Prompted Story Snippets

Shadows

Darling, what else can I say? The darkness suits me. It's so much easier to just... let go. There's something in the shadows that just pulls you in. 

Don't resist. Why would you? 

You can feel your bones melting, your flesh vaporizing, your mind submitting to the dark. 

 Well, I wouldn't say 'the dark'. More like what's in it. 

See, as kids, we know the truth. We see everything lurking just beyond our sight, and we know that if we hide from them they cannot find us. 

As teens, we see them, but have too much pride to hide away from what everyone tells you is a simple fear. I suppose that's why we jump at every flickering shadow, at every whisper across our windowsills, at each cold touch against our spines. 

Now, as adults, we know that the dark is nothing to fear. We can conquer it with a simple light, one touch of a button or flick of a switch. 

That's the funny part, I guess. As adults, we want so badly to be able to tell the next generation that there's nothing to fear in the shadows. We all know that's a lie. 

There are things out there. Some human, some... not. That might be the problem. We've tricked ourselves into thinking that we're safe. We think so much and yet so little about what really matters.

What do I mean? 

The stuff that matters, darling. What to do if a fae tricks you into their court. What to do if a knife settles itself again your throat. What to do if you know you're spiraling but no one else believes you. 

Now, I'd like to say that all of this is a lie, but you wouldn't believe me. Not unless I show you. 

But you already feel it, don't you? 

 You can feel the shadows nipping at your heels. You can feel the cold chills of the wind against warm skin. You finally understand what I meant when I said that the darkness suited me. 

It's easier for me than most. Any enemies of mine could never find me within the depths of the dark.

You try tracing strings with a knife, darling. You'll end up choking the wrong side of the thread or snap it, leaving them to fall further into the abyss. Now here's the question... was I pulling them out or pulling them in? 

The plight of a marionette, I suppose. If those I pull the strings of have no knowledge of everything I've done, who's to say that I'm not another doll being suspended over the edge of creation. That the minute I try to pull the wrong way my strings will unravel and leave me to my doom. 

Such a fascinating thing, the darkness. Sometimes I wonder if it's better to be afraid of what I can't see or what I can. 

What was that saying... people fear what they don't understand, and hate what they do. Yes, that's it. 

One problem with that. Just- just the one. 

I know the darkness. I can always feel it. 

I feel galaxies spinning where my lungs should breathing. I feel stars exploding where my heart should be beating. I can feel the comings and goings of my denizens where I should feel the comforting touch of another. 

Should, should, should. 

I should see through my eyes, but I see through the flickers of the constant shadows around me. 

I should hear the calling of others, but I only hear the quiet whispering of wind through the darkest alleyways. 

I should feel my blood running through my veins, but instead I feel the silent drop of tears on dark grounds. 

Maybe I am the shadows themselves, maybe I'm not. 

Maybe I lost myself playing some massive game of life and death, maybe I didn't. 

Maybe I was once alive like you are, but then again, maybe I wasn't. 

But darling, fear what lies in the dark. 

Although the dark might suit me, the shadows will swallow you whole and never let you leave. 

And what am I, if not one small cog in the greater machine that makes up the dark? 

One more puppet, hanging from some great cosmic string?

One more soul, lost forever in the great expanse of the eternal night?