The Way It Used To Be Book Novels & Stories

… White light flashed, and I returned to the real world. I was back in my old apartment. Everything felt like a long dream. I looked at myself in the mirror. My image felt familiar, yet strange. In that world, I had felt the depths of hate and the thrill of revenge. Everything had settled into a quiet calm. My phone buzzed with a news alert. [Genius pianist Xavier Zane announces a global tour. Tickets sold out instantly!] I froze. Xavier Zane? I clicked on the article and saw a face that I could never forget.

I whispered. A fresh wave of nausea hit, memories pushing like claws against the walls of my mind, shadows of a past life I had spent years trying to understand. This book...This book was the answer. This was the ritual Darren used to kill me, to kill my baby, to take power for himself.

"We shouldn't have spoiled you so much! You're making noise the first thing in the morning! How am I supposed to go to work?" I felt something touch my forehead as Phoebe used a tissue to wipe the sweat from my brow. "I'm so jealous of Maisie. She has parents who love her this much. This is the first time anyone has ever treated my wounds. Mrs. Shaw, don't worry. I don't feel any pain." I smacked her hand away, snapping the cotton swab in two. My voice dropped, sharp and cold. "Why don't you feel pain?" Phoebe froze for a second, then broke into an innocent, childlike smile. She said sweetly, "Because I know magic that makes pain disappear."

"Look, Sydney. I've made sure your room is exactly the way it used to be. I also tracked down all your belongings and returned them to their original places. Do you like this surprise?" It had been so long since I last stepped foot here that everything felt familiar, yet unrecognizable at the same time. This was the same way I felt toward Zach. I shook my head and replied, "What's the point? It means nothing anymore. Even if you try to recreate our past, we will never return to the way things were."

Also, there would be no "later" This place was no longer my home.

He looked at Egan and asked, "I heard Finn say you guys have an old book. Can I read it?" "Oh, of course." Egan went to a corner of the cave, brought out an old wooden box, and set it down in front of Uri. "This is the book Finn said." He took from the wooden box a faded leather-bound book and gave it to Uri. Despite knowing the book's contents, Uri still felt nervous when holding it in his hands. He read ancient words; his hand touched the pages of antique books, and the old smell of the years wafted on his nose. It gave him a feeling like he was back three thousand years ago.

Using my hand, I drew small dots in the condensation on the window. "I don't think I'll love someone that passionately again." Once I'd decided on the date that I was going back to my hometown, time seemed to speed up. However, what I didn't expect was for Rodney to come looking for me on the eve of my departure. He looked weary and broken, his once crisp suit now heavily crumpled. I didn't intend to let him in, nor did I even plan on opening the door. But he looked like he would camp there forever if I didn't, so not wanting to be embarrassed by his actions, I gave in.

I would reply- It was like hearing every goodbye said to me, all at once. The End. -- Okay, how was the book? Did you like it? Did you loveeeeeeee it?

"Where'd you go?" "Nowhere. Sorry. You were saying?" "I was going to ask about the last chapter. The ending." He turned to the back of the book, to the passage I had underlined in pencil months ago in San Diego, before Evergreen existed in my life as anything other than a name on a contract. He read it out loud, slowly, in the slightly self-conscious way people read aloud when they weren't sure if they were doing it right. The boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

--- For the first time, they didn't have to solve anything. --- Save anything. --- Understanding nothing. --- They could simply be. --- In the afternoon, they sat in the library. --- Between the shelves. --- Where the years had once stood. --- Most of the books were still there. --- But one was missing. --- Just one. --- The book titled: --- Those Who Stayed --- It had vanished. --- Months ago. --- No one knew where it had gone. --- And somehow, that didn't bother anyone. --- For some stories wanted to wander on.