The Last Bench

On the last day of school, our teacher asked everyone to write one thing they would remember forever.

Students wrote about friendships, annual functions, and farewell parties.

But my eyes stayed fixed on the last bench.

That bench belonged to Aarav — the quiet boy nobody really noticed. He barely spoke, scored average marks, and spent most lunches alone drawing tiny sketches in the corners of his notebook.

A week before finals, he suddenly stopped coming to school.

People moved on quickly. Exams were more important.

That day, while cleaning the classroom as I was the cleanliness secratary in the school, I found one of his drawings under the desk. It was a sketch of our entire class laughing together.

At the bottom, he had written:

“I wish someone had asked me if I was okay.”

For the first time, marks, ranks, and report cards felt small.

Sometimes, the moment that changes you is realizing how invisible someone can feel in a room full of people.

#ZorbaStoryContest2026