It was a fine day when Carl decided to go out to the desert.
He always liked the idea of being able to dress up as a manly masculine dude in the heat of the sun.
He was a young man in his 20s just at the edge of growing up into another one of those boring adults, he wanted to go out and have fun while he could.
His brown eyes glimmered as he planned out his journey.
On the day of departure, he got up early around 4 took a quick bath and was ready with everything when he checked the time on his watch, it was 5. He initially had sought to go on it alone until a few of his friends decided to join him on his trip, they too felt the same way as him.
'Life is just hard on everyone I suppose', he thought to himself.
'Its 2 hours too early I suppose', he said to himself.
Carl decided to rest on his couch, the chair that connected him to all the comforts he had felt all his life.
He closed his eyes as he went into a deep slumber, dreaming about his mother.
She used to be a nurse. Always busy helping out at the hospital, she barely was at home.
But whenever she was, she would make him his favourite foods, cakes and biscuits and all sorts of other sweets.
She would always share with him, jokes her patients would tell her. He really loved her.
Then suddenly he saw it unfold in front of him, a 1000 yearold memory of when he was just 12.
He was in the church, a lot of people were there.
All of them looked happy.
On the centre stage, there were two people.
One of them was a man with a rough figure.
His hair were almost like seaweed,
Coloured brownish and nearly touching his shoulders.
He had a big fat grin on his face, he looked almost like another person.
His eyes were greyish in shade.
His beard was just barely enough to cover his neck.
Dressed in a white formal coat,
He seemed to be in his 40s.
The other person standing on the stage was his mother in a bride's gown.
Looking as beautiful as ever.
Blonde hair and brown eyes,
She looked at Carl and smiled gently.
The priest then asked them both to kiss each other.
As soon as Carl heard him saw that, he felt hurt.
For some reason the very thought of seeing another man kiss his mother, just made him feel uncomfortable, very - very uncomfortable.
The two did exactly as the priest had said, everyone in the crowd stood up and started clapping.
Carl could not take it, he did not say anything but got up from his seat and slowly walked out of the place.
His mother called his name, But Carl was too shocked to say a thing. His mother said his name again, and suddenly Carl rushed to the main door, opened it and ran out of the church.
Everyone in the church staring back at him with eyes of sadness and pity. That made Carl even more angry.
He did not know who his father was. He had never met him but from what he had pictured according to his grandmother's description.
Seeing another man who did not fit that description even touch his mother sent a chill down his spine.
He decided to let it not bother him though, he could almost sense his mother's happiness. He accepted the man.
Then the scene suddenly shifted.
He was back in the church, this time instead of attending a wedding, he was attending a funeral.
One that belonged to his mother.
She was lying in the coffin.
Carl looked a bit older now.
His new father was right beside him.
Both of them having tears in their eyes.
Suddenly an old lady Carl did not know spoke up from the crowd.
'Oh poor child, he is only 13'
This time Carl did not run, he stayed where he was, standing there trying to comprehend his loss. Tears flowing down both his cheeks.
He stayed there for a few hours then suddenly everything around him shifted, he was back at his house.
His step father was there with him.
In his eyes Carl could see a sort of madness he had never encountered before.
He grabbed Carl by the hair and took him inside the room.
He pushed Carl on the floor.
Carl turned around and saw it, his father stood there with a baseball bat in his hands. A feeling of dread overcame Carl.
His father slowly lifted the bat and hit him on the face with it.
He kept on hitting him. Each time harder than before. At first Carl was struck with fear, then suddenly the fear vanished.
Carl could think much more clearly now. He felt the pain bit he somehow bears with it.
He could feel his nose getting disoriented, but he did not care.
Then with a thrust his step father hit him as hard as he could.
Carl went unconscious.
The father got up, he glared at his blood stained bat. 'I'll really have to clean this up now, what a little runt' he said with a cruel voice.
He put down the bat and got up.
He turned around and suddenly something hit him at the back of his head.
It felt quite striking so he tried to turn backwards.
But before he could, something grabbed him from behind, a black figure.
Completely composed of darkness.
He kept on clinging to the man's neck till he couldn't breathe.
And even after that, it stayed right there.
Then out of the blue a loud continous noisy honk forced Carl to wake up.
It was his friends, they were all set with a jeep and a few supplies at their disposal.
It was around 7 now.
With a horrified expression and tears in his eyes he said, 'that night, I... I finally know what happened, my shadow, it was My Shadow...'