The Shadow World

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, but this is not the case when someone screams in the woods. A scream in the woods carries a long distance and it was such a scream that began the bizarre event I am about to explain.

The Appalachian Mountains are beautiful in the fall, and I usually hike them for some time alone and to connect with nature. I have been doing this for as far back as I can remember. My mother brought me into the woods as soon as I was able to walk, and she stressed the importance of connecting with nature and focusing the energy into my core.

Unfortunately, my mother disappeared when I was seven years old. My grandfather took me in and continued to emphasize the same things. He is full Cherokee Indian and was raised in the Smoky Mountains.

Growing up in these mountains was great from a nature perspective, but lonely due to the lack of other children my age.

My birth name is Jack, but grandfather mostly called me Shadow. His last name was Shadow, and it became mine after he adopted me. He would never tell me who my father was or even what his name was.

The few friends I had always called me Shadow because we all referred to each other by our last names. Eventually my name evolved from Jack Shadow to Shadow Jack. Mostly because schools like to reverse your first and last name when they call you up for your report cards or even for graduation.

My normal routine is to stand barefoot in a meadow, so I can ground myself while I meditate and manipulate energy from the surrounding forest. I was born with a talent to manipulate energy which is why both my mother and grandfather would bring me here. These mountains have always been the best place to hone my abilities.

Well, enough about me. Let’s get back to the event that started a very interesting journey.

I was hiking in the mountains this fall day and the trails were full of colorful leaves with some still falling in the light breeze. It was a delightful place to be during this time of year, especially when the sun is positioned just right, to highlight the falling leaves.

Most days I come here alone, but this time I took my dog Cooper with me for company and to let him run off some of the never-ending energy he has. Cooper is a one-hundred-pound Bernese Mountain dog with the ability to use his paws like hands and always has an opinion that he is more than happy to share. Of course, dog talk isn’t worth much to us humans, but I always talk back to him like I understand and that makes him feel like he is getting his message across.

I had just come across a beautiful meadow to practice my routine and was about to sit down on a log to remove my shoes when I heard the scream. This wasn’t a scream of pain, but a scream of complete terror. It was hard for me to determine exactly where the sound had come from, but luckily Cooper had no problem determining the direction and took off down one of the paths, barking and snarling as he ran.

I quickly followed in pursuit, jumping over logs, ducking under branches, and repeatedly getting smacked in the face thanks to thick, straggly bushes.

Minutes passed and I was almost totally out of breath when I caught up with my dog. He was circling and sniffing a hysterical girl who was covering her face, crying, and not paying any attention to the dog.

The girl was around my age, mid-twenties, maybe a bit younger, with a mop of dark black hair that I would have loved to run my hands through if circumstances were different. She was wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, jeans, hiking boots and a backpack slung around her shoulder.

Out of breath and barely able to speak, I approached her and asked what the problem was, but all she could do is point down the path and cry.

“Please miss, you need to tell me what is wrong. Are you hurt?” I asked. She shook her head and continued to point and cry.

“MISS! WHAT IS WRONG?” I was finally able to yell, as the breath came back to my lungs. But all she did was continue in hysterics.

Finally, not knowing what else to do, I gave her a slap to get her out of her hysterical trance. I never encountered a hysterical person before, but that’s what they usually did on TV, so I figured why not give it a try?

Of course, my dog had an opinion on this, as usual. With opened eyes the size of quarters, he snapped his head back as if to say, “I can’t believe you just smacked her”.

Turning to Cooper I said, “Yeah, yeah, I know, but I had to do something. If you have better ideas, please feel free to let me know.”

He sat back on his hind legs and gave me his usual dopey look. “I figured as much,” I told him as I turned back to the girl. She was calmer now and looking straight at my face.

She had tantalizing blue eyes which were like two bottomless pools of water and the type of eyes a man could get lost in. Her skin was flawless, and she had full kissable lips. She was beautiful and all I could do is think of being with her forever. I wanted to touch her, hold her in my arms and wipe those tears away.

Cooper’s bark snapped me out of the trance, and I wondered to myself who the real dog really was. Here was a girl in trouble and all could do is think of making it with her. What a freaking loser I am.

Looking back at her face I saw that her beautiful lips were turned up in the prettiest smile I ever saw. Again, I was back to thinking about being with her. I was totally mesmerized.

“Are you ok now,” I asked. “What is wrong? How can I help?”

She slowly raided her hands to my face and held my cheeks. She then tuned my head from one side to the other and examined me as if I was a horse she wanted to buy. She got up slightly on her toes and kissed me square on the lips. There was a little more wood in the forest at that moment, or a lot more depending on how you want to look at it. Being that you weren’t there let’s just go with a lot of wood.

Cooper began to bark and growl, circling us both at a very fast pace. In my head I heard him saying, “Couldn’t control yourself Jack, had to get attracted by the girl. You call me dog, but you’re like a dog in heat!”

“Shut the fuck up and do something” I yelled at the Cooper in my head. “And since when did you start speaking English?”

“Really, that’s your concern right now? When did I start speaking English? How about we focus on our situation first as I am in no better shape then you are.” That’s when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that black shadowy tentacles had sprung from the ground and encircled Cooper’s paws. So much for the Calvary!

I looked back at the girl who was now morphing into something else. She still looked somewhat humanoid, but her ears were slightly pointed, as were her teeth. Those beautiful blue eyes were now dark black bottomless pools, and she began to turn dark and transparent. She looked like a shadow.

I don’t know if any of you been in messed up situations and started to get stupid thoughts. For instance, I head a little voice in my head saying “Luke, use the force”. Yeah, for sure I’m a dork!

Even though it was a dumb thought it made me remember my mother’s teachings about using the harnessed energy in my core. Her voice now played in my head. “Jack, one day you will find yourself in a in a situation that seems hopeless. If that time ever comes, and it will, reach down into your core and search for the light.”

As I was about to do that, I noticed that the air behind the thing that was holding me began to shimmer. It grew brighter and swirled like a whirlpool. It looked like a miniature black hole opening in the air behind the thing. At that point it began to drag me back in the direction of what now appeared to be a portal.

“Focus dipshit,” Cooper’s voice boomed in my head.

Dipshit? This coming from a dog who spends most of his days with his tongue hanging out of his mouth looking and acting like a goofball.

In any case I thought I should follow his suggestion and I began to focus on my core. Searching deep inside I sensed the light. It was just a pinprick size at first, but the more I focused the bigger it became.

The creature was drooling now and dragging me closer and closer to the portal.

The light inside me suddenly grew to a bubble that engulfed me and then quickly shrunk down into a blue ball that shot out from my arms and exploded into the creature.

The light then spread out quickly engulfing the creature, who didn’t even have time to scream before disintegrating into a ball of blue light.

Looking at Cooper, I saw that the dark tentacles dropped away at the same time, and there the both of us stood looking at each other.

“Holy Crap!” I said, “Coop, did you see that?” “Coop?” He didn’t answer, he just sat there with his tongue flopping out of the side of his mouth, as usual, looking like he was waiting for a doggie treat.

Did I just image that he was able to speak or was he really talking in my head? Stress has a way to mess with people and, as I said before, I do have a tendency of thinking stupid things at times.

As I contemplated what happened, the portal flared brightly and a smoky tentacle shot out, grabbed Cooper, pulling him through the portal so fast that if I blinked, I would have thought he disappeared.

“Holy shit, it took my dog!” Cooper was the best friend I had in the world. There was no way I was going to let whatever it was take him. We are a team and where he goes, I go. No matter what is on the other side of that portal, I was going to find him.

I ran up to the portal and the closer I got the more it resembled a door rather than a swirling black hole.

As I got closer, I began to hear an electronic voice that said, “simulation will end in 10 seconds”. I could see people through the door looking back at me, but no sign of my dog. The countdown continued and when it got to zero the woods around me began to fade, until I found myself in a large white room about the size of a gymnasium.

When the door opened a woman was standing there with an angry look on her face. She was an attractive woman in her mid-forties with jet black hair, like mine. Her eyes were slightly almond shaped also like mine and her nose and face were remarkably familiar- like what I see when I look in a mirror. The resemblance was uncanny, yet I did not know who she was or where I was.

“JACK!” she yelled. “How many times have I told you not to stay to long in the simulator!” You have been in here half the morning. You know it messes you up if you are in there more than an hour. I would not be surprised if you did not even remember your name. Now get a move on, we will be docking at Mars station in the next hour and your father will be angry if we are not ready to disembark as soon as we arrive. You know how he is with punctuality. Now get a move on.”

With that she turned around and began walking away. I had no idea where or who I was at this point, so I quickly followed her. When I exited the room, I saw the walkway she was crossing had windows on both sides. What I saw made me freeze in place. I was no longer in the mountains but in space. IN FREAKING SPACE!

I continued to follow the woman because I had no idea where to go, but as I walked, I thought of all the questions I had. Like, how did I wind up here? Who were these people? Was it all a simulation? Why do I not remember anything about this life and everything about my life in the mountains? The most important question of them all is, “What happened to Cooper?”