Shadowcuts

There was this man who once grabbed my hand while I was rushing through the street to nowhere in particular. “I can trap shadows” he said “want to see?”. “Not interested” I said. “What are friends for?” “I am not your friend. I never met you before”. “We will see” he insisted. “Alright will I have to pay for it?” “Nope it is free show. Just for you” he winked; his eyelashes smudged in soot. “You need to hurry I have important things to do” I said. “Like what?”. “I don’t need to tell you”. “Listen now, you have to pay in twelve counts of light”. “Alright, fair deal”. He asked me to follow him. We reached dilapidated part of the city that reeked in muck and waste. While the city lit in glitter this was where it whispered its dirty secrets. Most buildings were abandoned or windows hid in blue sheets. “What if I got lost?” I asked. “You will find your way home. Everyone does. You just have to count back”. A hand emerged out of slit and poured out muck. A fellow in yellow Tshirt was nibbling on corn. He hid it as we approached him. “See how I catch the shadows”. He grabbed the fellow from the back and let him go with a pinch. The terrified fellow ran off as if bitten by a snake shouting oeemaa oeemaa. I could see him as far I could see, even squinting, to see him vanish into the crowd or turn the corner. “Look here you fool” the man struggled with something that had the shape of the fellow in Tshirt. It had no features. Just shape. A shade. Shadow. Both were twisting silhouettes while one tries to gouge the other or is he trying to regurgitate the other, I couldn’t tell. I stood there not sure what to do. I have seen people taking selfie when faced with mundane or miraculous but wrestling shadows were moving around too much and too fast. They moved like reptiles, slithering and wheezing. This went on for many hours or so, I couldn’t tell since the minute hand was moving faster. Finally, the man emerged belching and somewhat enlarged. Meanwhile the fellow in yellow Tshirt walked from the crowd towards me. He was now neatly dressed so were rest of the crowd. Steady and remote like a man who lost his shadow. I could sense. He looked into the horizon with much surety of purpose. It seems he lost all complexities. He knew what he knew. There was no longer any need for questions. He had the answers that will do. “I have taken shadows from most people in this city” he said grimly looking at darkening sky “They now live in blessedness of brightness”. And so, he opened his mouth. It widened into enormous sinkhole. I counted twelve, and pushed in as much light as I could with each count from the awareness of all the dead souls. The shadows shook out from whitest of clouds to search for the deal that didn’t make sense. They were indistinguishable as they pluck each other’s thought and stay alive. There were innumerable dreams left vacant without tag like silent witness to faint desire. It sways in an unfelt breeze. His enormous throbbing mouth opened and closed and opened like a contraption forgotten to turn off. I secretly wished him dead instead I felt dizzy and dozed off.