Onceuponnow Stories

One of the winners of the Once Upon Now contest! Feet Aren't Made for Walking will be renamed Truth Be Told and will be published by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, on October 11, 2016 in the Once Upon Now Anthology! ---------------------------- Leo Clark is having a really bad day. He's been transported into a topsy-turvy alternate universe (not a good thing when your mom's expecting you home for dinner), he's recently acquired wooden extremities and is physically incapable of telling a lie (an even worse thing when you pride yourself on not sharing your emotions), and his little sister has been kidnapped, mistaken for the lost princess of the Land of Pittsborough (the worst thing of all because...please refer back to the part about Mom making dinner). In order to save his sister and find a way home, Leo will have to confront an evil queen who lives in an office cubicle, a few mice with horrible fashion sense, and a girl with green skin and webbed toes (but hey, at least she's kind of cute). And he'll have to do it all before the clock strikes midnight or risk being trapped in Pittsborough forever. Now if only he could figure out how to walk on his wooden feet... --------------------------- This short story is a modern day fairytale mashup, partially inspired by Pinocchio, The Frog Prince, and many others. Enjoy!

In ancient Greek mythology, Cupid was known as the god of love. Armed with a bow and an arrow to ignite love. In today's world, Cupid was not shooting arrows at humans anymore, he now had "love powder". Deep down wanted a love of his own. Cupid, now known as Calvin, wants a happy ending of his own and going on a search for his one true love. If he can find it. (Short story)

" You know what sucks about plans? They can easily be ruined." ~Renae " I'm sleeping beauty, and my prince is dead. There's no one to come kiss me awake and take me away from this nightmarish world. The world without him." ~Renae Renae just wanted to away and live in a fantasy world. The world where her prince didn't go. She was tired of everything falling apart around her. All she wanted was to keep moving forward and forget about all the bad things lurking in her past. After recently graduating Renae runs into an old classmate at a coffee shop where they begin to bond and become close friends. Slowly she realizes that there's more there than just friendship between them and can't help but feel drawn to him, but the last man she kissed....No, she couldn't let anything happen between them, her last kiss would be just that, her last kiss. But what if it's not that simple?

The story of pain and sacrifices leading to redemption of his soul in a way he had been meant to

A war is going on between two powerful countries, and it seems like neither can win. After nearly a decade of constant fighting, many people are starting to lose hope. Until a hero appears. It's the first water mage they've seen in years, and she's eager to get into the fight. Vic Smith was orphaned at age ten, when her mother was killed by an enemy soldier. She moved in with her only friend, Alyssa, whose father happens to be the representative for the country's mage population, and they're filthy rich. They've been hiding Vic's magic for years at her mother's request, but she's done hiding. It's time for Vic to take action.

Unlike her sociable twin brother, Apollo; 17 year old Artemis has always felt content with the familiarity of her small, simple life in Freeport, Maine. Population: 7,879. Well, make that 7,877. Acknowledging the sibling's need of a change in perspective, much to Artemis' dismay, she, along with her brother, are sent to their grandmother's wine vineyard in the countryside of Nafplio, Greece- the very place where running into your soulmate has had a reputation in the Pavlidis family. However, Artemis is no romantic. After a not-so-graceful first introduction with the outgoing and friendly Dimitri-the grandson of an old family friend-Artemis concludes that the only way to make it through this trip is to close herself off from the only world she's never felt she belonged in. In spite of this declaration however, Dimitri grows only more entranced; resolving to give the determined goddess an offer she can't refuse. In exchange for his cooperative silence for the rest of her stay, Artemis agrees to help Dimitri complete his summer to-do list within the following 24 hours. From cliff diving to exotic meals - all firsthand experiences - Artemis can't help but find herself breeze through the first couple of tasks. However, as she begins to slowly make her way down to the bottom of list, it seems that time - the one thing Artemis wished would fly by - has now become the one thing she's gradually beginning to dread. Finding herself debating whether or not she actually wants the day to end - much less the entire trip - Artemis eventually comes to acknowledge that, sometimes, what you need can come from the most unexpected of places. A short story filled with a whirlwind of romance, "Artemis & the Constellation Vacation" will prove just how magical of an adventure love can be.

#OnceUponNow Cindy was a girl who worked hard and got little recognition. When faced with an amazing opportunity in the modeling industry, she is shut down because she simply didn't fit the stereotypical criteria. However as all good tales do, Cindy's story has a twist and it wasn't because of a Fairy Godmother or a glass slipper. It was because of the purity of her heart and the little ray of hope that was provided from a boy named Jaxon.

Mallory has dreamed of, drooled over, and loved Trevor from the trenches of the Friendzone for over a year. When he asks her to help him deliver a Promposal to the new girl Jessica, she dreams of the magic of fairy tale's, but only belief in herself can help her find her wings. Can she soar from the Friendzone to a Promposal of her own? This is my entry for the Once Upon Now contest. ❤️❤️Votes count only June 14- June 21!!!❤️❤️

Genivia Storm is the polar opposite of how she is supposed to be. Always wearing dark clothes and a grim expression, she has no intend to help anybody, simply because nobody would help her. The pure fact that she's a Pixie would blow everybody's mind, especially her own. But as tradition goes, she has to fulfill three wishes and bring a happy ending to at least two people before her sixteenth birthday. And if that wasn't enough, nobody cared to tell her until there was only one week left.

-Top 25 Finalist- Our parents always warned us about talking to strangers on the internet but did they ever warn us about frogs? Highest ranking: #440 in Short Story (c) Copyright 2016 by Littleninjamari

Lily Snyder had been through so much before her eighteenth birthday that she had already put a lot of things out of her mind because she thought she would never have it, which included love. Not because she was trying to play a martyr or anything, but she saw the way love ripped her family apart and she didn't want to go through that again. But Drew Taylor wouldn't let her give up on love.

It requires something rare to see them: little action of honesty. A kid with a pair of empty eye socket along with a fairy holding a fur-covered book in her hand and a man with a horn. At first I didn't know why it had to be me enabled to meet such existences. Misfortunes happened to me and it was not unrelated with the three: Triad Fidelia. But the problems were more complicated than I know and it turns out to be far beyond my expectation...

Things were finally looking up for Percy Joyce. She had escaped the world of retail with a real job in the business world. Unfortunately, she had sent out so many résumés to corporate America she was fairly certain the US Forest Service and/or Greenpeace were going to be visiting her soon to discuss the havoc she wreaked on the biosphere and some poor unsuspecting forest. But the good news was, after deforesting half of Maine, she had landed a job as a junior mechanical engineer with The Flynn Group. She had a wonderful boss and mentor in Mr. Noble who took the time to keep her on a solid growth path in her profession and the company. But all that changed on April 1. With the Announcement. Shortly after her life and job became inexorably intertwined and quickly spiraled out of control. Eventually the Tower brought everything crashing down around her. Until ... AUTHOR'S NOTE - The story will be fleshed out more and the ending will be rewritten in the coming months. Stay tuned!

Sure, I can turn invisible and blind someone if it really came down to it, but if my opponent could open wormholes and summon lightning, I wouldn't stand a chance. So what happens when my opponent takes on the most unexpected form? Well, then I'll just have to find allies in the most unexpected form as well.

Hey it's Emma! I know I should have chosen the desk, but the teachers phone was right there. "Emma!" Yes. "They have no idea what you're talking about." Oh yeah, guess you'll have to read to find out. Hold onto your head, because my story about is gonna blow your mind.

A twist on the classic story of Rapunzel in which her 'savior' is the damsel. This is a a poem that rhymes... yeah that's it. Enjoy! Created with @cakebaker666

What happens to all of your favorite book characters?

Haven't sussed out the full storyline yet, so will fill this in later :D

Leah has lived a normal live since she was born until, one day, she and her 3 siblings made a huge change to their life, for better and worse. A shadow started to sense Leah's amazing powers and had wanted it and Leah herself for 3 years... Until, one day, the shadow decides to get Leah back to his favorite place, Coral City. From there, Leah meets friends and foes and finds herself between a very confusing situation. She has to figure out who to stood up to and will face the ultimate test in her life! Would she ever succeed or would she pick the wrong decision and destroy the whole universe?

For the #OnceUponNow challenge. My first time writing for something like this. Will add the rest of installments later today. But hopefully you like it. It's been awhile since I've written anything. We all want to be beautiful when we look into a mirror. But sometimes what we see is what we despise. And we destroy ourselves in the pursuit of appearing as we desire. He was warned about the mirrors power, how it could devour anyone who relied on it. And he knew first hand by watching his mother succumb to its dark seduction. Years later the mirror calls to him and shows the beauty he could never see. But now he must fight for control over himself...all while attending high school. Written specifically for #OnceUponNow for #Target. First time doing this. It's a horror. Thanks to aurion for the Book Cover :)