The man who ran from his shadow

A Story by Levik

a story of a man trying to escape something he could not outrun, and the encounter that turned his life around.

There once was a man that ran from his shadow. Wherever he went he saw this dark silhouette of a man behind him or beside him, and it drove him crazy.

No matter where he went, no matter to which country he flew, with which friends he met, the dark spirit was never far.

Not always was he scared of it or angered by it, sometimes he actually confided in it, it made him feel like he is not like everyone else, he has a dark side that no one else can see or understand.

For years he kept going back and forth, at times he ignored it successfully, at times it wasn’t even there. But there were times that he couldn’t handle it, he’d be frightened, he‘d be confused, or he’d embrace it as part of his complex life.

He believed that not many understood him, that he was one of a kind, and destined to be an non-understood person, he can fake being in others presence but that is not he.

One day he decided to run from his shadow, he woke up early in the morning before the sun came out to get an early start, his shadow was nowhere to be seen

“it’s working already” he thought cheerfully and set out on his journey, when the sun came out he was in high spirits, the shadow was gone, the air was crisp, and the sun shone brightly, but then he looked behind him, and there it was, he began running and running, and the shadow came after him, he stopped, it stopped, he ran across the street it crossed the street with him, not sure what to do, he ran inside the nearest coffee shop, and lo and behold, it was gone, he breathed a sigh of relief, he sat down sipping a sharp black coffee considering his next moves.

He came up with an elaborate plan, where he would go, what he would do, which roads he will take. He asks the waiter for a napkin, he writes down the plan, and he is ready to set out. He picks up some nutrition bars and he walks out of his house, and there right beside him is his shadow.

He runs to a side street, he sits down on a tree stump and he begins to go out of his mind, he cant control himself anymore, all the years of pent up emotion, anxiety, fear, anger, and self-loathing for collaborating with the dark spirit, it all comes out to the surface, his eyes water, he tries controlling himself, but he just cannot, and he sits on the corner crying.

He’s crying bitterly, he’s ashamed of how he looks, but there is only so much he can hold back, his bag and hat are on the floor beside him, and he is wiping his eyes with a napkin, that same damned napkin where he plotted to outsmart his dark spirit.

“good morning sir” he hears a childish voice call out, as a few spare coins are dropped into his hat. He looks up to see a young child trying to do an act of kindness to a clearly broken and needy man.

He quickly composes himself and calls her back “don’t worry, my issue isn’t with money, take it back, buy yourself a candy or something”, the little boy turns around with a surprised look on his face “okay” he says as he scoops back up the few coins, “but what is bothering you sir? Is there a way I can help?”

He chuckles sadly to himself “I’m afraid not” but a moment later he adds “though if you want to hear, ill tell you” this would be the first time he would really open up to someone about his unnatural issue “he’s just a kid, I will be able to handle it without feeling judged” he rationalized to himself.

The boy came over rather surprised, “sure thing” he said and he sat down across the man.

The man looks at the boy and asks him “do you see anything near me? “no” answered the boy. “on the floor?” he asks again, “yes” responds the boy, “your bag, your hat, and your shadow” he giggles to himself laughing at his own little joke.

“my shadow? What’s that?”, the child was quite surprised at a grown man not knowing what his shadow was, he explained to the man to the best of his ability showing the man, that everyone, and everything, have shadows, explaining to him how shade itself is a shadow. He showed him all the things that you can do with a shadow, all the shapes you can make, and how it follows you and your action.

The man was shocked. He was waving his hand at his shadow, watching his reflection wave back. He took out a 100 dollar bill, he handed it to the child, exclaiming to the puzzled boy “you have no idea what you have just done for me! Buy yourself something nice, you just saved a man’s life!” the boy grabbed the bill and skipped off happily.

“shadow! Aye?, it is a reflection of myself, all its power comes from me, I control it, and it doesn’t exist without me, my fears were unfounded because it is only as harmful as I am myself, my angst and annoyance were just my lack of knowledge and clear mindfulness. Everyone has a shadow, that is not what makes me unique, rather it was my mistaken narrative that made me different, and it is my future narratives that will control my independent conscious identity”.

And then a slightly chilling thought crossed his mind, “that means my consorting with the evil spirit was essentially releasing the darkest parts of me” he sighs “it seems like now I have to get to know myself, and find out what I am composed of, what defines me, and what are my limits and goals”

He sets out to travel again, this time to discover himself, he looks to his side, and he sees his shadow, he know his shadow is smiling even though he cant see it, because he knows that he is smiling.

The end.