This article provides an artistic and aesthetic analysis of

Khurshid Dostmuhammadʼs story “Ten Seconds” based on

theoretical approaches of modern literary studies. The research

aims to examine the intensity of time in the story, the manifestation

of individual consciousness in a confined space, and the artistic

modeling of life choices. The article addresses the issue of timeʼs

accelerated concept in modern prose and how human

consciousness adapts to this process. The research methodology

relies on theoretical perspectives developed by Russian, Western,

and Uzbek schools of literary criticism. The study employs

philosophical, psychological, and structural analysis methods. The

analysis demonstrates that the story transcends its sports-based

plot to serve as an ontological model of human life, with the

hundred-step distance and ten-second interval symbolically

representing a human lifespan. The work is shown to illuminate

inner experiences, moral choices, and intellectual awakening

through its sports narrative. The storyʼs open ending and symbolic

structure can be viewed as aesthetic mechanisms that invite active

reader interpretation. In conclusion, the article scientifically

establishes that the story is a significant artistic phenomenon in

modern Uzbek prose, addressing issues of individuality, time, and

consciousness on a philosophical and psychological level.