I am Invisible

By T.Z. Barry

In this short story inspired by Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, a young man wakes up one day to discover he has turned invisible. At first, he takes advantage of his newfound ability before quickly learning invisibility is not such a desirable state. Not only can he not be seen, but he can't be heard or even feel. He desperately wants to be visible again, but he doesn't know how he got that way in the first place.

• Language: English
• Publisher: T.Z. Barry
• Release date: Nov 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370908714

T.Z. Barry

T.Z. Barry is a time traveler from the future who came back to the past to write true stories of his present and pretend they’re science fiction. (Don’t tell anyone.)

Book preview

I am Invisible

T.Z. Barry

Copyright © 2017 T.Z. Barry

All rights reserved.

I wake up, walk to the bathroom, look in the mirror, but no one is there.

I scream but make no sound.

I flick up the light, but the switch remains down; the room, dark.

I turn on the sink to throw water in my face, but both my skin and the faucet remain bone dry.

I wipe the mirror, but I have no hand with which to wipe.

I pinch my arm to assure I’m dreaming, but I have no fingers nor skin to squeeze.

I run back to my bedroom to check another mirror, but still, I see no self.

I shout and curse, but the words remain stuck inside my head. A head I cannot see. That no one can see.

I am invisible.

* * *

After the initial shock, I become intrigued. As a child, I fantasized over what superpower I would choose, and it always came down to two: invisibility and flight.

Flying would be fun at first, but if I was invisible, the possibilities were endless. I could go anywhere. Do anything. All without judgment.

I could eavesdrop on anyone without a care. Hear what they say after I leave the room. Discover the truth of what others actually think of me.

Now that my childhood fantasy has finally come true, I can’t decide what first to do. I rush to my apartment door, eager to go out into the world and explore.

I go to open the door to leave my apartment, but the knob won’t turn. I have no hand to grip the brass.

I bash the door with my shoulder to try to