Short stories

Chasing Shadows

I spin around in slow motion, raking in my surroundings. A perfectly trimmed grass plain; with a very wide path made of large river stones. My bare foot touches the first stone and I see black mists dart across the path. Curious, I place my other foot on the next stone. And, again the mists appear. But this time i can make out many little girls' black silhouettes with stunning detail. Every hair on their heads are being rustled in the cautious breeze. There is a swarm of these shadows, all of which are begging me to draw near to them. I take a few steps forward, and all the little girls scatter. I chase after them.

I finally catch up to one and before she can get away, I snatch her up and suddenly I cannot move. With foggy vision, I see a little girl around the age of 2 helping her mother in kitchen. When the front door is swung open. The little girl stops dead in her tracks, spins to the direction of the door, and takes off running to see who is there. Running, she squeals with joy as she is hoisted into the air by a pair of big, strong arms. Into the arms of love. Into the arms of her dad. She is then wrapped into a safe embrace by her father. She cries out to her mother, and yells that "Daddy is home". Coming out if the vision I now know who these little girls are, they are me. I am chasing my own self, and reliving what has been.

Exhilarated, I sprint after another mist. I catch the next one, eagerly awaiting which memory I will relive. The next memory is one of me and my friend watching a movie in their living room. We are laughing and enjoying each others company, until their mom comes in and tells us its time for bed. We are rising from our places on the couch when I let go of the shadow. This is a wonderful trip down a literal memory lane.

Out of the corner of my eyes i see a form that is about the age of 11. I chase after her. She is harder to catch since her legs are longer and she has more energy. When i catch her, I am out of breath and barely have enough energy to hold on to her but i somehow manage. The next scene I am on a bus talking to the girls around me. And then suddenly there is a loud crash and I am thrown out of my seat. Then my vision goes completely black. When my vision returns i am still inside the bus but this time i am on the roof. I let go of the shadow and scramble away from her, not wanting to relive that moment.

I was not expecting to relive the bad memories. Only the good ones. But i guess that's just how it is, you wish you could relive your memories. You imply the good ones, but non of us really specify which ones we want to relive. Therefore, we get all the memories we've ever had. I look back from whence I came, then look back at the shadow i let go of. She is curled into a ball and shaking, so i presume she is crying. I stand up and look beyond the black shadows. What I see both intrigues and terrifies me. I move closer to it.

Before me are silhouettes, much like the black ones, but these silhouettes aren't black. They are a beautiful shimmering gold. And they stand completely still, like a statue. And something deep inside tells me not to touch these forms. Because they are memories yet to come. As much i desire to see what lies ahead of me in my life, I don't want to spoil anything, good or bad. So, I turn and leave the memory lane, never to return, and never to look back. Because what's the point in living in the past? What's the point in chasing shadows that no longer have anything to teach me; and why relive something that has yet to be lived once?