The Shadows

By
Becky Ray

In the old, dilapidated mansion on the outskirts of town, the shadow people dwelled. We
were beings of darkness, formless and ethereal, haunting the walls and corridors of the
decaying structure like silent specters. For centuries, we had lingered in the shadows,
unseen and unheard by the living inhabitants of the house.

To us, time was but a fleeting concept, a distant memory of a world to which we no longer
belonged. We moved through the walls and floors of the mansion with ease, our
insubstantial forms drifting like wisps of smoke in the night. The creaking sounds of the old
building, the whispers of the wind, and the faint flicker of candlelight were our only
companions in the solitude of our existence.

The living called us "shadow people," fearful of our presence and the eerie aura of the
haunted mansion. But to us, this crumbling edifice was our home, a sanctuary where we
roamed freely in the eternal twilight of the spirit realm. We watched as generations of
humans came and went, their lives fleeting and fragile compared to our timeless existence.

One night, a family moved into the mansion, unaware of the supernatural entities that
dwelled within its walls. As they settled into their new home, we shadow people observed
them with curiosity, intrigued by their fleeting emotions and fleeting lives. We watched as
they laughed and argued, loved and mourned, their actions a mere reflection of the fleeting
beauty and tragedy of mortal existence.

But as time passed, a darkness began to descend upon the mansion, a malevolent force
that stirred the shadows and sent shivers down our immaterial forms. The family grew
restless and fearful, their once bright spirits dimming like dying stars in the night sky. We
could sense the presence of something dark and powerful, a malevolent entity that
threatened to consume the very essence of the living and the dead alike.

In the depths of the night, we shadow people banded together, our collective energy
intertwining in an ethereal dance of unity and defiance. In the darkness of the haunted
mansion, we confronted the malevolent entity that sought to destroy everything we had
known and loved. With our combined strength and determination, we pushed back against
the darkness, casting it out into the void from whence it came.

As the first light of dawn broke over the horizon, the shattered remnants of the malevolent
entity scattered like dust in the wind, banished from the mansion forever. The family,
unaware of the shadow people who had saved them from a fate worse than death, emerged
from their slumber, their hearts lighter and their souls free from the darkness that had
threatened to consume them.
And so we shadow people returned to the shadows, our silent vigil over the haunted
mansion unbroken and undisturbed. In the depths of the old, decaying structure, we
dwelled in peace and unity, our existence intertwined with the very fabric of the spirit
realm, forever unseen, yet always watching over those who wandered into our haunted
domain.