Idiosyncrasies of a Shadow // (ManxMan)

Prologue

A/N: this is an excerpt taken from one of the early chapters, not really much of a spoiler but if you'd like, you can skip it. You'll see it down the line anyway.

~

The five men sit around the table. Genuinely enjoying the time they are spending together.

Although, Roman and Felix has their reservations about this new 'Aaron' character, they do enjoy the conversations lead by none other than little Skylar, pouring his endless energy into keeping the talking going around, making sure everyone gets a chance to speak. He does so effortlessly.

Optimism is in his blood after all.

Optimistic or not, the five men all come from different backgrounds, have a different story to tell, they have a reason for how they think and how they act.

But they are all adults, and one can only be qualified as an adult if they have seen the cruelty of the real world.

And all five of them have indeed.

Exposed to the lack of love, all for different reasons but the lack of love all the same.

One chose to hide behind his wealth.

One chose to drown in pity all alone.

One chose to doubt the world a little too harshly.

One chose to promise his love to one person, and solely that person.

And one, well, he chose to love everyone.

Because he knows, there are people out there that have seen the dark side of humanity, and he knows they need a little more love to survive.

So here they are. Five souls that cross paths, souls that once thought that they lead a painful and dull life. But little did they know, all the pain killing they need is in form of the short Canadian ball of sunshine.

Sure, light inevitably casts shadows, but aren't shadows behind us for a reason?

Perhaps some would like to acknowledge their own darkness behind them;

The perfect replica of who they are, a silhouette that tells the story on the outside.

But only their outside.

The inside is for us to fill in and for us tell the story of who we are.

Thing is, there is no 'too late' for telling our story,

Because the shadow will always be there,

Always a clear black slate,

Just like an ever-clean canvas for us to retell the story of our lives anytime we decide.

~

Acknowledging, is to understand it, look at it, think about it;

But acknowledging is not to relive it,

Dwelling in your shadow means turning around, and turning around means;

You lose sight of the breathtaking sunshine in front of you.

~

One would think that because the sun is so bright, there wouldn't be a shadow left behind at all.

But that's not the case,

Fact is, it leaves behind a more prominent one, one that has cleaner edges that show a more perfect copy of the person.

But that's what exactly our ball of sunshine does.

He made his best friend realize that shadows will not leave,

But more importantly, to realize that the shadow is not you.

You are who you want to be.

And the best friend decided,

He is not an angst filled street fighter,

He is not a criminal,

He is. Not. His. Shadow.

And the ball of sunshine?

He chose to be his best friend's second chance.

His second chance at living,

Second chance at love,

Chance to be loved.

And that is the reason why Felix and Skylar were shadows.

~

The rest of the five have only just crossed paths with the true nature of our sun,

But they too, one day,

Will learn to live through shadows,

And finally live as themselves.