Nonlinear Stories

25-year old Lee still hasn't figured out why they could not form any long-lasting relationships, even friendships for that matter. Aside from family members, which they are obligated to talk to, there is no one else Lee had even come close to calling a friend. Well, maybe except for one. -------- Submitted for ONC 2026 @OpenNovellaContest Using the following prompts : 29. You will meet many people in your life. Many will come and go, but some will leave footprints in your heart. 104. While wandering in the woods, you dismiss the rustling behind you as nothing more than wind through the trees until you turn around and realize it isn't the wind at all. 106. After waking at 3AM to a freezing room and a door you're certain you closed, you find wet footprints and melting snow leading from your bedroom into the hall. Realizing someone or something is inside your home, you follow the trail to uncover the truth. ------------- © 2026 J. Lee Kennedy. All rights reserved. Cover design © 2026 J. Lee Kennedy. Images used in this work belong to their respective copyright holders and are used under license or in accordance with applicable Creative Commons terms. Edited or altered images are copyrighted by the author in their final form.

A dying town launches a rebranding campaign that no one seems to be running. The billboards appear overnight. The slogans don't explain themselves. A diner waitress says nobody puts them up, and nobody takes them down. A couple arrives expecting ironic tourism and finds something closer to a live experiment. Beauchêne doesn't ask visitors to believe anything. It only asks them to stay. To notice. To participate. What begins as small-town decay becomes a slow, sideways unraveling... murals that feel instructional, civic programs that behave like dares, and a town that seems increasingly aware of the people passing through it. A surreal, slow-burn satire about American decline, anti-branding, and the strange comfort of entropy. Meaning doesn't collapse here. It rebrands. Entropy is a vibe. Decline tastes like caramel. Welcome to Beauchêne. You're here now.

Ki Centauri is a man with many faces. The life of a military peacekeeper is not a kind one, and the people he's lost are nearly as numerous as the ones he knows. Time and time again, lives slip through his fingers, and all he is left with is the black skies of people now gone. Yet human beings cannot live without connections. Somehow, there must be a way to find friends beyond the limitations of Crest and Clan and forge connections that last and truly matter. But is the pain of finding love in an often bleak and broken world worth the cost of of threading a family across the stars? An ONC 2026 story based on prompts 29 and 69: "You will meet many people in your life. Many will come and go, but some will leave footprints on your heart." "The stars are disappearing one by one, and only you can hear their whispers." New cover by @toruinagod!

Republic of Anfisnardo, where Civil War never comes to an end.

They loved each other. They didn't survive. This time... they'll try again. WARNINGS: This story contains: - Sonadow (Sonic top / Shadow bottom) - BOOM AU - Mpreg (male pregnancy) - Angst with a happy ending - Sensitive themes such as: divorce, grief, child's loss, emotional trauma ARTISTIC CREDITS Mundayme @mundayme on X Smil @smilmagi on Wattpad Blah @blahlahblash on X Hayzie 🖤💙 @HayzieRoll on X Eggplant @eggplantcan on X

Liya Merebold experiences teleportation and is never the same again.

Knowing you felt like is a series of poems, that I wrote over the course of almost an entire year, while processing my past relationship. They are expressions of thoughts and emotions based on real memories and don't follow any chronology or hierarchy; they rather coexist(ed) simultaneously, equally. Thank you for reading.

A wandering collection of messy feelings, half-formed truths, midnight epiphanies and the kind of chaos you collect while growing up. There's no perfect storyline here-just honesty, curiosity, and the little lessons life slips when you're not paying attention.

What is love? Anveshna - this question asked by her mom shook her and usually Anveshna never asked for answers-until life handed her questions she couldn't ignore. One summer, surrounded by silence, dust, and memories no one speaks of, she stumbles into something that changes the way she sees everything. What begins as boredom turns into a quiet unraveling of the past-layer by layer, letter by letter. She thought she knew her family. She thought she knew herself. She was wrong. the question-what is love was only the beginning and anveshna had to answer and understand many questions in this journey. A slow-burning, emotionally raw story about the search for truth, connection, and the courage to face what we're not ready to hear.

It was a pact. To everyone around them, Katsuki was a cruel bully, and Izuku was the eternal victim. It was their secret plan, their shield. But no one warned them that the most difficult part would begin when the game turned into something more. When the feigned punches became the desired touches, and the fierce glares became filled with tenderness. Could they find their own, secret way to be together, while the world believed they hated each other?

A love story

Lovecraftian Horror. End of an era... is but the inception? Aug 2020. 11,000 words

Jack loves his wife and will do anything to keep her happy. He takes any bit of her being sad serious and deals with the problem. He will do anything to make sure that Arizona has the happiest life. Everyone has secrets, especially Jack, but no one can deny that Jack loves his wife.

A practice in writing, expressing my emotions, raw ideas, and other stuff straight from my notepad. Written over the course of a few years. Unedited

An original work about an Android in a world ruled by Robotkind, who struggles to remember his past while helping Humankind rebel against his fellow robots.

Jake and Brett, once close friends, both feel like outsiders. Brett faces the harsh realities of a poverty stricken home life while Jake struggles to be noticed in the digital world. Jake, grandson of proud ex-military fighter pilot Sal Casselfield, is torn between the craftsmanship of model planes and the desire for more social acceptance. Brett as a socially withdrawn young teen is regressing to a childlike state, lost in his own world of birds and gazing sky-bound. Brett also clings to the belief in Santa Claus at thirteen years old with unshakable certainty, no matter the cost of ridicule and mockery. As Jake becomes more concerned with fitting in, the close bond between two young friends continues to fray. The story gradually unravels a once-close friendship, weaving in poignant flashbacks to their two years of shared moments. As tensions unfold in the present, it raises one question: What will it take for them to reclaim the closeness they once shared, filled with countless adventures and unforgettable moments? The charming Christmas tale explores the strain on a special friendship, growing up in a world shaped by both real-life struggles and online exclusion. It also emphasizes the power of belief and the possibility of miracles.

A 52 part collection- a story every week- detailing Natalie as she recalls her life, hardships, and all of the times she fell deeper in love with the one who got away.

"You are with the king of Wei. What could go wrong?" the Wei commander replies haughtily, the confident smirk of his unwavering, never wavering. Zhao Yun found that confidence reckless, yet it was what had attracted him to the man.