Shadows

They are so often undefined, misunderstood or simply unrecognised for what they are.

These are things that sometimes plague a host; any one of which may be discounted, resulting in the host’s disadvantage or even peril.

It can be a shadow, moving where there is none or the sound of a whisper in an empty room. It can be the sound of rain when there is none. The sudden taste of a fruit when you have eaten none. The cold shiver in a warm bath or the chill that surprises you on a sunny day. The hand that holds yours when no one is there. The feeling of knowing what is going to come next. The pain in a limb that is no longer there. The lump in your throat when you’ve not eaten.

It can be the smell of a rose, although made of paper or seeing auras when others see nothing. It is the alert feeling when there is no visible danger around. Knowing your way around where you haven’t been before, momentarily not recognizing someone you know, or seeing a doppelganger. Denying something that you really know. Feeling an incline when on flat ground, the enjoyment of another’s misfortune or the wish to believe a lie. It can be a voice in the head, a persistent itch, or the secret admiration for a wrongdoer.

It can be the momentary feeling of having no memory of a previous action. The realisation that others had full lives of their own. The frustration when realising how unimportant a current conversation is. Mentally replaying an argument, changing it to result in a victory. A wish to return to a younger self to tell of the future. Distressed that all the world’s books could not be read. It can be like feeling comfortable and likening it to a return to the womb.

It can be the desire to be a child again. The annoyance of only being able to inhabit one place at a time. The strange feeling when suddenly locked in a mutual gaze. Feeling nostalgia for a time never known. The growing desire to care less about life. The sense of repeating some past event. The impatience felt when predicting how long it takes to fully develop a relationship or the insistent sensation of being out of place. The impinging realisation of not living to see what the future will bring. The belief that life no longer makes sense.

All of the above, and a tumult of others, sit waiting to be experienced.

In many cases, simply waiting to be casually dismissed, sent back into the region of the unknown…

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