“Masked by Shadows”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: “If only __________ could feel sadness.”

If only all humans could feel sadness.

No, really, think about it. I don’t mean for everyone to be sad all the time, but only with sadness can you feel happiness. You need that juxtaposition to be able to discover your real emotions.

Every day, people cover who they really are. There are lots of stories and inspirational posts about people wearing metaphorical masks to hide their true identities from the rest of the world. But here’s the thing: this mask metaphor exists for a reason. People hide because they don’t know how else to react to the overbearing weight of today’s society and so they just do the best that they can to fit in. And it’s sad, really, because everyone has so much to offer. So much of themselves—their true selves.

So, when I see all these people milling about, living their everyday lies of lives, I think about what it would be like to truly be free. To be able to feel happiness and sadness and actually express it for once, without judgment and without fear. Wouldn’t that be amazing? To be able to live without fear?

I think that the core of the problem lies in expectations. People expect people to act a certain way. People are at the core of the reason why people hide.

People destroy other people.

This is why I choose to stay in the shadows. Why I choose to stay away from humans and keep to myself.

I know that I don’t belong. I know that I deserve better.

I know that the human world doesn’t deserve me.

From now on, I vow to do my part in making the world a better place. I vow to restore the world to what it was meant to be.

I vow to help these humans remember who they are.

Because only then can there truly be peace between our worlds. Only then can humans truly see that all shadows do not hide monsters.

That sometimes, the shadows are the answers.

Final Comments: I don’t know where I was going with this one. At first, it started out more like a speech rather than a story, but then I decided to incorporate more fictional elements into it. In the end, I guess the concept of hiding stuck in my mind and I created a different species who was looking in on humans. As I wrote, I started getting more ideas, but I’m still not extremely confident in this one.

Overall Rating: 😖