The One Minute Before
11:59
Intro
This is the story of a boy who did not disappear by dying.
He disappeared by seeing too much truth.
It is about one night.
One minute.
And one choice that changed how he would live forever.
Chapter 1: The Day I Disappeared
The day I disappeared was a Monday.
I was not sick.
I did not faint.
I did not die.
I was scrolling on my phone, sitting in my college classroom, thinking about nothing important—
when I suddenly felt something strange.
No one was looking at me.
At first, I thought it was just my imagination.
But when I stood up and bumped into a bench, no one reacted.
I said, "Sorry."
No one heard me.
I stood in front of my friend Rahul and shouted his name.
He walked straight through me.
That was the moment I understood—
I was still here.
But my existence was not.
Strangely, I was not scared.
I felt… quiet.
Outside, the city was normal.
Traffic.
Tea stalls.
Couples laughing.
Everything was the same.
Except me.
Then someone spoke behind me.
"You should not be happy so fast. This is not death."
I turned around.
The man looked tired, like someone who had lived many lives in one body.
"This is a pause," he said.
"You can see the world now. But you cannot judge it."
Before I could ask anything, he continued,
"Before midnight, if you understand one truth, you will return.
If you fail—
you will disappear completely."
I checked the time.
11:17 PM
Chapter 2: The World Everyone Sees
I ran.
I did not know where.
I went home.
My mother was cooking.
The TV was on.
A politician was giving a speech on the news.
"People are our future," he said.
But I could see his phone screen.
He was texting:
Deal confirmed. Public doesn't matter.
My chest felt heavy.
On the street, a motivational speaker was live-streaming.
"Believe in yourself!"
But his eyes were afraid.
His thoughts were loud.
My views are falling.
That was when I realized—
I was not just invisible.
I was seeing the truth.
My phone buzzed.
But it was not my phone.
It belonged to a girl standing far away.
A message appeared on her screen:
"If you can read this, you are not alone."
She was looking straight at me.
She could see me.
The time was 11:42 PM.
Chapter 3: The Girl Who Knew
I walked toward her.
"You can see me?" I asked.
She paused for a second.
"No," she said.
"I recognize you."
That scared me more.
"Recognize?"
She started walking.
I walked beside her.
"People who disappear walk differently," she said.
"They carry too much truth all at once."
I stopped.
"You've seen this before?"
She nodded.
"I disappeared once too."
"How did you return?" I whispered.
She smiled softly.
"I answered a question.
You don't even know the question yet."
I checked the time.
11:49 PM
A voice echoed in my head.
"Do not trust her. She came back incomplete."
The girl spoke suddenly,
"He's talking again, right?"
My heart froze.
Chapter 4: The Question
We entered an abandoned metro station.
Old posters on the wall said:
FUTURE IS COMING
She sat down.
"What do you want to become?" she asked.
I started listing things—
She stopped me.
"No.
What have you been hiding all your life?"
Images flooded my mind.
Smiles I forced.
Dreams I buried.
Truths I avoided.
"I'm afraid," I said.
She shook her head.
"Wrong answer."
Then she said,
"You have been hiding that you don't trust this world."
The lights flickered.
New words appeared on the wall:
TRUST IS THE LAST LIE
Time: 11:57 PM
She stood up.
"My name is Tara," she said.
"If you want to return, you must save me."
"From what?"
She replied softly,
"No one returns alone."
I heard my own voice behind me.
"Don't trust her."
I turned.
I was standing there.
Chapter 5: Me Against Me
The other me looked calm.
"This is not about belief," he said.
"This is about choice."
Tara whispered,
"If he wins, you disappear."
The other me smiled.
"I am every decision you were afraid to take.
You are just potential."
The clock ticked.
11:59 PM
The voice returned.
"Choose.
Truth and disappear.
Or lie and live."
I looked at Tara.
"What happens to you if I return?"
She said,
"I remain a question.
Answers never return."
Chapter 6: 11:59
The clock struck midnight.
I stepped forward.
Not toward myself.
Toward Tara.
"I don't want to live in a world where everyone hides," I said.
Light exploded.
I woke up in class.
My phone was buzzing.
"Hey, are you sleeping?" Rahul asked.
I was visible again.
But something had changed.
I no longer listen to words.
I listen to silence.
I never saw Tara again.
But sometimes, at night,
when the clock shows 11:59—
a message appears on my screen.
A message I never typed.
"If you can read this, you chose truth."
The End