On the morning of September 25, 2023, in a suburb of Baghdad, Walid wakes up to the sound of the alarm clock near him. He lifts his head to turn off the alarm and gets out of bed. Walid used to wake up at seven o'clock every day, get dressed, and have breakfast with his family.**
**Then he would go to his school located near his home. This was his usual routine every day, but it seemed that this day was different from the rest. Before leaving the house, he opened his computer to organize some files, and while browsing the internet, he was surprised to receive a message on his email.**
**Walid decided to open the message, but the sender was anonymous, and the message contained only one sentence: "Don't do it." Walid was puzzled by the message, and his face showed signs of confusion, but he decided to ignore it and go to school.**
**Walid's room was on the second floor, and while he was arranging his pens and books to leave the house, he heard a loud thud above the roof of the house, but as usual, he ignored it and continued packing his things. While he was deep in thought about his homework and lessons, he opened his room door to leave but was shocked by the hideous thing standing in front of him. His eyes widened in fear, and his heart beat rapidly.**
**He was trembling as if trapped in a real nightmare, and the air became heavy as if he couldn't breathe. He saw a strange figure moving in the dark and approaching him.**
**This thing had a thin body, a swollen face, and a blackened body. With every step it took, it muttered strange and incomprehensible words. At that moment, all Walid could think about was how to escape this situation.**
**As the thing approached him, his heartbeats increased, and adrenaline surged through his body. He then remembered a pair of scissors nearby that he used to cut papers for his notes. Walid quickly grabbed the scissors, jumped on the creature, and stabbed it in one of its eyes.**
**The creature fell to the ground, blood filling its face. Before it took its last breath, it muttered some words that Walid couldn't understand. At that moment, Walid felt fear and confusion at the same time: What is this thing? What brought it here? What should I do with its body?**
**While he was thinking out loud, his thoughts were interrupted by his mother's voice coming from downstairs... Hurry up, Walid, you're late for school. Walid: Yes, mom, I'm coming.**
**Near Walid's room, there was a storage room where some old items were kept, and it also contained a box. Walid decided to put the body in the box until he returned from school to think about what to do with it.**
**Walid was sitting at his desk in the classroom, staring at the blackboard, thinking about the thing he saw that day. He tried to focus on the lesson, but the thoughts were intertwining in his head, and anxiety was creeping into his heart.**
**Walid: What is this thing? What should I do? Should I tell my mother or someone about what I saw... No, no, it's impossible. I can't tell anyone about it, as I can't predict their reaction. While waves of thoughts were crashing in his head, his thoughts were interrupted by the school bell announcing the end of the school day. Walid arrived home, and before entering his room, he went directly to the place of the body and opened the box, only to be shocked for the second time that day.**
**The body was gone as if someone had taken it from its place. Walid's head was about to explode from fear and tension, and his anxiety began to increase gradually. He then ran quickly towards his room, locked the door behind him, and lay on his bed, trying to sleep to forget what had happened.**
**A month after this shocking incident, Walid woke up to the sound of the alarm at seven o'clock. Every time he opened his room door, he remembered the scene of that thing standing in front of him, and his body shivered, but he tried to overcome what had happened and forget what had occurred.**
**He then went downstairs to have breakfast with his family. During breakfast, his mother noticed some bruises on his hands and his pale face and asked him: Are you okay, my son? Why is your face pale? Are you sick? Walid: No, mom, I'm fine, but this is due to the exhaustion from studying. Mother: Oh, okay, but be careful and don't overexert yourself. Then Walid left the house and went to school.**
**Six months after that incident, Walid's illness worsened over time. His body began to thin, his skin peeled, and over time his voice became faint and incomprehensible. His parents became worried about him and took him from doctor to doctor and from hospital to hospital.**
**But it was all in vain. No one could determine the cause of his illness or find a way to treat it, and his parents lost hope in the doctors. One day, Walid was sitting in his room on the computer, and while he was thinking about the nature of that thing he saw and whether it was the cause of what was happening to him now, his thoughts were interrupted by a message on his private email. Walid was surprised to find that it was the same anonymous person who had sent him that message before. Walid decided to respond to the message this time.**
**Anonymous: Do you want me to help you?**
**Walid: Who are you, and how do you know me? Why do you want to help me?**
**Anonymous: It doesn't matter who I am or how I know you. The important thing is, do you want my help or not?**
**Walid thought for a moment and then replied: Okay, but how will you help me?**
**Anonymous: I will take you back to the past.**
**Walid: What! Take me back to the past? Are you crazy or trying to deceive me?**
**Anonymous: I'm not crazy, and I'm not trying to deceive you. I have managed to invent a machine that takes you back to the past, but only for a certain time. I can take you back to the day your life changed, the day you met that thing.**
**Walid: Wait, why did you warn me that day? How did you know this would happen to me? Who are you, man?**
**Anonymous: I told you before, it doesn't matter who I am or how all this happened. Don't ask for details because I won't answer you. So now, do you want my help or not?**
**Walid put his hand on his head in a state of confusion, not knowing what to do. Should he refuse the offer and surrender to his fate, or believe the words and trust him? But he thought, what guarantees that he is not deceiving me? What if my response to the agreement is a repetition of what happened six months ago? While his head was buzzing with many thoughts and his heartbeats were accelerating, and with mixed feelings of fear, anxiety, hope, and faith, he put his hand on the table to calm down and gather his composure and then replied: Yes, I agree, help me.**
**Anonymous: Okay, but know that this is your decision, and you will bear the consequences.**
**Walid: No problem, I understand that.**
**Anonymous: Very well.**
**Walid: So how, when, and where will I meet you to help me?**
**Anonymous: Hahaha, there's no need for all that. Just send a message with the date and time you want to return to and leave the rest to me.**
**Walid: Here, via the internet? Are you serious? I really don't know how to trust you.**
**Anonymous: Send the message, and you'll know if I'm serious or not.**
**Walid: I really don't know what the end of this matter will be, but you have what you asked for.**
**Walid: Date: September 25, Time: 7:21.**
**Walid pressed the send button, and after a few minutes of sending the message, nothing happened. Here, Walid realized that he had been deceived and lost hope of finding a solution to his illness. All he had to do was surrender to his fate and accept his destiny.**
**Walid got up to go to his bed, feeling dizzy and falling to the ground. While he was unconscious, he opened his eyes slightly to see a white light filling his room completely, not fully aware of what had happened to him. Walid then woke up to find himself on the roof of his house.**
**He stood on his feet but felt a slight dizziness, so he sat next to a nearby wall and said: What happened, and how did I get here in the first place? But he felt a strange feeling; this didn't seem like the reality we live in, and the atmosphere was somewhat gray.**
**He then remembered the conversation that took place between him and that anonymous person and realized that he had returned to the past and what was happening now was just a picture of his memories. He felt a little shocked but remembered his goal. He raised his hand to look at his watch and saw that it was 7:21 AM.**
**He felt terrified and realized that he had to hurry to stop his past self from killing that thing. While he was rushing down the stairs and saw his room, Walid stood near the door, staring at it, and said to himself: Yes, only one step left to change what happened, one step to end the tragedy I went through.**
**While he was staring at the door, it opened in front of him, and he saw his past self, a beautiful face and a healthy body without skin deformities or facial swelling. They exchanged glances for a moment, then Walid said to his past self: I am you, I came to warn you about something bad that will happen to you.**
**But his past self's face showed signs of confusion and anxiety as if he didn't understand anything Walid was saying. Walid approached him to warn and explain what was happening, but he was surprised by something sharp piercing his eye. Walid fell to the ground, blood filling his face, not knowing why this happened. While he was losing consciousness, he remembered what happened the previous time and realized that it was the same person who killed him.**