Where I'm I?
Asher wonders as he looks out onto a blue river. The water from the river washed against his face, he could see the water on him but he couldn't feel it.
He could see from a low point on the ground, like he was lying flat on the ground. He tried to get up but he had no strength to do so nor could he feel his legs.
He slowly moved his looked around, trying to get his bearing
Where I'm I?
Where I'm I going?
He didn't have the strength to remember, he could barely crawl, and he crawled slowly towards the river.
Who I'm I?
He didn't have the strength to remember who he was. He slowly pulled himself to the river. He got close enough, the water washed against him.
He summoned whatever strength he could muster and pull himself up. High enough to see his reflection on the river.
As he looked into the river, he saw a simmering image of blackness, its eyes a swirling mist of white. It scared him so much he ducked his head in the river.
He waited a little while
Who I'm I?
He brought out his head again to see. He still saw the same shadowy figure. He ducked back but he saw the figure move with him then he stopped.
What? Is this what I am? a shadow?
He moved his head examining his appearance.
I'm flat, that explains why I'm crawling on the ground. But how did I get here?
He saw that he was just flat, he was just a two dimensional sheet of darkness with white misty eyes and this worried him because in his heart he felt that he was more or had been more.
He felt too weak and couldn't go any further, he could only watch as the river drew him in and took him down streams.
One of the benefits of being a shadow was that he had no need for water, so he couldn't drown
The river moved him along, he laid there helpless and he fell asleep.
When he opened his eyes again, he was in a deeper part of the forest on the bank of the river.
It was night and he felt a lot stronger. He wondered to himself if the sun had anything to do with why he felt so weak.
He looked around to get his bearings but nothing felt familiar. He could rely on the river to take him elsewhere, but that place could be much worse.
So he was determined to crawl his way out of the jungle and to do it quickly, because if it were true the sun made him weak then he best do it while it's dark.
He pulled himself along the marshlands of the forest, he could see bugs crawling on him as he invaded their spaces.
If there's one advantage to being a shadow on the ground was the flexibility it gave him, he could slide easily through the tightest crevices, he could slip underneath rocks that had been there for ages.
What gave him trouble were the marsh lands. He could handle muds but found it difficult to match the demands of the marsh lands but he still persevered.
He felt an unnatural fire in his heart like an unknown memory urging him to survive. He still had no recollection of who he was but his will was still in there somewhere.
By morning he had made it halfway through the jungle and for the first time he felt hungry. Hiding underneath the shades of a short tree to keep away from the sun.
He felt a lot weaker but the hunger push him out of the shadows and as he pull himself against the floor, the thought occurred to him
What exactly does a shadow eat?
He did his best to keep away from direct sunlight. Everytime he had to run through the direct sunlight, He felt a burning sensation on his back.
At first he was excited to feel something but soon it turned into pain and he didn't want it any longer.
Afterall what would happen to a shadow without a body?
He didn't want an answer to that. So he did his best to stay clear of sunlight.
As he crawled slowly on the floor he heard rustling in the wood, it was coming fast towards his direction. He didn't have the strength to move away and out of the bushes by his side, jumped out a white rabbit.
It landed on his back and he felt a faint surge of energy, he could see white sparks fly into him.
The rabbit runs off,
What was that? That felt good
He was sure that whatever he had felt, whatever that was, that would satiate his hunger. He could hear something else, coming
It was running from something!
A fox jumped out of the bush and landed on him. He felt it again. He quickly grabbed onto the foxes heel.
The fox ran with him clinging to its heel as it chased after the rabbit.
I don't feel anything
He had hoped to feel more of that energy if he clinged onto the fox, but he felt nothing.
His light flat form was flapping in the wind. He was quite light and he feared if he let go he'd fly away.
How come I don't feel any energy now?
He wondered. Soon the fox caught up to the rabbit and it, the rabbit was shivering.
As the fox moved slowly closer and closer to the rabbit. Asher let go of his heel.
He watched the rabbit shivering in the corner.
This is how it always is, I don't know why I remember that, but this feels natural, like this is how it's supposed to be
The fox growled and then darts in for the killed
As the fox pounced on the rabbit,its shadow brushed against Asher's body. Asher felt the surge of energy.
What.
The fox jumped back, startled by the loss of energy, it looked around, unsure of itself. Then it turned back to the rabbit.
As it moved on it, its shadow was cast against Asher. Asher gasped;
So that's how it works!
He felt energy rushing into him from the shadow.
I siphon the energy through the shadows.
The fox couldn't move anymore, it slowly slumped to the ground, it looked weary and tired.
Oh no! I'm taking too much.
Asher panics and quickly moves out of the fox's shadow. He waves his hands in panic, apologizing to the beast.
The foxes eyes slowly close as it falls unconscious but Asher thought he'd kill him.
But he could feel it breathing,
I killed it!