Read the book: «Noday (The Unknown Day)»

© Ikromjon Mamajanov, 2026

ISBN 978-5-0069-0632-7

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Noday(The Unknown Day)

Chapter 1: The Museum of Memories

Anna sat by the window, her gaze fixed on the playground across the street. The silence was broken by the sharp ring of the doorbell. It was Marta, her neighbor – a woman well into her seventies who possessed a knack for knowing everything, yet carried a heart of genuine gold.

She stepped inside, balancing a small plate of warm pie.

“Anna, dear, I’ve brought you something sweet,” Marta said, her voice dropping to a gentle hush. “You’ve grown so thin. You mustn’t wither away like this.”

Anna forced a faint, hollow smile. Marta sat beside her, searching Anna’s eyes for a long, heavy moment.

“You know,” Marta sighed softly, “when I was young, I was just like you. I wanted to reach out and grab the hands of the clock, to stop time right where it stood. On that day… that terrible day… I wanted to forget everything. But time is a river, Anna. You cannot dam it. You can only learn how to swim in its current.”

As Anna looked at her, she felt the raw ache inside her chest tighten. It had only been two weeks since five-year-old Oliver’s small, white casket was lowered into the earth. Yet, for Anna, it felt as though an entire century had clawed its way past. The world had bled out its colors; everything had turned blurred, ashen, and utterly hollow.

Her home was no longer a place to live; it had become a museum of memories. The tiny sneakers left in the hallway, the half-finished drawing pinned to the fridge, the lingering scent of that familiar baby shampoo on the pillow… all of it was slowly consuming Anna’s soul, day by day. For her, time had frozen at a single point: that horrific moment when the screeching of car tires pierced the air.