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The Vanishing City


The Vanishing City
It all started on Monday morning, when Michal, a 15-year-old from Poznan, noticed that his reflection in the mirror had momentarily... disappeared. He rubbed his eyes, but it was not an optical illusion. For split seconds, all he saw was an empty bathroom. The next day, in the school canteen, his friend Kaja was smearing raspberry juice on her white shirt when suddenly the stain disappeared by itself. Michael, observing the scene, felt that something was wrong - too many oddities at once. Third on the team, Lena had already been hearing her thoughts louder than usual for a week. It wasn't until she heard her colleague's thoughtful reply, although his lips didn't even twitch, that she realised she was picking up someone else's thoughts. Last in the unusual group was Tom - his energetic drawings began to come to life on the pages. At first they were just moving sketches, then one of the figures winked at him. When they met after school in the neglected playground, Michael decided to share his concerns. - I ... I think I know how to disappear, but I don't know when or why. It happens on its own,' he admitted quietly. - Maybe it's not just you? - Lena asked and recounted her experience. The rest admitted what was happening to them. They decided to experiment with their newfound abilities. They spent whole afternoons on a deserted pitch, trying to control their gifts. At first, everything was chaotic, with isolated successes interspersed with failed attempts. One evening they noticed that the city centre was starting to become strangely deserted. Shops were closed, trams didn't arrive and even street lights sometimes went out for no apparent reason. Only four silhouettes were walking home at the time - four that felt increasingly different. On Friday night, Michael received a message. It was seemingly ordinary - no signatures, just an address: an old, abandoned tenement on the outskirts of town, and a short note: "Come together. Only you can stop it." They came. There was a silence outside the entrance that made their ears ring. Despite their fear, they went inside and started up the stairs. At the very top, they faced a door from behind which a pale, pulsating light was seeping. Michael reached out to press the handle and his hand began to slowly disappear. At the same moment, Lena heard a foreign voice in her head: "We've been waiting for you." The door began to swing open with a quiet creak....


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Age category: 13-15 years
Publication date:
Times read: 30
Endings: 2
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