my shadow tilts its head at me,
spirits in the dark are waiting.
He simply learned to live with it. It was only ever a matter of understanding he’d never be anything other than himself. Destructive without meaning to be. Selfish. Noah would always linger in the corner of his vision when he was alone, reminding him. Reminding him that he’d been two second too late to save his friend. Rhonan was always two seconds too late.
Too late to save Noah. Too late to save Gero. And he could have. He could have saved them all, if he hadn’t been so selfish. So careless.
But in the end, he simply had to accept it. Embrace the darkness – literally, in his case. The shadows listened to him now. He asked, and they answered. And in the end, it kept him sane. His life could have driven him crazy. No, his lives. He’s lived more than one, after all. Many that no one else has ever seen, and never would. To them, he’d simply be nutty. Living in imaginary worlds.
But it had been real. He’s certain of that. Didn’t matter what type of reality. It shaped him, changed him. And that was all it took for something to be real.
“Everything is real,” he repeats. There’s no other way to say it. Not really. Instead, the shadows around them come to life, wrapping themselves lightly, lovingly, around Tirzah. She could slip out of them easily, if she wanted, but Rhonan suspects that she’ll enjoy the caress. It’s hard not to feel safe within the embrace of the shadows. They are kinder than many give them credit for. Only dangerous or deadly when needed.
“My home in the Valley is full of shadows. If you need a place to stay, I could show it to you.” He’s never really been one to beat around the bush. Winning words and charisma aren’t his forte, after all. He just says it like it is, and if that’s not enough, than he probably doesn’t want anything to do with them anyway.
rhonan.