[ WP ] In the dark , your shadow is assigned to protect you . One day you find out its gone .

I never noticed it much. Sometimes I'd catch a glimpse of my profile, notice my hair was sticking out, or there was something on my back. 
 
 I did n't really think about it. It was always there, at least, when there was light. 
 
 And why should I? My shadow, your shadow, was a normal part of seeing the world, no more important than the sun that lit the day, or the moon that illuminated the night. 
 
 To lose one's shadow would be as profound as proclaiming proof of the existence of God. 
 
 Why am I thinking this? Telling you this? Why did I even start talking about my shadow and the possibility of losing it? Honestly? 
 
 I just started a new job, the work and pacing are starting to settle into a routine. I just think about these things sometimes, mmkay? 
 
 Well, no. You dear friend are just a figment of my imagination. You get to see my deepest fears and thoughts as I panic. This here right now is actually my brain working at top speed. 
 
 `` Where's your shadow.'' uttered mere seconds ago by a curious coworker. 
 
 What kind of hot stupid shit is that. 
 
'Click' brings me back to the moment. He'd just taken a picture of me. 
 
 `` Lem me see that.'' grabbing his phone. Sure enough, I looked like a high resolution 3d model set in a 90s video game. No shadow, I stuck out like a sore thumb, or bad photoshopping. 
 
 `` That's just weird. Can you send me that?'' then `` Lets take a picture of me in the shade.'' 
 
 `` Sure, over here.'' It was early in the morning, maybe we were just both hungover. The company had hosted a pretty late happy hour last night. 
 
'Click' same nonsense. Being in the shade looked even odder, like I had a cowl over my head, even though I wore shorts and short sleeves. 
 
 `` Huh, well that's weird. Dunno what happened, check back later?'' This was too much for 8am. 
 
 `` Sure, see you at lunch.'' 
 
 My desk is right under a high power flourescent lamp, so it was n't very obvious ( I hoped ) during the day. 
 
 Come lunch though, I was starting to feel a bit sick. 
 
 Instead of meeting my friend, I hunted down my manager. Told him I was taking a sick day. 
 
 `` I do n't mind. You think its contagious?'' 
 
 `` Nothing like that, just feeling really weird. Ca n't describe it better.'' 
 
 `` Ookay. Well rest easy and come back better tomorrow.'' turning away, I almost got away in time. 
 
 But he did a double-take. Just before he put headphones back in, he looked back. 
 
 `` You do n't have a shadow.'' 
 
 `` Yeaa. I'm a little freaking out, man. That's part of why I'm going home.'' 
 
 `` Yea, go. Maybe see a professional about it?'' 
 
 `` Sure.'' what kind of professional do you talk to about losing a shadow, anyway? 
 
 I left. My keys had a shadow. My car had a shadow. My house had a shadow. I saw the shadows everywhere, but not my own. 
 
 Dashing straight to my rented room, closed the windows, door, shades. I lay down and turned off the lights. Closed my eyes. 
 
 Please be a dream. Let me wake up and this is a dream. 
 
 > This is not a dream. 
 
 From nowhere, images came unbidden. A room unknown. A mirror. A face not my own. 
 
 I watched myself in a vivid... something, as the not-Me purposefully traced symbols in a strange mirror.I connected the last line. 
 
 Force, raw and unknown blasted my mind. Forced me to see and feel the brink of death. 
 
 For a moment, a split second, I was lost and dead. Or dying. 
 
 > No. 
 
 With the last of my ebbing will I faced the force and denied it. 
 
 You are not real. You are not me. You have no power over me. I will not acknowledge you. 
 
 I visualized untracing the lines, undoing what had been done. 
 
 Slowly, the lines moved backwards. The drawing came away and I could sense myself again. 
 
 But something pushed back. The lines kept reappearing, trying to redraw themselves. 
 
 > You are mine, now. 
 
 Our struggle was timeless. For an eon I undid and fought against the redrawing of the lines that I knew would end me. Or worse. 
 
 > WHO ARE YOU. 
 
 > I am you, soon. 
 
 > WHY 
 
 > I am free. 
 
 wat. Was this some part of my subconscious? It could n't be, this felt external. Like something outside was assaulting me. Like, my shadow? 
 
 As I thought all this, I forced open my eyes. Streamers of light peeked past the curtains and I could see. I could move. I lay back down and closed my eyes again. 
 
 > You are mine. 
 
 This was my own thought now. 
 
 > You are a part of me, but you do not own me. You will not win. 
 
 Nothing responded. 
 
 I opened my eyes again. Turned on a light. And there was my shadow once again.
