Shadow...

"Hey kid, where are your parents? You should not be out here this late. Go home, kid." the soldier said with a commanding voice. The young boy shook his head and turned away back to his dwelling. As he walked on the cobbled pathway under the streetlights, he noticed his shadow imitating his every move. Curious, he tried waving his hands in the air and jumped around in circles. The shadow followed his actions in the exact same way. He was delighted. He realized that he had just found a friend, a friend who is exactly like him only pitch black and unable to reply his burning questions. Nevertheless, he felt that he was no longer alone and this made him feel a little lighter on the inside.

Back in his dwelling, under a bridge, he neatly prepared his bed made of pieces of cardboard. Before heading to bed, he took out a piece of bread he stole earlier that morning. The lost fragrance of the bread indicated that it was no longer fresh. But who would think twice of consuming it when their stomach was growling and mouth felt so watery. Penniless, the boy considered this plain bread a feast, he thought that at least, it would keep him alive for another day. Before he finished his last bite, he tore a small crumble and placed it on the ground. He noticed a kitten looking at him eating from a distance with its tongue licking its mouth and whiskers repeatedly. He knew it was starving just as he was. His thoughtful deed was repaid when he found the kitten sleeping peacefully beside him. All he could do was to smile.

Still in his tattered clothes, he rose early the following morning to find food for the day. He went around the townsquare to beg for food. Some from the rich simply tossed a penny at him. He would then nod his head as a sign of gratitude. The rich kids who looked at him could not stand his sight that they sometimes made fun of him and ordered him to leave. Powerless and shamed, he would fulfill their unreasonable demands while they threw pebbles at him. He knew his place in the heirachy so he did not fight back. He was not revengeful or took it personal, he just want to stay away from trouble should he see it coming.

After a tiring morning, he would take a rest by the river. There, he laid down facing the blue sky with arms crossed behind his head. He thought how blissful it was if he could live like this every day, away from poverty. When it was time to go, he saw his shadow again. This time, it was noon and his shadow has shrunk. He thought that it was dying so he ran back to the townsquare hoping to find a place where there were many shadows. After a wild search, he finally found the perfect spot, the entrance of the train station with huge pillars supporting the facade of the infrastructure. Huge shadows were cast on the marble floors where commoners passed by bustling with chatters and other incomprehensive noises. The boy stood on one of the pillar's shadow and waited patiently for his shadow to appear. It never did until sundown. He was estatic. He thought he would lose his only companion when he was lonely. At that moment, he finally realized that his life is somewhat similar to his shadow...

The boy lost his parents when he was young. Ever since, he was left all alone in the streets. No one to turn to, he learnt the importance of survival in the streets himself. The faces of violence, poverty and hunger were evident yet he somehow maintained the innocence of a child. Many would wonder how a boy could stay alive in these mean streets filled with the negative images of life. Perhaps it was due to the strokes of luck but there was something in him, different from others who were also in his shoes.

He valued his shadow, an evidence of his very own existence in this world. He could see himself just as a shadow among all the rich and all the people who were more fortunate than him. He was always there but always left unappreciated by those around him. They saw him as an insignificant object of zero importance. So when he saw his own shadow, he wanted to view his shadow as his only companion who would always be there wherever he fell, wherever he cried although it could say nothing at all. The rich and powerful have forsaken their shadows, their humble beginnings and origins. If their shadows decide to leave them in times of desperation, who else can they turn to? How are they going to value their existence? Living without a shadow means that he or she does not even exist in the first place.

This story is inspired by "Unwell" by Matchbox 20.