The Shadows' Protest [Freewrite]

The city of Riverdale was aglow with cheer, as if the very streets were smiling. What nasty thing could happen on such a lovely day? It was sunny and breezy. The street and sidewalks were filled with people out and about, enjoying the lovely weather.

In a blink, there was a surreptitious change in the atmosphere. Something strange was happening.

As people strolled through the streets, they started to notice that their shadows were behaving oddly. Rather than stretch forward in line with the angle of the sun, they stretched and shrunk, twisted and turned, as if they had a mind of their own.

The children noticed first and drew their parents' and guardians' attention to it. People thought it was just their imagination playing tricks on them. But soon, it became clear that something was seriously wrong.

The shadows were alive.

People started to scream and run in different directions. Panic spread through the city as the shadows began to attack people, dragging them into the darkness.

People ran for cover, trying to hide from the terrifying shadows but they couldn't. The shadow was a part of them.

The city was plunged into chaos. And semi darkness —the shadows were winning.

Ephraiya, a twelve year old girl, hiding beside a tall building in fear as her shadow twisted and made faces at her suddenly remembered an old story her grandmother had told her about a magic stone that could control shadows.

She was about seven years old when her Nana gave her a box containing her effects before she passed away. Nana said, "you never know. One day, these old things may bring some order to chaos."

"Yes!" Ephraiya exclaimed loudly. Her shadow tilted its head to the left to understand what she was up to. She would run home and find the box. "But what if it was all a myth?"

Ephraiya ran home amidst struggles with her relentless shadow that tried to stop her. She arrived home and found the house empty with items scattered around. There were scratch marks on the floor. Her family must have been dragged into the darkness.

Braving the darkness and the dangers that lurked within, she searched Nana's room until she found the box. Strangely, it glowed like there was a light bulb hidden inside. Ephraiya pulled the box open. The magic stone glowed with a bright light inside.

Her shadow screeched and dragged her by her legs away from the box. Shadows of items in the room joined Ephraiya's shadow. She fought, gripped the box and took the stone in her hand. She became free instantly.

The shadows froze, became sane and began to attach themselves back to their origins. The city was safe once more.

As people emerged from hiding, they looked up to the sky in wonder. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the breeze was cool. It was still a beautiful summer day. The entire event seemed surreal.

Now they knew that even on the nicest of days, danger can lurk in the shadows.

I hope you enjoyed reading this short piece. This freewrite is inspired by the prompt "What nasty thing could happen on such a lovely day". Join the Freewriters community to receive daily prompts, hosted by @mariannewest.