Elias

**"In a city that never sleeps, sometimes the quietest stations hold the loudest secrets…"** His name is Elias. He was twenty-three years old when time stopped noticing him. Elias used to be ordinary—he took the metro every morning, stood on the same platform, checked the same clock on the wall. One night, after the last train passed, everything froze for him. The world kept moving. but he didn’t. Days stopped changing. The clock above the platform stayed stuck on the same minute. People came and went,walking straight past him as if he were air. No one could see him. No one except one person. **** It was late at night. The metro station was almost empty, quiet except for the distant hum of electricity and the echo of footsteps. She was heading home after a long, exhausting day at work. Her shoulders felt heavy, her mind foggy, and all she wanted was to get on the train and disappear into her bed. She stepped onto the platform—and suddenly felt watched. Near one of the pillars stood a young man who didn’t move. He wasn’t checking his phone. He wasn’t waiting for a train. He was just standing there, staring at the clock, like he had been doing it for years. When she glanced at him, he slowly turned his head. Their eyes met. His breath caught. “…You can see me,” he said quietly, almost afraid to believe it. The station was empty. The clock didn’t move. And for the first time in years, Elias wasn’t alone. (Be whoever you want)