The shadow I became (short story)

       The year was 1842 when I began working in a soap factory. I was only ten years of age at the time but that had not slowed me down whilst performing laborious activities in order to feed my family. Mother was ill and bedridden. The twins, on the other hand were far too young for working. As for my father- he bought a ticket for the everlasting journey, leaving us before we could remember his silhouette. Everything was resting on my shoulders, which had to carry the weight of it all.  That was far from a simple task.  The mighty Lord can be my witness. Be that as it may, I would much rather return to those drearily painstaking circumstances than be a shadow I turned into twenty-five years ago. The story I am about to tell you portrays the event that occurred on the evening of 16^th of September 1844, the event that changed who I was forever.

      My day began like any other; I woke up at half past 6 and made breakfast for mother and the twins; slices of stale bread smeared with jam made from oranges grown in our garden and a pitcher of milk given to us by our blessed neighbours who knew about our struggles and were helping us out throughout the years; then I made breakfast for myself.  By quarter past 7 I was out of the door with mother’s warning still ringing in my ears…’’Keep out of the storage unit, children; especially you Gregory, I am begging you!’’ The storage unit was a small dreadful looking shed adjacent to the factory. It was always locked during the night. However, the boss was the only one who dared to walk in there, and he was very reluctant to provide anybody with inside information about the infamous unit. Nobody knew exactly what secrets that storage unit held. Legends surrounding it were numerous. Some claimed they saw witches summoning evil spirits at night time. Others swore a three-headed monster, awaiting to devour you in one-piece, dwells in there. One thing was certain, anyone who even put as much as a foot in that storage unit never came out of it alive. I knew better than to taunt whatever was hiding behind those doors. So, I left in pursuit of my daily duties varying from sorting and packaging to sweeping the floors and performing minor upkeep.  Time went by quickly and before I realized the moon was beginning to cast its shadow. There was nothing particularly unusual about that evening; the workers were saying their goodbyes as they were leaving for their well-deserved rest, my old chum Larry and I were cleaning the floors; I told him to go home because he seemed more exhausted than myself. Wishing him goodnight, I began cleaning his part of the floor. I was just about to leave when two identical figures appeared outside. At first did not think much of it as orphaned children were often seen wandering around the factory begging for leftover bread, but little did I knew these children were not orphans…they were my kin! They were my sisters! My sisters ran away from home and were rushing curiously towards the storage unit in eerie state of hypnosis. Their stare was blank and expressionless with slightly gaping mouths. As soon as I spotted them, I began rushing outside before it was too late. The only thing on my mind was getting them safely to their beds; the thought of them walking into the storage unit had not even occurred to me since that was highly unlikely. But to my surprise, the unit was unlocked that night! One of the girls reached for the door handle and pulled the door open and was about to go inside; the other one followed her steps. Luckily, I managed to push both of them away in time, but I mistakenly leaned against the side of the opened unit; a muscular arm wrapped itself around my abdomen and pulled me forcefully inside. The last thing I remember was a pungent smell of a handkerchief soaked in some sort of opiate rapidly entering my nostrils, making me drop to the ground within seconds.

      I woke up the next day (or so it seemed) to the sight of my own funeral. Mother was kneeling and crying unconsolably while the twins were clinging to her sides. My aunts and uncles, cousins and even Larry were there; all in black, all equally distraught. I opened my mouth to utter something; I raised my arm to show a sign, but to no avail. I was invisible to them. I closed my mouth, put my arm down and flew up to the sky. To think I would still be here had I not leant against that storage unit…