(I haven’t composed any short stories recently so decided to write this one after watching the play of shadows in the afternoon sun. Enjoy!)

The shadow followed him everywhere he went which made sense because after all that’s what shadows do.

Problem being this wasn’t his shadow. It hadn’t properly been his shadow for some time. In fact now that he thought about it he wasn’t exactly sure how long it had been since this current shadow had replaced his own. He just knew it wasn’t his. Especially when it decided to go somewhere other than where he was going and he was forced to go along.

Living in the city, where it seemed there were lights reflecting his shadow everywhere, he had come to have a distinct love of overcast days – no shadow. Of course when evening arrived, shadows came and went so depending on varying light sources he was partial stuck depending on what the shadow wanted to do.

So that’s how things proceeded until finally one day he turned and staring at the shadow on a brightly lit day he confronted it. “Go away and bring my own shadow back.” He said, raising his voice.

To his astonishment although he shouldn’t have been surprised the shadow responded. “No, I like it here, besides, your shadow was happy to trade places with me. He didn’t like you.”

“Well that’s ridiculous, shadows don’t have a say, they just are.” The fellow yelled back at the shadow. The shadow went mute and the man looked around realizing he was attracting attention as the shadow continued to pull him along.

“Where are you taking me?”

If a shadow could grin this one would have, instead its shoulders silently shook indicating laughter. The shadow leaned in close and whispered in his ear.

“Only the Shadow knows.”

*

Hope you liked this little bit of whimsy. Thanks for stopping by,

~ Penny