Gone with the Moon

The morning light spilled across the bedroom wall, and I clung to it. I stayed still, the way shadows are expected to-silent, obedient, unnoticed. My human paced and muttered about some assignment due tomorrow, shuffling papers like a storm of his own. Being a shadow, I didn’t get dreams or a life of my own. For seventeen years all I did was follow him, watching from the floor and the walls.

Outside the full moon burned brighter than usual, sharpening every corner of the room. I’m not supposed to think; shadows don’t, but something inside me wondered what it would be like to leave. I imagined the world beyond his footsteps, the places I’d have never been allowed to follow. I knew it wasn’t possible, but the wanting never left.

I carefully listened to my human as he read something from his phone. Something like “I got help at my house, also got wings.” For being with my human for seventeen years I never really understood their complete dialect. I continued to listen, “It’ll be okay, I know it will be okay” he said while packing papers into his backpack.

While this was all happening I was stretching by him quietly, thinking of everything in the world I’d never seen but also trying to figure out what my human was getting ready to do. Once he got everything set he wasted no time and flew down the stairs from our fifth floor apartment. He flung open the door and we emerged out of the building into the dark parking lot. We walked fast to his car parked around the building. I quietly pondered what that message meant. He then loaded his heavy backpack into his small car.

As he slammed his car door closed I didn’t stretch. I didn’t move with him, I was detached. It took me about a minute for me to actually realize that he had drove off and now I was alone. A surge of joy rushed through me. “I’m free!” I told myself. I skipped into the dark, dense forest thinking of all the things I could now do. I skipped through the forest not having to worry about running into trees or tripping on thickets, I was truly free and I didn’t even have to look at any human now.

As I continued walking I noticed that whenever I moved I always heard someone else move not even ten feet away from me. I would look to the right and too the left and sometimes behind me, only to find that it was complete blackness. I didn’t really know the danger of being a lost shadow because the only time I witnessed a frightening moment was with my human.

It must have been around three o’clock in the morning before my stalker got tired of following me. “Stepping away from your human was a bold move.” I stopped in my tracks. " But boldness won’t save you out here.” “I didn’t leave” I said, very surprised that I let any words out of my mouth. “I was forced out.” I stayed completely still, silence. “Forced out” said my stalker tasting the syllables. “That either means your human fears you, or he’s stronger than you thought. Either way little shade you’re prey now.” I was now completely horrified, but I still didn’t know what he could do to a shadow as I am just light. It now felt like all the trees, shrubs, and thickets were now closing in on me.

My stalker spoke again; “But I give you a choice. You can either go find your human, or stay with me.” I feel like my stalker already knew the answer but he made me confirm. “I guess I’ll find my human” I said stuttering in shock and emotion. “Good, I thought you would pick that one. And if you don’t get him or somebody else gets him, I will be back.” I nodded my head in approval and ran off as fast as I could.

The visit with the stalker took around thirty minutes, and I assumed that it was around three-thirty now. A lot of floodlights were on that night so I had to be careful were I stood to avoid being seen. I was now back where my humans car had once been parked in the parking lot. I decided that if my human was going to be anywhere it would have to be his apartment. I didn’t want to walk through the main door because if their was a receptionist they would probably notice a black silhouette walking around at three-thirty in the morning.

I soon decided that I should walk around the building for possibly a more discrete entrance. I started on the sidewalk and noticed another shadow walking the opposite direction as me. I got a little spooked when I first saw it but realized that this was probably a ordinary nightly occurrence. We walked past each other with no harm and no greeting at all. I assumed that he probably did the same thing as me by running away from his human. I walked the side of the building until I came across a door that said “EMPLOYEES ONLY”. I opened the door without problem, for being an apartment that probably only pays minimum wage and has barely any staff one of the members probably forgot to lock the door.

I soon found out eventually that my hypotheses was very wrong, mainly because there was actually a staff member working in it. As soon as I found out I was not alone I quickly navigated the boxes all labeled “PORT AUTHORITY”. The employee was quick to recognize that the door had come open and proceeded to lock it, so my theory was not completely wrong.

I was now on my hands and knees trying to wiggle through the tight spaces of boxes. I wiggled until I found a spot at the side of the room. I waited until the perfect opportunity, which I found when she bent over to write in her clipboard. I slowly and carefully took a box and brought to myself. I chucked it across the room, she murmured something and came confused to where the box came to lay. I darted out of the room as fast as I could. I heard a scream in the room, “I knew this place was haunted! I quit!”

I kept on running. I found a door that had “STAIRWELL” marked on it. I opened it and went into the very run down stairwell seeing very clearly that this was probably only used once every ten years. I sprinted up the stairs. I found level 1, then 2, 3, 4, and finally 5. I opened the door which led to a hallway. I assumed everyone was asleep and this time their would not be any workers working up here at four in the morning.

I found our room: Room 515 at the highest floor. I hurriedly opened the door. I was very surprised to see a spilled blue cup, and a half open computer on maximum brightness. Even the sheets on the bed were open.

As I kept looking I was not aware that my stalker had appeared. “I knew you would come here first”. I turned around from the bed to meet my hunter. “Thank you for bringing me closer to him.” “Oh no you don’t!” I screamed at him.

I ran as fast as I could down the hallway and into the stairwell. “You can’t run from me little chap.” I didn’t care what he had to say now, all I had to do was to find my human. I sprinted down the stairwell and into the main exit. Thankfully nobody was there. I came into the parking noticing that my stalker was just on my tail. “Don’t worry, little shade, being unclaimed is fun.” He said evilly.

I burst out onto the road, I heard an ambulance in the distance coming towards me. “Follow the sirens, just follow the sirens.” I had to keep running. I got a head start on the ambulance so by the time it passed me I was already running for a minute. I was now sprinting so hard that I was sweating even when the sun hadn’t even come up, I was very scared knowing that if he did touch me I would be unclaimed and would no longer be a shadow forever.

Luckily the ambulance turned onto a turn lane. It went into the most nearest hospital, I only had to go a few more yards. I didn’t have to worry about getting run over by a car, sadly neither did my stalker. I was in the parking lot and about to run into the main entrance. I looked at just the right time to see my stalker in hands reach. “Oh no you don’t.” I said again as he was trying to reach me with his hand, I quickly ran out of his reach again.

I ran to the hospital doors as the rain was pounding the pavement and the thunder was shaking the glass. It was a dark and stormy night. I found the spot that was marked “Ambulance Entrance”, and rushed over to it expecting my human to come out any minute. He didn’t. I was now trapped in the corner with my stalker closing in. I spun in circles through chairs and benches, heart racing, begging inside for my human to rescue me. In the middle of our frantic chase, the door opened. My stalker violently slammed me down to the ground, he was reaching out to claim me as one of his, when I heard it. “My shadow-my real shadow.” Everything froze. Even the stalker’s hand stopped mid-reach. My human was here and he wanted me back.