The City That Outgrew Its Shadows

At first, shadows in the city behaved normally, stretching at dusk and shrinking at dawn. But as years passed, something changed. People began confronting truths they had avoided—apologies spoken, limits accepted, desires admitted quietly. The shadows responded by growing thinner, paler, until one evening they no longer appeared at all. Without shadows, the city felt exposed, unfamiliar. Yet people slept more peacefully. Fear, it seemed, needs darkness to survive.