In a quiet corner of Sylhet city stood an old mosque.
It wasn't like the others.
Every day, five minutes before the dawn call to prayer, something strange would happen.
Eighteen-year-old Ayan discovered it by accident.
One morning, just before Fajr, his phone buzzed.
An unknown number.
The message contained only one line:
"You have 365 days left."
He laughed at first.
Probably a prank.
The next day—
"364 days left."
Then—
"363 days left."
Every single day, the number decreased.
Panic slowly replaced confusion.
But something even stranger began to happen.
On days when Ayan prayed, helped someone, or did something genuinely good…
No message came.
But on days when he lied, hurt someone, or ignored his responsibilities—
The countdown returned.
That's when he realized.
This wasn't a countdown to death.
It was a countdown to change.
Desperate for answers, he finally called the number.
An old man answered.
His voice was calm. Almost timeless.
"I am no one," the old man said.
"I am only the keeper of time.
Whether you change your life… or time changes it for you — that is what I watch."
The line went dead.
From that day on, Ayan tried to become better.
The numbers kept falling.
10 days left.
5 days left.
With 3 days remaining, he made a terrible mistake.
He betrayed a close friend for his own benefit.
The next morning—
"1 day."
That night, he couldn't sleep.
Before dawn, he went to the mosque and sat alone in silence.
The call to prayer began.
He closed his eyes.
His phone remained still.
No vibration.
No countdown.
Instead, when he looked at the screen, a final message appeared:
"Your time did not end.
Your new time has begun."
After that day, the messages never returned.
But Ayan understood something deeply:
Time does not threaten us.
It warns us.
And sometimes…
It gives us one last chance.