to cheer him up by baking some cookies. That resulted in her almost killing him because she put peanuts in them. She thought he would hate her forever, but they became best friends after that incident. In such a short time, these boys became her family. And then the unimaginable happened: Lola was denounced from the managers spot. After that, everything fell apart. Until the home run kiss.

after a tragic accident, two elves embark on a life-changing quest to win each other's hearts · fantasy, ongoing · ONC 2021 SUBMISSION · © voiucris 2021

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

Tais Montgomery has her life thrown in disarray after a near death car accident leaves her alive but takes the life of her parents. In the months that follow she has more questions than answers when she begins hearing disembodied whispers and feeling like she's being watched. That all comes to a head when the Angel of Death shows up on her doorstep dressed to kill. Sending her on the wildest hunt of her life. Entry into the Open Novella Contest. Prompt #57

When a genetic disease killed almost all superheroes around the world, five subjects cloned from the greatest heroes in our generation must fight back against the Order who seeks to control the world from within. Round 1 Qualifier - ONC 2021 2000 word milestone: reached Round 2 Qualifier - ONC 2021 8000 word milestone: reached 20,000 word milestone: reached

Jen Morse and Jake Miller had known each other their whole lives. Living across from each other on the shore of Jen's beloved Stone Lake, they grew up and fell in love. But when tragedy pulled Jake away from the lake, Jen lost him. Now, she is forced to relive the highs and lows of love while watching the man she loves marry another woman. Received an honorable mention in ONC 2021: A coming-of-age take that packs a punch through the nostalgia and sting of first love and absence of closure. This is where Nifer's and Jake's story should have ended. But some endings, as the author reminds us, are also beginnings. Prepare to ugly cry.

Aiden Lockwood. Every girl's dream. But he's Brooke Fox's worst nightmare. Last summer brought them closer together, this school year pushed them further apart. Now Brooke despises Aiden with every fibre of her being. But he doesn't feel the same about her. When these two clash, it's like sparks fly, and no matter how much they wish they could, neither Aiden nor Brooke can forget what happened between them last summer. (Submission for Open Novella Contest.)

[HIATUS] It is one thing to find out that your long-term boyfriend has been cheating on you with your best friend, but it's another to wake up and find yourself in a stranger's bed. After suffering heartbreak and watching the Shakespearean tragedy Romeo and Juliet, 21st-century woman Amanda Brown is transported back to the Elizabethan era. She wakes up in the year 1595 and finds herself in the body of Joan Shakespeare, the younger sister of the one and only William Shakespeare. In the process of figuring out a way to return to the future, she bonds with her newfound brother and finds a place to call home in early modern history, all the while being stuck in a dilemma of choosing between stealing the happy life of the real Joan Shakespeare and returning to her unhappy life. *** [Open Novella Contest 2021] Prompt #46: It's a Saturday night, and you have no plans to go on a date. You're all alone and decided to re-watch the Shakespearean tragedy 'Romeo and Juliet', torturing your already broken heart. The next morning, you find that it's the late 16th century, the time when Shakespeare was still writing the play, and you spot the incomplete manuscript of 'Romeo and Juliet'. Started: 28 February 2021 Completed: Ongoing

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

Scientists have discovered a 'dark liquid; that is really at the base of the universe's continual expansion. When a team of researchers isolate some of the mysterious dark liquid, the world is forever changed... for better or worse. ... Dr. Nykia Baccus is on the fast track to the top of her field. her team is on the verge of making scientific history. When they manipulate the building blocks of reality the entire structure comes crashing down. Everything she knows and believes come into question as the secrets of creation are laid bare. Can her mind process revelation? Can reality withstand the shifting paradigms? Only time will tell. ******* Open novella Contest (ONC) submission 2021

A naive young princess gets banished to a tower and is inadvertently trapped with a wizard. Now, she must navigate through a world full of magic while the fury of the king looms over her. ⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ Princess Pranee has a love for magic but it seems like the world didn't want her to do anything with it. When she gets locked away in a tower that was supposed to isolate her from the rest of the world, she unexpectedly meets an irritated wizard who claims that the tower belongs to them. She finds herself wanting to learn more about the magic world and the genderless wizard, Shashi but she can't help but feel anxious that more misfortune will strike her at any moment. Open Novella Contest 2021 entry Credit to Rayne for the cover! ONC 2021 Longlister Featured on: Wattpad Community Curator: @KateLorraine @WattpadAsianFantasy "Celebrating Asian & Pacific Islander Voices (AAPIHM)" "Featured Stories" "The Wondering Immortal" @Fantasy "Romantasy" "Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration" "Diverselit Fantasy" @WattpadMulticultural "Asian Legends" @retold "Fractured Fairytales" "Celebrating Asian & Pacific Islander Voices (AAPIHM)" @anime "Light Novels" "Celebrating Asian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month" @beauty "Asian American & Pacific Highlander Heritage Month - beauty" @AmbassadorsAR "Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPIHM)"

There is not just one princess in trouble in this Novella, but two. Both are in need of protection and only one can do the protecting. When Vondra meets the recently widowed Prince Sharzor, she finds herself disliking him and when they are together, she despises him all the more. For some reason, he seems to hate her and does his best to keep putting her in her 'place', believing she is either a servant or a crafty female criminal. But deeper emotions are at play in both of them and soon they will surface... This is to be a 'Novella', written for Wattpad's 2021 Open Novella Contest and is about the seventeen-year-old princess, Vondra, who appears like an upper-class servant, certainly not a royally titled young woman. She is on the run and has no idea where she is or where she is going. She whispers, "I'm in heap of trouble and there is no way on this earth that I will go back. I don't fully believe in God, but as a last resort before I find a high cliff to throw myself off, I will pray and ask for help to become the woman my grandfather taught me to be."- He had told her, 'You're a weapon and weapons don't weep.' At the same time she wished to fulfill her Grandmother's prayers that she would 'be a woman of great wisdom, care, love, faith, hope and peace. I have placed this novella in the category 'Romance' as there was no category for 'Action-Romance' - the main romance doesn't happen right way because of the prince's loss and princess being in such trouble, she can only think of herself, of escaping and finding a normal life away from the restrictions of royalty. When the romance begins in earnest, it is intense. Enjoy.