magisternihil's 100-word story for January 31, 2026

magisternihil wrote the following micro-story on Hectalex on January 31, 2026. Each story on Hectalex is inspired by a daily visual prompt and must be exactly 100 words.

There he is again, the last echo of humanity in this entire city. It’s the same every day. He appears at the end of the block and disappears at the next corner. The entire time he’s looking at his phone. There’s no point talking to him or trying to block his path. He can’t hear you and he walks right through you. It’s eerie. An entire city full of people has vanished and the only hint we have about what happened is eternally playing Candy Crush and likely about to walk into traffic. Good thing he never makes it there.

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