Disillusionment At Ten O'clock Novels & Stories

The platform at Grand Central was full of people at 12:47 a.m., the fluorescent lights reflected brightly, with insects buzzing round them. I had missed the last express by three minutes and now stood wedged between a businessman scrolling stock tickers and a college kid with earbuds blasting a rap. My little black dress clung to my thighs, damp from the summer humidity that refused to get better even after midnight. The skirt barely skimmed mid-thigh, the neckline dipped low enough that every breath threatened spillage. I had dressed for the club, not for this sardine-can that's crawling uptown.

I peek out into the living room but don't see Ford. My excitement about the countdown is starting to dissipate. It's still only ten o'clock. I lie down on the bed and look up at the ceiling. What if tonight is the beginning of the end? He might not like what he sees when he gets me undressed. Maybe after he's had me he'll be satisfied and won't want me anymore. What if I'm not all he thought I was? What if he, too, built something up in his head that isn't real?

I continued waiting and hoping and time continued to tick by until several more minutes passed by. It was close to an hour now. — an hour from the time of the Guirgon full moon, the Tenth hour. It was the eleventh hour and I soon got up from my seat and clenched my fists as I tried to contain my growing uneasiness and anger. I tried not to look in the direction of the Half elders now because then if I did, I felt like I would just lose my cool and storm at them. I took in deep breaths now.

She said *Adrian's Pov* The compound at eleven at night had a different quality from the compound at any other hour.Not the anxious quality of people who didn't know what was coming. Something steadier than that. The specific quality of people who knew exactly what was coming and had spent the day building the conditions to meet it.Astra had moved twenty people to the sub-level by ten thirty.

Disappointment and hopelessness washed over him. Rosalie would never come. She was a liar. She would never care about him. Theodore stumbled to the bed, and sat down. The sky had turned completely dark. He would wait a little longer, perhaps till half past eight. No, maybe till nine. Here he was, being a loser and still clinging onto non-existent hope. Theodore stared at the clock as the seconds ticked by.

Our awkwardness in our bodies simply vanishes in an instant. There's no way in hell that Solenn hasn't gotten herself impregnated yet. Anyway, the moment of truth will finally be revealed later at night. The moment the clock strikes 6 in the evening, I excused myself from my meeting. Not bothering if they still have something to discuss or argue with me about.

Ninth day, 23:30: “Beep, hello 001. It is now 23:50, the counting system will close in nine minutes, please complete the count from 1 to 120 if you want to continue” Still out of time, as usual. I didn't think much, immediately counted to 120. Day ten, 21:05: Beep. 1.2..3..120. Eleventh day, 00:00, what's up, the day is over, why haven't exited yet? The eleventh day, 12:00, it's already been half a day, why in the end? Beep. What's the matter, why haven't I exited yet?

he smiled, nodded, and committed every word to memory. By 19:00, the tension had become palpable even in silence. Julian fell asleep on the couch, his head nestled in his lap. he brushed his hair back and stared at the skyline, his heart aching with the knowledge that in four hours, his life as he knew it would end—one way or another. he could walk away and disappear into the network of shadows that had trained him, or he could surrender to the inevitability of the order and vanish permanently.

Since you ruined this wedding ceremony, don't expect there to be another one. As I took in Molly's nasty, unpleasant expression, it finally hit me that genuinely loving someone else with all my heart didn't mean I would get the same in return. After being with Dominic for ten years, I no longer wanted to be the Moore family's daughter-in-law. Before I could say anything, Molly yanked me by the arm and shoved me out of the building. "If you fail to get Dominic to turn around, don't bother coming back either." I turned my head back around, only to see that the doors had slammed shut behind me.

We really were very similar. The last time I wore a dress was ten years ago. In these ten years, I seemed to have slowly turned into his shadow. I looked around the room and suddenly felt tired of the suffocating darkness. With a sharp whoosh, I yanked the curtains open. The glow of the sunset poured in. I raised my hand. My skin, so pale it was almost translucent under the sun, looked as if it belonged to a vampire. Leaning against the window, I lit another cigarette. Through the wisps of smoke, I seemed to see myself from ten years ago.