Norwin was a boy no one noticed—who is also the main character of our story.
Rain fell in endless sheets, soaking through his jacket, chilling him to the bone. Each drop felt like a small weight, pressing down on him. The streets were empty, eerily quiet. Streetlights flickered weakly, casting long, broken shadows across the wet pavement. The occasional splash of his shoes sounded impossibly loud, echoing in the silence.
He had always been invisible.
At home, his family loved him, but their warmth never reached him. Their smiles, their laughter, their gentle touches—it all felt like it belonged to someone else. At school, friends laughed in groups he could never join. Teachers spoke politely, but never with pride. Everywhere he went, he felt small, unimportant. He existed, but only as a shadow.
Tonight, that loneliness pressed down harder than ever.
Rain pelted his face, sharp and cold. His hair stuck to his forehead. His jacket clung to his skin. He wandered the streets without direction, letting them carry him wherever they pleased. He didn't care where he went. He didn't care if he arrived anywhere. Standing still felt heavier than moving. Moving, at least, distracted him from the emptiness inside.
He tilted his head upward.
The sky looked wrong. Not gray, not normal. The clouds were thick, dark, twisted unnaturally, almost alive. Between them, a faint shimmer appeared—red and black, pulsing softly, moving like liquid shadow.
Norwin froze. His heart thumped painfully. A cold shiver ran down his spine. The air vibrated strangely, pressing against him, filling him with a feeling he had never known—like the world itself was aware of him.
A low hum started in the distance. Soft at first, almost imperceptible, then growing louder, stronger, shaking him to his core.
The wind rose suddenly, whipping through the streets, rattling empty trash cans and stirring puddles into tiny whirlpools. The shimmer above stretched, growing brighter, more defined.
A rift had formed.
Jagged and uneven, glowing red and black, it tore slowly through the clouds. Rain began to spiral upward, pulled toward the tear like water chasing gravity in reverse. The energy in the air throbbed, vibrating against Norwin's bones. He shivered. Fear and awe twisted together, choking him.
He wanted to run. He wanted to hide. He wanted to disappear. But his feet stayed rooted.
Something was pulling at him.
Stronger and stronger. The rift reached down, tugging at the air, the rain, the world itself. His legs trembled. He tried to step back. Tried to resist. It was impossible.
A streak of red-black energy shot downward like a spear. It brushed against his arm. Cold. Sharp. Electric. Pain and exhilaration surged at once. Norwin gasped, his breath coming in jagged bursts. The wind screamed past him. Rain stung his eyes. Every sense felt sharper, louder, alive.
And yet, in that chaos, something strange stirred inside him.
He felt noticed.
For the first time in his life, someone—or something—was watching him. The universe itself seemed aware of his existence.
Memories flashed: moments of being ignored, overlooked, forgotten. Teachers calling his name and walking away. Friends laughing in groups he could never join. Parents smiling at him, but not seeing him. He had always been a shadow, drifting through life unseen.
And now… something in the sky had reached for him.
The rift pulsed faster. Its glow intensified. Pavement trembled beneath his feet. Cracks snaked through the asphalt. Pieces of the street lifted slightly, trembling as though trying to escape the energy above. The pull was irresistible. His body shook uncontrollably.
Norwin tried to shout. Tried to scream. But the sound was lost in the roar of wind and rain.
The red-black energy shot downward again, this time brushing his chest. A jolt ran through him, freezing him in place. He felt his heart skip, his lungs tighten. Every nerve in his body was on fire, buzzing with an energy he couldn't comprehend.
His thoughts spun. Why me? Why now? What is happening?
He could barely think. The rift pulsed, alive, breathing, watching. It was calling him. It was hungry.
Another tremor ran through the street. Pavement cracked further, splintered shards rising from the ground. Rain sprayed around him like tiny needles. The rift seemed to stretch wider, reaching into the city, devouring the sky.
Norwin wanted to resist, but his body no longer obeyed. He was being pulled. Up? Forward? He didn't know. He couldn't tell. The world twisted around him, stretching, warping, raining, roaring.
His mind screamed in terror.
And then… for a brief instant, a thought slipped in.
For the first time, I am noticed.
The sensation was strange. Terrifying. But comforting. The universe had finally acknowledged him, and for a single heartbeat, he felt… real.
The rift pulsed again. Faster. Stronger. More alive.
The pull became unbearable. Norwin could no longer hold himself on the pavement. He stumbled, and then his feet lifted completely off the ground.
Panic overwhelmed him. He thrashed, struggled, clawed at the empty air. Rain lashed his face. He gasped for breath, but the wind stole it from him. His body trembled uncontrollably. He was falling, but not downward. The city, the streets, the lights—they all vanished.
Only darkness.
A void that seemed alive. Watching. Waiting.
Norwin reached out blindly. Nothing but shadows and rain. Cold. Electric. Alive.
He screamed.
Pain and fear tore through him, but underneath it all, a small spark remained. Curiosity. Wonder. A tiny, desperate hope that something, somewhere, understood him.
Above, far beyond the world he had known, something ancient stirred. Red and black energy shimmered like countless eyes in the void. Cold. Unblinking. Patient.
An anomaly has arrived.
The boy who had drifted through life unseen, lonely, and broken—the boy named Norwin—was about to enter a world that would not let him remain invisible.
The rift pulsed again.
Stronger. Faster. Hungry.
And it reached for him.
Norwin felt himself pulled into the void. Light, sound, rain—all vanished. Only the force of the rift remained.
He screamed once more.
And then… silence.