Shadows and Stars

In a deep, dark and lonesome place, the moon gave a little light to a darkened countryside. The grass was a never ending sea of pitch black, rippling in the soft breeze. The sky was magnificent as the stars adorned their mother. The breeze shifted slightly, as a child shifted uneasily. The sea of onyx grass stopped their appeasement to the hypnotic wind. The breeze grew stronger, lifting up hopeless leaves and twisting around endless tree trunks. The wind found its way to a little abandoned shack in the middle of a plain. The wind sized up this new thing, it forced its way into the rotten wooden planks. The wind slowed down as it realized that nothing was here. It was just another abandoned tool shack for some ancient farm. Weeds grew up through the cracks, casting weird shadows on the floor, and stranded tools lay here and there. 

The wind left the shack alone, by passing the chance to blow it down. 

Little did the wind know that by passing this chance, it saved a life. 

If ghosts can have life that is. 

A little white wisp of white illuminated the shack. The white floated down and laid on the floor. She curled up in a ball and cried softly. The moon started to cry over the loss of one of her many children. Tika wasn’t supposed to be on earth at all. The soft rain tested the shack’s strength. The rain puddled on the floor. The shadows were pushed back into the inner depths of the tiny house. They despised Mother Moon and her children, the stars. Tika was supposed to be a star, but by a rather cruel court session, she was subject to roam the earth as long as the stars shone bright. She cried in jealousy of your siblings. 

What have I done to deserve this? She thought. What have I done to be deemed to the earth for eternity?

She continued to weep softly. 

A young shadow separated from his family and wandered towards Tika. She looked up, surprised that an enemy was coming near her. 

“I don’t want to hurt you…” the little shadow said tentatively as if he rehearsed those lines so many times. 

Tika swatted at her cheeks. 

“Don’t be afraid, young one. What is it?”

“I-I want to be your friend, Star Maiden. I know what it’s like to be...an outcast. My family mocks at me every so often. I want to change. I...I want to show them that I’m a shadow too.”

Tika nodded, understandingly. 

“What is your name, young shadow?”

“I’m Luke, who are you?”

“I’m Tika. As you know, I’m supposed to be a star, but I, too, am a reject, and outsider. Let’s explore the world together, Luke.”

He nodded shyly. 

Well, this is unexpected, two enemies exploring the world together. They walked out of the shack into the soft drizzle of Mother Moon’s sad song. The realm of black grass danced a sad song, dark and gloomy. The ghost and shadow floated along quite well. 

“Tika, why are you not a star like your brethren?”

Tika sighed to herself.

“I don’t really know, Luke. The court sent me to earth as a punishment, but I have no idea what for.”

Luke nodded.

“My parents punish me for no reason too,” the little shadow replied.

“Why do they not like you?” Tika asked, quizzically.

“I’m not too sure, but I think it’s because I’m different. I stand up for what I believe and I guess they just don’t like a rebel. I think The Rules are unfair sometimes.”

“The Rules? What rules would those be?”

“Well, they’re just a bunch of stupid rules that state we can do this and not this. Like one of them said that we can’t ever go with light such as yourself, but I think that’s ridiculous. You aren't doing any harm. Like I said, it’s just stupid.”

Luke looked into the shadow filled land.

“My ancestors are all here, they probably hate me now. They think I’m bringing shame upon my family by disobeying The Rules. What about you, have you ever wanted to be a rebel?”

Tika looked up at her brothers and sisters. 

“Yes, very often I think certain things are wrong. Maybe that’s why I got punished.”

They continued to float along, lost in their own seas of thought. 

Tika was like a daisy in a dandelion field. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t even hear Luke cry out for help. He had been shadow-napped, if that’s possible. The wind decided to step in and help her out. He blew all his anger towards her, resulting in a very confused Tika flying backwards. She grabbed onto endless trees, but to no avail. 

“Brother Wind, please stop this nonsense!” she screamed into the wind. He listened to her call, leaving a soft breeze behind as he went to torment other souls.

She stood and straightened her white dress. Around her was no longer an endless meadow, but a thick deep forest. She could not even see her brethren or her mother. 

“Luke? Luke where are you?” she called. No answer. The shadows had a way of concealing things when wished. Now, they were concealing Luke from Tika’s eyes. He squirmed and kicked, but it just went through the shadows. They were on the forest floor, that much he could tell. 

“Let me go! I did nothing wrong!” he said.

“Yeah right. You did tons of wrong things, you little twerp. You’re coming with us,” hissed a shadow. 

“NO! I refuse. You can’t force me to come with you!” Luke cried out. 

“Ah, but we can, little Luke. You’ve always been a rebel, but now it’s time to end that.” The shadow signaled to his mates to hold him down. They tied ropes around his ankles and placed a weird gag in his mouth. They hoisted him up and walked over to where the forest suddenly became a ravine. A snaking black river ran through it. The walls were very steep.

“Welcome to The Doors of the Tormented. You can never escape this pit. It’s your fate, accept it, Shadow Boy.”

And with that, they tossed him over the edge like a piece of trash into a trash can. They laughed, satisfied that their mission was accomplished. Luke hit the bottom like a lump of play-dough, just a clump of shadows still gagged and bound.