A Day in the Life of a Shadow~

Just a note: these short stories are in no way linked (unless stated otherwise) or chronological. And I post these on DeviantART and Tumblr too. On DA, I am Agent-Pumpkin, and on Tumblr, I am robyn-the-hybrid (my profile picture is of Robyn, so you'd know).

Confusion Makes Sense... Sort Of.

It's funny, humans often confuse themselves, whether it be through needless calculations, or their ability to think about the least likely outcome for so long that they convince themselves a problem exists when it simply does not. I don't understand why they do that. Another thing I don't get, and can never hope to get my head around, is that humans enjoy being confused. Mystery is the bane of my existence, being a nameless 'creature' with my origins so effortlessly concealed by the cruel laws they call fate, but in the human world, mystery is its own genre! That's right, people indulge in the fact that they have no clue as to what the hell is going on. They don't understand what's happening... and they cheer and whoop in joy.

The thing is, the more I thought about it, the more I began to understand why this much was so:

Humans have no real concept of being utterly dumbfounded.

Now, now, let me explain. Yes, people are susceptible to particularly silly moments in which they feel they can't say or do anything in order to respond to the situation at hand. They also describe this as "dumbfounding", something that leaves them utterly speechless. Which is ridiculous, since there is nothing within the human world that is raw, that cannot be understood. I understand the imbalance of things such as religion, and magic, and even Science to some degree (though I digress, Science is there whether you like it or not – it works alongside other things, however), though they are not set in stone, and so it is natural to be confused, or have multiple options as to what you believe in, and what you do not.

Heh, that type of thinking wouldn't last you a day in this hell-hole; you wouldn't have time to think whether it was "moral" to kill the dog or not, or whether eating meat was a "sin". Such things do not exist here, sin is nothing but an old rumour, and pity is but an emotional disorder. According to 'Them', I have a lot of disorders; I think too much; I feel too much; I question too much. Oh, the questions. But one thing I know for certain:

Typical humans that are thrown into this land, by choice of the majesty himself (I'm not sure about his methods of choosing, however, I don't know how he deems them to be "worthy" of coming here), are always in such a mess when they eventually arrive. For starters, they cannot even begin to comprehend how some shadowy entity in the shape of hands came out of nowhere and dragged them through their floor. It's even questionable before that, when things begin happening, like radios speaking to them, paintings moving and having their minds constantly awake. That is their weakness. Ambiguity is their upmost weakness. It's quite funny, since in this world, that is all you're faced with every day.

You never know.

And you never will.

Shadow, I hope you're not slacking.

I shook my head as I mixed items and objects around a little bit, changing the layout of his world; of course, he was the only one who could manipulate his world's grounds, since he's the one who made it. Plus, a weak little shadow like me could never hope to possess such grand reputation and honour as changing the way the world looked physically, and not just by 'decoration'.

"No, sir," I whispered back. Apparently, there's always been a certain timidness about me regarding Maxwell. He constantly picks up on it, and even calls me things like a "gentle soul" and then proceeds to laugh about it. The way I see it, at least I am considered to have one. He seems to have lost his along the road, power and corruption eating at him like everything else here. In that respect, it's only natural that he'd end up the way he is now after some time... but it still makes me so angry to think that it didn't have to be this way. He could have avoided everything if he hadn't made a contract with knowledge itself. But that is not my tedious tale to tell, nor my wrenching words to speak. "You see, I am doing everything you told me to."

Yes, I must admit, you've been surprisingly useful this time... all right, that's enough. Stop, before you're entitled to some kind of respect for having done such a good job.

I heard him snigger at the end of his sentence, but held my tongue like I always did. At the end of the day, I am the one laughing; I'm not bound to a place I despise. Well, I am, but not hardly as powerfully as he is. He hates it so, and seeing that confliction, and that fatigue on his face gives me a sick, twisted kind of pleasure. I suppose as a shadow, it is natural, but let me tell you something:

It certainly feels odd to me.

"Right, sir...," I mumbled back to him, and I felt a vacancy as he left me to his own devices. It seems so silly to think about, considering what is done is done and that's that, but I wonder how things would be if the situation was reversed. If I was on the Throne and he was the lowly servant. 'They' forbid me to think of that... but they can't stop me when I'm in Maxwell's hands. So long as they don't find out. If they did... b-but they wouldn't. Even Maxwell cowers from them, he has enough decency to not throw things regarding them in our faces, particularly when I, by technicality, am part of 'Them'.

In conclusion, I find a human approach to things very... awkward. It results in stress, tiring out, over-working and exhausting yourself through worrying. It doesn't sound so fun to me. The thing is, Maxwell is human too (the lucky guy), and he seems to have a different air about him. A cruel, demeaning air. I hate to think he's lost his humanity all because he couldn't cope with the ambiguity. Was he a victim of cluelessness too?

I suppose I'll never know.