"It wouldn't stop following me", Teju a child of 3 cried out to his mum.
"What"? She asked. Teju pointed at the dark shadow cast on the wall. She smiled.
"Come here", his eyes were teardrops, he seems to have been crying for a long time. Teju must have inherited her fear as a child, She thought, at a point, she would prefer to be carried around dreaded by the dark figure that kept following her until her father showed her a trick to overcome her fear.
"That must be a spy," Teju said, making his mum burst into laughter.
"No, it's not a spy but your shadow," she told him.
"What's a shadow?".
She paused for a while thinking of a better way to explain it to a 3-year-old. He waited patiently sobbing softly under his mum's arm.
She switched off the light.
"Do you see it again?" she asked. He nods his head
"No, where did it go," he asked curious to know what had happened to it.
Again she switched on the light, and there it was on the way. Teju screamed,
"Mum, it's here again" now crying and running to where she was standing.
"It comes when a light or sunlight is reflecting on you" she explained. " It's not a ghost, a spy, or anything you should fear, it's just a reflection of you, now raise your hand". Teju did as he was told to and noticed the figure did the same.
" Did you notice the figure raising its hand too"
" Yes," she said.
" Good, this shows the figure is you. Whenever you off the light you wouldn't see it". Teju listened with kin interest, he raised his leg and saw the figure doing the same, he tried a few other moves and noticed the figure mimicking him.
"Mum said it is my shadow," he said to himself, "I should not fear it".
So whenever Teju sees the dark figure, he remembers his mum's words.