The Vanishing Project

Hello! My name is Ambrose. I live in India and I study in Class 10. Today is a very important day for me—it's the day we have to submit our class project. I am feeling very happy and excited because I worked really hard for this day. I stayed up late many nights and spent hours designing and preparing every page of my project. I want everything to be perfect.

As a result, I came to school earlier than usual. The project submission will begin at 10 a.m., but I arrived around 8:15. The school was almost empty. I went straight to my class and carefully placed my project file on my desk. Then, to relax a bit before the big moment, I decided to go for a walk on the school field. The morning breeze was calm, and the sky was clear. I imagined how proud my teacher would be when she saw my work.

By 9:30, students started arriving. Some of my friends called out to me, and I joined them as we walked back to our classroom, chatting and laughing. But when I entered the class, something strange happened.

My project was gone.

At first, I thought I was mistaken. I checked every desk, every corner of the classroom, and even under the tables. But there was no sign of my project. I felt a wave of panic rising in my chest. I asked my classmates if they had seen anything, but no one knew where it went. Some just shrugged. Others looked as confused as I was.

I screamed, “Where is my project?!”

No one had an answer. I felt helpless and heartbroken. All those hours of hard work—gone. My eyes filled with tears, and I couldn’t stop myself from crying. I ran to my class teacher and told her everything. She was shocked but calm and assured me that she would look into the matter and help find the missing project.

Feeling a bit better but still upset, I went to the rooftop of the school. I wanted to be alone. The rooftop was quiet, and I sat down near the edge, looking over the playground below. Just then, something caught my eye. A boy was standing near the school building—and he was holding my project!

I stood up immediately. My heart was beating fast. Who was this boy? I had never seen him before. He was smiling at me in a strange way. Without wasting a second, I rushed down to the ground to get my project back. But when I reached the spot, there was no one there. The boy had disappeared—and so had my project.

Instead, I found a torn piece of paper from my project lying on the ground. I picked it up and looked around angrily. Where had that boy gone? Who was he? And why did he have my project?

Frustrated and confused, I climbed back up to the rooftop. To my shock, the boy was there again. He stood silently, holding the rest of my project, still smiling that eerie smile. My anger boiled over. I saw a small pebble on the rooftop, picked it up, and threw it at him with all my strength.

But the moment it touched him, something impossible happened—he vanished. He didn’t fall or run—he simply vaporized into thin air like smoke. I froze, completely terrified. My body started to shake, and my mind couldn’t understand what had just happened.

Suddenly, everything got darker.

I rubbed my eyes, but it didn’t help. Slowly, I started to lose my eyesight. First, it was blurry. Then shadows. And then… nothing. I was blind. I screamed for help and tried to run back to my classroom, stumbling and bumping into walls.

As I reached the hallway, I could no longer see anything. Darkness had taken over my eyes completely. I felt dizzy. The walls around me echoed with strange whispers. The lightness of the world was gone.

Then, as I collapsed near my class, I heard a soft voice say, “Next time, don’t trust what you see.”

I don’t know what happened to me that day. No one ever found the boy. Or my project. And my sight… it never came back.