Merry Go Round

Smiling in the Shadows

They lie there in wait, their hunger they will sate. In the shadows they hide, their time they bide. Smiling in the murk, that is where they lurk. They move in the dark, to my warning you should hark. They'll stalk you like a shark, their prey they mark. Offer them a gift when the shadows start to drift. Or you will soon be dead, you can take that as read.

 An old song past from generation to generation, telling of monsters that hide in the shadows. The monsters that all those in the town feared. The monsters were the reason why the streets were well lit, they were the reasons why people slept with their lights on, they were the reason why there was never a carefree moment in Laura's life.

  Even as she walked past the town entrance, and it was only a town entrance, no true resident was ever able to leave, Laura looked shakily at the shadows. She had, like all the residents, been a silent cold witness to many tragedies but it was only now that John had been taken that she felt the ever present danger with any intimacy. A constant, a figure who had been present for nine years of her thirteen years alive had been taken. Others before had been taken but they had been distant, she knew that their parents silently mourned the death of their child, she knew that friends had cried but that had been nothing to do with her.

  Now John had been taken, eaten by the shadows and all she felt was a hollow emptiness and somewhere beneath it, threatening to break to the surface, dreadful fear and panic. She entered the shop, breathing a silent sigh of relief as she was bathed in the bright warm light. Safe from the grasping hands of the shadow filled night.

 She walked across the tiled shop floor on which she had once slipped and hurt her knee and John had helped her home. She walked up to the counter lined with jars of sweets, Laura remembered that John had once stolen a whole jar without the old shopkeeper noticing. She selected the fruits and vegetables which she had been asked to buy, John hated vegetables and he'd make the face that made Laura smile every time she mentioned any form of greens. She went to the counter and payed.

The coins rolled on the table for a moment then fell, John said he'd become rich and get them both out the town, away from all the quiet fear and strained smiles. He'd said he'd take them somewhere beautiful and wonderful where every day was sunny as a painting, Laura had replied that she didn't mind where they went so long as it wasn't here and they were together.

 At that moment whatever it was that had been lurking beneath her dull unthinking state, broke free. Her hands still moved, automatically putting her purchases in a dusty brown bag. The waves of emotion surged and boiled, flowing through her very being, and as she reflexively thanked the shopkeeper and walked through the shop door she was shocked to realise it wasn't fear she felt... but anger.

  She walked down the shadowy streets, no longer afraid, only one thought on her mind, This couldn't be allowed to continue. As she marched through the shadowy street a song crept into her thoughts. At first she couldn't place where she'd heard it from. Then as the lyrics unfolded she recognised it as a song that a travelling bard had been singing.

 She began to sing gently to herself, "Hair as gold as gold can be, his eyes as blue as the sea, him and his companions three. They travel upon a floating cloud, With kindness and wisdom is he endowed. Upon his cloud was he sat, beside him a lovely black cat. Held tightly in his grip, a wise talking turnip. Beside him rested his dead friend, a corpse to which with care he tend. Despite his very young age, he is as wise as a sage. If ever you need a hero's aid, just shout his name don't let it from your memory fade. His name is Timmy!" The last bit Laura shouted as she walked by the village entrance, she felt a rush of strength took accompany her strained battle cry.

"Yes?" said a voice from the darkness.

 A week later Laura walked the same path to the local shop again, her heart full of regret. It was only seven days since she had talked to the strange boy called Timmy. In her moment of anger and passion at the injustice of her life, she had asked whether the boy, who the bard had praised as a hero, could stop the creature's in the shadow. The Turnip had cackled and the boy had simply smiled a thin lipped smile, stared at her with his bright blue empty eyes and said he'd investigate.