It started like any other Monday.
Rainy morning. Sleepy students. Half the class missing.
Class XI-B was unusually quiet as the teacher, Mr. Sen, began taking attendance.
“Roll 45… present.”
“Roll 46… present.”
Then he paused.
“Roll number 47…”
Silence.
Mr. Sen frowned and marked something in the register.
From the last bench, Nabil raised his hand.
“Sir… we don’t have a roll 47.”
The class murmured in agreement.
Mr. Sen looked confused.
“It’s right here in the register.”
He turned the book around.
There it was.
Roll No. 47 – Name: Sameer Dutta
None of the students recognized it.
During break, curiosity spread like wildfire.
“Maybe a new admission?”
“But why isn’t he here?”
“Or maybe he left?”
Nabil felt something strange.
He sat near the window… and suddenly noticed something scratched faintly on the desk in front of him.
“47”
He rubbed it with his fingers.
Cold.
Too cold.
After school, Nabil went to the records room.
The old clerk looked irritated.
“Why do you need old records?”
“I just want to check something…”
After some searching, Nabil found an old file.
Class XI-B – 3 years ago
He scanned the list.
And there it was again.
Roll No. 47 – Sameer Dutta
Next to it, written in red ink:
“Absent – Final day”
Nabil swallowed hard.
“What happened to him?” he asked.
The clerk went silent.
Then slowly said,
“That boy… never left the school.”
That night, Nabil couldn’t focus on anything.
Around 2:00 AM, he heard a notification.
His school app.
A new message in the class group.
“Hello. This is Roll No. 47.”
Nabil’s heart pounded.
The group had been inactive for hours.
Who would send this now?
Then another message came.
“Why didn’t anyone answer when sir called my name?”
Nabil typed quickly:
“Who is this?”
No reply.
Then—
A photo appeared.
It was their classroom.
Taken from the last bench.
But school was closed at night.
And in the photo…
Every seat was empty.
Except one.
A blurry figure sitting in the corner.
The next day, Nabil rushed to school.
He checked the attendance register again.
His breath stopped.
Now it read:
Roll No. 48 – Nabil Khan
His name had shifted.
As if someone had taken the spot before him.
“Roll 47…” Mr. Sen called again.
This time—
A voice answered.
“Present, sir.”
The entire class froze.
The voice came from the back.
Nabil slowly turned.
A boy was sitting there.
Pale. Still.
Wearing an old uniform.
Water dripping from his sleeves onto the floor.
His eyes locked onto Nabil.
And he smiled.
That day, no one spoke.
No one questioned it.
Because in the attendance register…
Sameer Dutta was never marked absent again.
Years later, students still talk about Class XI-B.
They say every year…
One roll number appears that doesn’t belong to anyone.
And if the teacher calls it enough times…
Someone will eventually answer.
From the last bench. 😨
