No Ordinary Time Novels & Stories

"Since when did the Gilmore bloodline become so poor that a necklace worth a few bucks counts as custom work? "Now that ruby necklace around your neck—that's the one that looks truly bespoke. What you're trying to give me for my birthday must be the free gift with purchase." Erik's face darkened. "It's not about the price. It's the thought that counts. Why are you being so shallow? Just take it!" He reached out to hand me the box. I didn't take it. The necklace slipped and hit the floor with a dull clink. The thought that counts?

"People are convincing in a crisis. The truth of who someone is comes out in the ordinary days." "I know that too." "So we take it one ordinary day at a time." "Yes," he said. "One ordinary day at a time." They drank their coffee. The morning continued outside the window. Ordinary and quiet and full of the specific texture of something beginning. Henderson called at noon.

My heart sank. So that's what all those years meant—nothing. I freed a hand, pulled out my phone, and shot off a message. All four phones buzzed at once—same unknown number. They glanced down. Then swore and deleted it. "What the hell. So much spam." I smirked. The car rolled on. The sky darkened. The wind picked up. They got colder. In the back, Vincent and Donelia shivered, sneezing nonstop. I was freezing too.

I was a little surprised, but I did not pay much attention to it. Since I had already decided to let Corbin go, I did not want to dwell too much on his affairs. “Mom, from now on, don’t tell me anything about Corbin. I don’t want to hear about it.” She was stunned for a moment before saying, “Alright. I won’t bring it up if you don’t want to hear about it.” On the first day of orientation, there were many things to take care of and buy. That afternoon, I had just returned from the campus gate with Clara, my new roommate, after buying daily necessities.

*** I almost yelled when an alarm clock let out a shrill sound disturbing my sleep. Can you just shut the fuck up! I groaned as I blindly tried to switch it off but I couldn't find it. What the heck! I finally succeeded in switching it off after almost falling off the bed. 5am! I shrieked as I saw the time displayed on the alarm clock. I have never set my alarm to 5am before in my life. Reality hit me as I noticed the unfamiliar room. Oh my God! I scrambled off the bed and ran into the bathroom almost tripping on my dress, I can't believe I slept in this dress.

“But never mind, let’s just swap coffees for now.” Xin Ran was happy drinking an americano from Janny’s mug. The caffeine gave her the kick she needed to start her day, and she was curious about the people she had socially interacted with for work. With her amnesia, she didn’t know what she did just yet, so Janny had to give her a short version of what she did along with a mini organisational chart of the department they worked at.

On the last day before college entrance exams, Tristan Kelley, the most popular guy in class, let out an ear-splitting shout. "Everyone, skip the exam! Sage will pay out 50 million dollars!" He held up his phone, showing an insurance agreement he had signed with Sage, the AI chatbot, for everyone to see. All we had to do was miss the exam and we would receive 50 million dollars in compensation. "We're all bound for the best universities. In the worst case, we can retake the exam next year. "This is 50 million dollars. Do you think you'll ever see that kind of money in your life?" In my previous life, I called the police right away. I explained until I was blue in the face that Sage was j

Standing in the center of the living room, Alex found it difficult to breathe for the first time. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. It was a delivery person with a postcard mailed from Aspurg ten years ago. I had written it in my elegant handwriting. "To us ten years from now, may our love remain as it was in the beginning." Alex rushed out of the villa and called his assistant frantically. "Where's my wife? She's been missing for a month, and none of you noticed?" His assistant, Caleb Grover, trembled on the other end. "Mr. Carter, Mrs. Carter said she wanted to go on a retreat for meditation and didn't want anyone to disturb her... We thought—"

"I used to think ordinary meant nothing was happening. I don't think that anymore. I think ordinary is what all the hard work was actually for. This is what we built toward, all of it, the departure and the birth and the return and everything since. Not some permanent dramatic triumph. Just this. Days that don't require cataloguing." He considers that, watching the fire. "I like that better than the version where we're always waiting for the next crisis to prove something." "So do I." I stopped noting the ordinary somewhere in the past few months, without deciding to, the same way the clock-time counting fell away once there was nothing left that required it. It simply became the water I mov

His words were like ice, and he hung up before she could say another word. Summer stared at her phone, her expression darkening as rage boiled beneath the surface. She’d waited so long for me to step aside, and she finally had her chance. However, why was everything slipping through her fingers now? A few days later, she called Lucien again. The moment he saw her name flash across the screen, his brows furrowed. “I told you. I don’t have time for this right now–” “Lucien.” Summer’s voice trembled, soft and tearful. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you, but the power’s out at my place. I think there’s a short circuit or something…