It was a bright, sunny morning. The sky was clear and I was up early. My head was throbbing and I felt a bit dizzy. To relieve this agonising pain, I decided to look for some painkillers.

Writhing in discomfort, I clambered noisily downstairs and started searching for medicine. I checked all the cabinets, drawers and even the first aid box, but to no avail. I could not find anything.

I stomped around the house looking for Mum. I didn’t see her anywhere, so I started calling out loudly; my own voice felt like someone hitting my head with a bat. Still, there was no answer.

Suddenly, I remembered that when my dad, a scientist, went to work in his small personal lab in the basement, he would always take some medicine with him.

The pain was now excruciating. I tiptoed downstairs. Dad didn’t allow us to go there in his absence, but I had no option. I thought I might find some painkillers there. Surprisingly, the door wasn’t locked. Carefully, I opened it. Inside, it was dark, but the switchboard was right beside the door, so I turned the lights on.

As the lights came on, I saw papers scattered on the table, along with glass containers filled with liquids and powders. There were bulky objects and machinery too. But I didn’t pay attention. My eyes searched the shelves and tables for familiar tablets.

Just then, I tripped and banged my head on the table, falling to the floor. One of the glass jars toppled over, hit my head and shattered into pieces. I started coughing as the powder got into my mouth, eyes and hair, basically all over me. This trip to the basement lab proved unsuccessful as I couldn’t find any medicines. Annoyed, I got up and went back to my room.

I went to the washroom and splashed water on my face, hoping the cold water would make me feel better. As I looked up into the mirror, I froze. I didn’t find my reflection in the mirror!

For a moment, I just stared, trying to make sense of it. I touched the mirror. It felt normal, solid and real. The door behind me was clearly reflected, but there was no sign of me.

Panic set in. I grabbed a towel, but it seemed to float in mid-air in the mirror. No hands were holding it, yet it moved as I wiped my face. That’s when it hit me — the powder in the lab! I had messed up.

The headache was forgotten as I rushed back to the lab and picked up the scattered pages. My heart sank as I read them. The powder was part of my dad’s experiment, and somehow, I had made it work. I had turned invisible!

Frantically, I searched through the papers, hoping to find a solution. After going through sheet after sheet, I finally found it. The effect would wear off in an hour.

I ran back to my room, shaken and full of regret. That one hour felt endless. Fear kept creeping in. What if I never came back? I paced restlessly, unable to sit still.

When my mother finally came home, I ran towards her in relief. But then I remembered — she couldn’t see me. I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could say anything, a strange tingling spread through my body. Slowly, bit by bit, I began to reappear.

When I was finally back to normal, a wave of relief washed over me. Right then, I made a promise to myself: I would never meddle with my father’s things again.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 18th, 2026