Nineteen Minutes Novels & Stories

He waited for eleven minutes. He knew it was eleven minutes because he checked the time when he sat down and checked it once more because he was who he was, and the interval between the two checks was eleven minutes, which was the length of a board call that wasn't going well and also the length of his shortest recent morning briefing and also, it turned out, the length of time it took him to drink a third of a very good Malbec.

Faced with their skepticism, I pulled up the transaction record. “See for yourselves. Mom transferred four hundred dollars.”

Roughly 15 minutes. The countdown began…

The message is clear. I sit down again, legs crossed, falsely relaxed. But my eyes remain fixed on the front door. My fingers drum on the armrest. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Nine minutes. This little shit better get his ass out of the way.

Caleb called out, his voice loud over the engine. The wind whipped past my ears, everything outside blurring as if life itself had sped up. The only thing sharp and clear was Caleb's smiling face beside me, burned into my mind. After more than ten minutes, the car finally slowed to a stop. I unbuckled and tried to step out, still buzzing with excitement. I almost lost my balance, but Caleb caught me effortlessly.

“Ok. Here’s the deal, Mama. You have thirty minutes to put all of my DVDs in their respective cases and place them back on the shelf in alphabetical order, or you can march your happy little ass back across the street without this dick.” “But that’s not fair!” she shrieked. “I can’t possibly get this done in thirty minutes! It took an entire hour just to fuck it up!” “Your thirty minutes start now,” I grinned as she gaped back at me in horror. “You only have 29 minutes and 54 seconds left. I suggest you get a move on.”

said Zero, as if his decision could not be contested. Zeva thought, "Well, turns out he's loud as well as Sis Runa and Bro Gamma." "Wait a minute, it's 15:39 here. That means it's already 02:39 in the morning there," said Zero, which made Zeva imagine that Zero was checking his watch. "Oh my gosh Zeva, you are already eating unhealthy food, and even staying up late again. Hurry up and sleep, don't stay up late!" ordered Zero.

Miranda walked over and drove the heel of her shoe straight down onto the back of my hand. "You're just a grease monkey. What makes you think you're some kind of savior? Leon, don't waste time talking to him. Lock him in solitary. We'll deal with him after the alarm stops." I looked at the timer on the wall. Seventeen minutes left before the core blew. "If the core blows up, none of us will make it out alive!" I shouted at Leon, spit hitting his boots.

I ask. “19.8 seconds. She could compete if she wanted,” says Mark. “Well I’m impressed,” says Owen. “Did you see that dad?! Mark what is my time?” “19.8 seconds.” “That is two seconds faster than the last time I was out here.” She pats Beauty on the neck.

Garrik pulled the watch from his pocket. Right. The watch. He flipped it open. "Twenty-seven minutes." I stared at him. "Twenty-seven?" "Twenty-seven." Kael wanted eighteen. Nine minutes. I had to somehow remove nine entire minutes from whatever fresh hell I'd just survived. My stomach rolled. Oh no. I turned and threw up. Garrik waited until I finished, then handed me his water. I rinsed my mouth. "Don't say anything." "Twenty-seven isn't bad for your first run."