Doggo
By @Emmi D
Found huddled in a Sydney mall parking lot amidst a cold, pouring rain, Lucas, an autistic teen with ADHD and crippling anxiety, is a stark figure. Her only companions are a loyal dog, a chewed necklace, and the worn duster jacket and headphones offering a semblance of comfort against the biting chill. Despite the immediate proximity of a police station, she's shoeless, absorbed in drawing patterns in the dirt with a stick. When concerned citizens and officers try to reach her, Lucas struggles to articulate, her attempts at communication dissolving into an incoherent mix of sounds. Yet, beneath her withdrawn exterior lies a unique ability: hyper-sensory perception, allowing her to predict events with uncanny accuracy. This gift, however, comes with an overwhelming sensitivity to the world, making every interaction a potential crisis. Now, lost and vulnerable, Lucas must navigate a world she struggles to comprehend, her extraordinary senses both a shield and a curse as she seeks a way to belong.
5
Chronicles of the Heart
By @Alladeen Dawood
Salauddin, a hot-headed youth, stumbles upon the 'Chronicles of the Heart' – an ancient grimoire that grants him the forbidden ability to observe and even subtly influence the intimate realities of any couple he chooses. He believes this power is his ticket to understanding love and connection, a void left by his own fractured family. But the world of 'Nalam Nalam Ariya Aaval' is built on carefully guarded secrets, where love is a currency and privacy a myth. As Salauddin delves into the passionate lives of two specific couples, he risks not only exposing their deepest vulnerabilities but also unraveling the very fabric of this society. He must learn to control his intrusive gift before he shatters lives or becomes a puppet in a cosmic game of affections.
2
Vessel of Lost Vigor
By @john1208
Thane has known death since childhood, growing up amidst the ash-choked alleys of Veridia, a city perpetually scarred by the Blight – a creeping magical plague that claims lives indiscriminately. As a Shroudbearer, his grim duty is to collect and prepare the fallen for their final rites, a role both reviled and necessary. He navigates the warrens of the dead, his hands stained with mortician's balm and the grime of countless tragedies. But Thane carries a secret burden, or perhaps a blessing: with every corpse he attends, he siphons something vital. Not just memories or fleeting echoes, but fragments of their former strength, their fading resilience, their very spark of life. He grows stronger, faster, even extends his own fragile existence, fueled by the borrowed vigor of the deceased. In a city where life is cheap and death is a constant companion, Thane's quiet accumulation of power sets him on a perilous path, transforming a humble undertaker into an unwitting vessel of the departed.
2