The Shadows

Chip saw the figures, dancing in the moonlight. In seconds he was mesmerised by the fluidity of their movement. It was almost as if their bodies were made of liquid. But they were silent. No music, no rhythm, just the grass rustling in the wind. It looked to Chip as though they had rehearsed the whole thing. He realized that they were magical beings. As Chip watched, he fell into a trance. He was only semi-conscious and all he could see was the dancing figures, twirling, leaping and prancing under the glistening light of the moon. They were like shadows. Chip could feel himself going deeper into the trance. Eventually he fell asleep, dreaming of the shadows.

When Chip awoke with the sun in his eyes his first thought was that it had all been a dream. But then he felt damp and looked around at the dew-drenched grass. No, it was real. He got up and looked around. He had no idea where he was. He thought he heard a sound so he ran towards it. There was nothing there.

Chip tried to remember how he got there, maybe he could remember the way out. He had been dared by his friends to stay in the forest for two nights on his own. He realised that he was stuck there.

Eventually he decided to wait for the dancers again.

When night fell, Chip was getting anxious. "What if they don’t come?" he wondered. He longed to see them again and to be in that wonderful trance.

Then Chip realised that he wasn’t alone. He looked around and saw that he was surrounded by the shadows. He was slowly hypnotized.

When he woke up he was panicking. He had seemingly been kidnapped! He was in a dark room. For how long he sat there, he didn’t know. Suddenly he heard something and the room was bathed in light. A group of shadows approached and told him to come with them. He followed. Finally they reached a huge hall. There was a throne at the other end with a shadow sitting on it. "You seem interested in us, mortal," it said.

"Er, yes " stammered Chip.

"Do you know what we are?" asked the shadow.

"No " said Chip.

"We are souls! Souls with no bodies. We are past that stage. We have no feelings except joy."

"Can I be like you?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"You must dance."

So Chip danced, and joined the shadows in their joy. He liked it, and never missed being human.

So if you think you see dancing shadows, it isn’t just a trick of the light.

by Shingi Middelmann

Grade 7 Final Creative Writing Exam
November 2000

The exam assignment was to choose a picture and write a story about it. Shingi chose this picture of the 'dancing shadows' and wrote the story above, just like this, in the exam room.