Onc2026 Stories

The Open Novella Contest is back for 2026! Join fellow storytellers and plant the seed of a tale that will blossom into a 20,000+ word novella within 12 weeks! Your epic quest begins February 1st, 2026, so mark your calendars with this date!

Lenora Cullen works part time at Ocean Brew, a secluded coastal coffee shop. It's important as a stepping stone for her future. However, she did not expect her life would take a turn when she accidentally spilled coffee on Brian Dormer, an aspiring writer with as much issues as hers. That one unpredictable moment is about to change the lives of these two strangers, forming a surprising and life-changing friendship. - #ONC2026 PROMPT 19: When you accidentally spill coffee on someone, the moment that should've ruined your day becomes the beginning of a surprising and life-changing friendship.

When Teia Cloto travels to Naples, Italy, hoping to steady a life already quietly unravelling, the last thing she needs is blind date that turns into an easy, unexpected friendship. Alden instantly makes the city feel strangely familiar in ways Teia didn't know she needed. Drawn deeper into Naples' ancient past and her own unsettling sense of déjà vu, the line between coincidence and destiny begin to blur. Staying friends is simpler. But Teia must confront whether destiny is a story we inherit, or one we choose to rewrite, no matter the cost. Water and Sand is a contemporary love story that reimagines the myth of Theseus and Ariadne through wit, longing, and the complicated reality of choosing love when friendship feels safer. Updates ongoing as part of the #ONC2026 contest. Prompt #24: Staying as friends is meant to be safe, but that doesn't mean it's the path you're meant to take.

ONC 2026 entry, prompt 5. Every day at the exact same time your cat slips out of your home. One afternoon, curiosity gets the better of you, and you follow, only to discover it's living a secret life you never imagined. My take, cats save the world as a backdrop to a romcom.

En una ciudad donde los hombres arriesgan todo por pactar con dragones, Junia siempre supo que su hermano seguiría el mismo camino que su padre: uno del que pocos regresan. Cuando su hermano desaparece tras partir al castillo del gran dragón Zeros, ella decide romper las reglas que han mantenido a las mujeres al margen del poder y va en su búsqueda. Al llegar, descubrirá que el líder del clan Zarco no es quién promete ser. Junia se verá enfrentada a secretos que podrían desestabilizar el equilibrio que ha mantenido en paz a la ciudad durante los últimos años, teniendo que elegir entre el equilibrio o seguir en la búsqueda de su hermano. En un mundo donde los pactos prometen poder a cambio de un precio incierto, Junia deberá decidir hasta dónde está dispuesta a llegar para salvar a sus seres queridos... y qué está dispuesta a sacrificar cuando el fuego de los dragones deja de ser protección y se convierte en amenaza.

Immortality was once a gift. For four hundred years, Alex lived freely, watching the world change around him. Then forty one years ago, a curse changed everything. Now anyone who touches him dies. Animals collapse. Travelers fall. Accidents follow wherever he goes. So Alex isolates himself in a forgotten village, waiting for the day he can finally escape the life he never asked for. But fate has other plans. When the death of a stray dog draws the attention of Death himself, something unexpected happens. Death becomes... interested. What begins as curiosity soon turns into something far more dangerous. Because when Alex tries once again to end his endless life, Death refuses to let him go. Alex wants peace. Death wants Alex . And love might be the most dangerous force of all. Based on ONC 2026 prompt: 114. An immortal being, worn down by centuries and cursed so that anyone they touch dies, starts searching for a way to finally end their endless life. But Death, who has grown possessive and infatuated with them, refuses to let them go.

For days, at exactly 7:30 a.m., Thomas, Olivia's cat, slips outside without his leash. Clever Olivia manages Thomas's trips until he switches to afternoon outings. Suspicious and alarmed, Olivia follows him and discovers Thomas is travelling in and out of a secret door, one that might help her escape her own divided world. Prompt 5: Every day at the exact same time your cat slips out of your home. One afternoon, curiosity gets the better of you and you follow, only to discover it's living a secret life you never imagined. ONC2026 Competition ©2026 K.G. Noble. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, Al model or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise-without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

history au. started : 02/25/26

"Nine years of silence. Nine years of being a ghost. Now, Hazrael Taylor is finally waking up." For nine years, Hazrael Taylor has been a prisoner-not behind bars, but within the walls of a home that treats him like a disease. Betrayed and abandoned by the girl he once loved, and constantly belittled by a family that treats him with nothing but cold favoritism, Hazrael has drowned in a sea of depression and labels. They call him "crazy." They call him a "mistake." He believed them. He lived as a sketch without an end, waiting for a light that never came. But everything changes when he discovers a hidden compartment in an old, dusty cabinet. Inside lies a secret that has been buried for nearly a decade-a letter that shatters every lie he was ever told about his birth. Hazrael is not who they said he was. And the truth about his past might be the only thing that can save his future-or destroy what's left of his sanity. Prompt: #29 Word Count Goal: 20,000 - 40,000 words Content Warning: This story contains sensitive themes of clinical depression, bullying, betrayal, and family trauma. Reader discretion is advised.

You don't expect much excitement in your quiet garden until the day a dragon suddenly appears among the flowers. When Eliza Whitaker inherits her great-aunt's cottage, she expects a fresh start, a little quiet, and maybe a lot of weeds. What she doesn't expect is a garden locals whisper about, flowers that never seem to fade... or the warm pulse beneath the soil that changes everything. As Eliza settles into her new life, she discovers that the garden responds not to ownership or attention-but to care. And when its long-sleeping magic wakes, it leaves her with an impossible responsibility: a baby dragon who should not exist, and a secret that does not want to be seen. With a charmingly infuriating journalist circling for a story and a garden that seems determined to test her boundaries, Eliza must decide what's worth protecting-and what it means to stay. A cozy fantasy romance about quiet magic, chosen care, and how I accidentally became a dragon keeper. ONC 2026 Entry

Piper has never lost control, so when a new professor arrives at Regalia university and refuses to be intimidated, piper does what she does best, she fights back. But prof Zinaida isn't just another authority figure. She sees through Piper's arrogance with unsettling precision. And the deeper their war of pride becomes, the more dangerous their chemistry grows. Because sometimes the person you hate the most is the only one who can make you confront the ghost you've been running from. [Sapphic] [profxstudent] [enemiestolovers] Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are either the product of the author's imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Do not distribute, publish, transmit, modify, create derivative works from, or exploit the contents of the story in any way without consent. All rights reserved 2026 @viperpunk.

Alaina Clade was the daughter of the man who dissapeard in space. The world is fucked up now ever since some mad scientist created a mirror organism and let hell loose on humanity causing a rise in depopulation. Her fathers mission was to explore TOI-715b to see if it was habitable for the rest of humanity....... yet he never made it back. That was eleven years ago. Now that Alaina grew up, immense pressure started to build on her shoulder, which led her to continue her fathers exhibition to explore the possibilities of living on another planet and find an escape from the fatal organism. But thats not why alaina took on this mission. she already lost her mother and she will not let go of the thought that her father might be still alive.

It's about an a 23 years old korean man, and an another 23 years old woman

What if the dragon wasn't the knight's worst adversary, but their brother in arms? What if the wolf, instead of being the hunter's age-old enemy, became their closest companion? ➳➳➳ After 150 years of peace, dragons wings once again darken Sïrvean skies. At 18 years old, Soera is little more than a rebellious young woman. She spends all her days hunting in the forest, her faithful wolf by her side. Until the day her father reveals the purpose she was born to fulfill. Her ancestry is one of guardians of an ancient shrine... And the soul of a 150 years old Dragonslayer bound to it, with boredom and viciousness matching her age That same day, a dragon rider lands on Sïrvean ground. She is supposed to end his life immediately. Instead, she ends up stranded in the wilderness with him and his dragon. If she wants to survive, she must join forces with her sworn enemy. ➳➳➳ The ancient walls scream for revenge. The spirits of Soera's ancestors yearn for blood. Soera must choose between duty to her bloodline and the call of her heart.

Anna and Alden were raised with a hatred for dragons, evil monstrous creatures. Until they finally meet one in person, what a magnificent creature. Will the siblings choose to study the dragons or keep with their teachings of killing? Will both siblings change their fate, or have it sealed?

Every ten thousand years, a celestial flower blooms. Though all beings in the nine realms fight to obtain it, only the most powerful one will have the right to pluck it. And even then, the flower may choose another. After two hundred years of quiet cultivation with her master, Yin Wan Ling suddenly finds herself competing for dominance amongst the other immortals. But her only interest in the flower is to help learn the identity of the mysterious figure who plagues her dreams. Every night, she runs toward a man swathed in mist and fog. Every night she yearns for him. But his face remains shrouded. Until one night, she finally sees his face...right before he stabs her in the heart.

A mysterious voice note left from her deceased mother an hour after confirmed death. Luna didn't care about the impossibility of it, all she cared about was following her mother's last request: travel. Follow Luna and her childhood friend Jonah across Europe in a self discovery trip.

Rachel Florence knows she's not the kind of person destined to end up glossing the cover of magazines or winning a Nobel Prize. She does pride herself in being content as humanly possible. She knows she doesn't have what it takes to steal a scene like Gaspard Lumiere or have a crowd hanging on your every word. No chance. So it's the last thing she expects for none other than Gaspard to ask for her help, much less to be the one to lose his virginity to.

When a Phoenix Queen of Heaven must decide between two human lovers, one of whom might destroy her, sparks will fly! #ONC2026 entry! Based on prompt 115: a prophecy claims that you will love two people. One destined to save your life and the other destined to destroy it. The trouble is, you have no idea which is which.

OLIVIA NEVER FIT IN. Not in school. Not in life. And definitely not at the class reunion full of polished smiles and people who once made her feel invisible. She expected awkward conversations and fake pleasantries. She expected to be ignored, just like before. 'But what she didn't expect was a state emergency alert.' 'A girl covered in blood at the hall's door.' 'And definitely not the flesh-eating, mindless, empty undead.' Trapped on the top floor with her best friend Alice, former classmate Austin, and a handful of terrified survivors, Olivia must navigate a city descending into madness. Every floor they descend brings new horrors. Every choice could be their last. In a world of chaos, screams, and flesh-eating zombies, they think this is the end. 'But what if it's more than that?' What happens when after getting bitten or scratched, you don't just turn into a mindless zombie-but something 'more powerful?' Something 'more dangerous?' Something 'no one saw coming?' As the infection evolves and the dead become something far worse than anyone imagined, Olivia discovers that not everyone who gets bitten turns into a mindless monster. Some remain human-but changed. Enhanced. 'Powerful. And when Olivia herself gets infected, she realizes the virus doesn't just destroy-it can transform. She must choose:' 'Survive... or save.' But as new abilities awaken within her-abilities that terrify and exhilarate her in equal measure-Olivia faces an impossible question: Is she still human? Or is she becoming the very thing everyone fears most? In this new world, sometimes the most dangerous monsters aren't the ones trying to eat you-they're the ones who look human but possess power beyond comprehension. 'When the apocalypse begins, the real question isn't who will survive-it's what they'll become.'