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I don’t see the man that the shadow attached itself to last time, but I do see
a shadow wandering around again. I follow behind it, feeling even more
helpless than before. What if it attacks someone again? Is it even doing
anything bad?
I want to tell myself no. That it’s harmless, or something. But I still feel so
cold when I look at the shadow, as cold as I did lying in that stream, soaked
through and in shock. No, I can’t ignore the shadow moving around people
who are walking by unaware, especially when it drifts towards a playground.
With a sinking feeling in my chest, I notice lots of younger kids around.
Some parents are there, watching them or talking on their phones or just
chatting with others, but none of their eyes are tracking the shadow as it
slowly creeps forward.
I stop near some swings, not really knowing what to do next. Is this really
happening? I want to think that this is all some hallucination of mine,
despite how creepy that would be, but it would be much better than this
shadow being real and moving around near a bunch of kids.
For a few minutes, though, nothing happens. The shadow doesn’t move on,
but it doesn’t really get close to anyone around it, either. It just seems to be
watching everyone, though there’s nothing remotely like a face on it that I
can see. I wrap my arms around myself when I feel a sudden chill in the air,
and then the shadow starts moving again, only this time with more purpose.
I’m also moving before I can think not to when the shadow hovers over a kid
playing in a sandbox. He looks to be a little old for that, really, already in
school, but he’s still a few years younger than me. I can’t just watch and
stare again while the shadow does something to a little kid. Before I know it,
I’m standing in front of him and he’s looking up at me skeptically, not that I
can blame him.
“Hi,” I greet him awkwardly. I’m trying really hard not to notice the shadow
hovering next to us. It stopped when I drew closer, like it was surprised. I
feel scared that it’s there so near to both of us, but I don’t want to move away.
What if it attacks the kid when I do?
“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers,” the kid says, but he’s smiling. Unable
to help myself, I smile back a little. He’s cute for a little kid. We both know
adults mean other adults when they tell us that. None of the parents here are
giving me a second glance for walking up to him, even though I’m the oldest
kid here. It’s not like I look suspicious, dressed in regular jeans and a t-shirt
and sneakers.
“Me, either,” I confess, mentally rolling my eyes at the memory of my dad’s
concerned voice. He isn’t home a lot, except on weekends, so even though I
have plenty of people to hang out with, he still sometimes worries that I’m
going to run into a stranger and get stolen away or something. Parents are
paranoid that way.
“I’m Alex,” the little boy says, introducing himself while holding out a hand
that’s covered in sand. I can’t help but laugh, and return the handshake,
sitting down right across from him in the sandbox. It’s not like I can’t brush
the sand off later. And it’s a pretty decent sandbox, actually.
The shadow is watching us both now, and I’m trying not to shiver too much
at its attention being on me now, too. I don’t know how I can tell, but the
feeling of being watched is intense. I don’t like it.
“Me, too,” I answer cheerfully. “My name’s Alex.” His eyebrows shoot up in
surprise, and he eyes me up and down for a second before grinning wider.
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