Creepy Shadow Thief

I struggled with addiction for many years, using increasingly dangerous drugs to feed my habit. To support my drug use, I resorted to shoplifting once I was unable to hold down a steady job.

One night when I had nowhere to sleep, I decided to walk to the 24-hour big box store on the edge of town, about an hour away. As I left downtown, around 3 AM, I saw a disheveled woman approaching who resembled the cat lady from The Simpsons, muttering to herself as she shuffled along.

With the streetlights in front and behind me, my shadow stretched out long in both directions. When the woman drew near, she reached out and mimed pinching my shadow, giggling as she put her hand in her pocket and glanced at me before continuing past me.

Strange occurrences were commonplace late at night in our town, rumored to be a thin spot between this world and the next according to Native American lore. While unsettling, I was accustomed to odd behavior from those out late at night. As the woman moved down the street, I turned to keep an eye on her. Mere seconds after passing me, she had vanished completely. Her apparent supernatural disappearance deeply disturbed me, making me wonder if she had truly stolen a piece of my shadow.

I have since gotten clean and turned my life around, but this bizarre encounter remains a mystery to me. Though high at the time, I know it was not a hallucination. A friend ominously warns me not to speak of it, though he will not explain why.

I aim now to live better and help others, but the memory of that night still gives me chills.