Shadow King; a short story

Shadow King

Do you ever wonder if you have a story to tell? I have never thought of my life as being worth putting in writing. What good would a story about somebody fumbling through life do the world? Isn’t that everybody’s story? What makes my story more compelling then someone else? I am not famous, rich or successful. I am a regular person living day to day, with the same worries that everybody I have ever met has as well. As far as I can tell the stories that were published had a lot more to offer then mine. So what changed? Why are you, hopefully, reading my story? A lot. Nothing. I don’t know.


The day I became interesting.


It started out as an ordinary day. I was at work. The glamorous life of a grocery store employee, an overnight stocker and cashier. I was unloading the weekly shipment when I first noticed something strange. The city was unusually quiet and at first it seemed peaceful but as I listened I soon felt fear creep up the back of my spine. Something was off. The quiet was unnatural. Oppressive. I became suddenly aware that I was alone. My coworkers and the truck driver were gone. I was alone on the unloading dock.


All of my instincts were telling me to run and hide. Unfortunately I was unable to move. I have read about being stuck as if your feet had sprouted roots, trapping you to the earth where you stood. This was not like that at all, it was like my body didn’t belong to me. Like I was merely a visitor inspecting a statue. I simply did not have the strength to pick up my feet and run away. I was stuck; alone and terrified of the silence. I began to wonder, if I could move, would I see hundreds of people stuck like this all around me. Stuck in one spot and terrified. Was this why the world had gone eerily silent?


I realized it wasn’t that the world wasn’t actually quiet. I could hear something, panting. The sound suddenly filled the silence and it seemed to come from all around me. Then I saw the source of the noise, large black dogs were slipping out of the shadows and surrounding my immobile body. The panting continued for some but others emitted a low warning growl. The growl was deep and vibrated my entire being. Warmth spread across my midsection and it took me a second to realize I had managed to pee myself in fear. I was beyond caring because I could tell my number was up anyway. The shadow dogs seemed to find my terror intoxicating because the growls were replaced by what seemed to me to be mocking grins.


“Have we terrified this young man enough boys?” Boomed a voice from the deep shadows. In response the dog tails wagged as they sat down and resumed their panting. The darkest shadow seemed to break away from the other shadows and move toward me. As it did layers of shadows stripped away from the figure and I began to make out a small figure. The figure still was mostly concealed and the voice was still terrifyingly loud when it spoke next. “Human, we have need of your services. Come with me and offer aid.”


If my body had been capable I would have turned to look behind me to see who the shadow spoke to but it became apparent when no answer came forth that the shadow figure could only be talking to me. “I require an answer.”


“An answer? You did not ask a question, Shadow Man. You simply spoke a command. So far, I have no reason to trust you or go anywhere with you. You terrify me with your shadow hounds, root me to this spot and cause me to pee my pants in terror. As far as I am concerned you can go spit.” Once again I felt the urge to look behind me to see who spoke despite knowing full well that the words had come bubbling out of my mouth.


“Shadow hounds? I like that. It sounds more ominous then the name I gave them. ‘The pack’ sounds like a group of annoying teenaged wannabe thugs. I thank you for the name for my ‘shadow hounds’ but I still require that you come and assist me.” The shadow man gestured for me to come and this time I did. I am still not quite sure why.


“You are a perceptive human. You could feel me coming while the rest of the humans froze unaware. I exist in between time and my presence tends to cause low intelligence beings to simply stop until I leave an area. You couldn’t move until I spoke to you but you were fully aware. This means there is hope for you, unlike the rest of humanity.” His words were dripping with venom. I knew this man held no love for humans including those he deemed to have hope.


“Interesting. Since I come with you of my own accord I will ask a few things from you. First, some new clothing that does not reek of urine. Second, tell me your name.”


“Ah, reasonable request, the first one is. The second is problematic. Names are power. I will not tell you my name but I can give you a name to use if you like. Although I can tell you already have one for me and that is fine as well. Although change man to king as I am the king of the world we are entering.”


“You want me to call you Shadow King? Seems odd to me but I’ll go with it. So when can I change clothes?” I asked


“It will happen once we cross the threshold, humans these days have no sense of style. I made sure that the threshold would redress all entrants in an appropriate manner when meeting with me.” And as we crossed the threshold shadows enveloped me and I could feel myself become clean and dressed in light, loose clothing. When the shadows parted I was wearing black slacks and a purple silk shirt and what seemed to be boxers; looser then I was used to but at least they were clean. The Shadow King was no longer covered in shadows. He was a small dark skinned man with angular features. He almost looked human but only just. There was something off, some energy that told your hind brain that he was dangerous. His eyes were a yellow color that I had only seen on television shows about werewolves. He smiled at me and I got the distinct feeling that he had too many teeth. “You look much more appropriate for a meeting with the Shadow King.”


I nodded stupidly at him. My words were caught up in the part of the brain that was in fight or flight mode, meaning they were once again not readily available to me. Luckily for me the Shadow King had no intention of letting me control the conversation, or was that lucky, I’m still not sure. “I need you to do something human.” I bristled at the lack of my name as he spoke to me. He hadn’t even asked for it. The arrogance of that act really got under my skin. I was about to mention it but part of me was reluctant. He handed me a hot drink and I suddenly realized the Shadow King’s realm was bitterly cold. I took a sip and it was awful, I placed it down on the table I was suddenly sitting at.


“It is very nice here if you can get past the cold. You should see it during daylight time, it is beautiful. Of course once you really see in the shadows the view is unsurpassed by anything on Earth.”


The conversation confused me because I could not keep track of it in my mind. I was not sure how we had got here and seated at this table that looked over a vast dark abyss.


“Drink human. It will help keep you warm.” I did as I was told but the lack of my name irked me a great deal. The drink was bitter.


“A Shadow King’s primary job is to manage the shadow realms bloodlust. Some of your history, human history, has been shaped by humans that were infected by shadow. The spillover is expected of course. We occupy some of the same space on this world as you humans.” He smiled at me again and my fear was replaced by loathing that ran deep. “Humans are the worst creature that could be infected by shadow. The murderous rampages are bad but truly astounding is monsters that wrap it in political or religious doctrine. Humans are monsters. They are what keeps the children of the shadow realm up at night. Humans are our bogeymen.” He looked at me without smiling, his eyes sparkled like amber fossils. My loathing went up an octave as we continued to look at each other. I broke eye contact first. I grabbed and took the last drink of my suddenly empty cup. I wanted more. Sensing my sudden desire for more of the drink a shadow servant appeared and poured some in my cup. I greedily snatched it up and guzzled it before demanding more from the servant. The shadow king began to speak again and I found his words confusing and irritating. He talked too much.


“Listen, Shadow King,” I interrupted, my words came out angry and slurred, “I don’t know who you are kidding. You are a horrible ruler, your pestilence overflows in to every place it can. You have no desire to keep it away from humans. You want us to be infected!” I was angry and when I grabbed my cup, some of the drink sloshed on my shirt. I cursed and began trying to suck the drink out of the fabric. If this bothered the Shadow King he drew no attention to it but I still felt his judgment. That rankled and I growled at him to show him my displeasure. His response was to smile at me.


“Perhaps you think you could do a better job?” He asked with that ever present, self-satisfied smirk.


“I think no such thing. You told me you were lousy at the job when you were explaining what you do. I am just tired of your attitude.” I said, at least I am fairly sure I said that, because there is a part of me that only remembers growling. Either way his smile did not falter.


“Let me ask you again human, do you think you are more suited for this job then I?”


“I have a name you know!” I growled.


“I know,” he said with a twinkle in his golden eye, “….human.”


I was out of my seat and had my hands around his throat before I was aware of moving. I was trying to choke the life from his sparkling golden eyes. He did not look concerned, nor did he seem to be fighting me. My grip began to loosen as my rage continued to grow. It didn’t make sense but I soon became aware of a steadily growing pool of dark crimson that enveloped us. My eyes threatened to close and my hands were not working as they should. I looked at him and he merely offered that same smile. This time it no longer seemed to mock me or enrage me. Instead it seemed to pity me, but it was the exact same smile. I felt a deep searing pain in my gut and it pulled my attention away from his smile. I had been stabbed, gutted really and most troubling was that I was not sure when of how it happened. The crimson pool surrounding us was my blood.


“You have fire Jason Moore.” The Shadow King whispered to me. “It is far down in your person but it is there. It took several glasses of the potion to get it to come out but come out it did. I have a question for you. Just one more question and then I will leave you to your fate.”


I looked at him with wide open eyes. It took a second for my brain to concentrate enough to blink. My eyes closed and wanted to stay behind closed lids but my brain forced them back open. When I could see again the Shadow King no longer lying beneath my body. My body that was rapidly draining of life. I had once again lost time in this shadow realm. I should never have come here, I wondered if anyone missed me. I wondered if my body would be left behind somewhere. Would they look for my murderer?


“Before I ask you the question Jason Moore,” He said my name again, when had he learned it? Had he always known it or had I told him during one of my many blackouts this evening? I wanted to ask but my lips would not move. “I must tell you something. Your wound is fatal for a mortal such as yourself. So you will die here tonight and for that I am truly sorry. No matter what you will never be you again, not exactly. It is necessary though, please believe that.” I continued to stare blankly at him. I wanted to curse him but my body was not cooperating. “Now for the question, I require an answer from you but in your current condition I know words are not a possibility. A blink shall suffice. If your answer is yes blink once and if no blink twice. Do you understand?” I blinked once. “Good. Jason Moore, Do you think you would do a better job than I at the job of Shadow King?”


I thought about my body lying here slowly leaking my blood across his floor. I thought about the life I had lived. I thought about all the decisions I had made that led me to this point. I thought about all my lost dreams and then I closed my eyes. Images floated across my eyelids. Moments both joyous and heartbreaking. Memories of all the confusion, indecision and pain. Times were I felt good, smart and on top of the world. And those earlier days when I would often find myself bored and looking for some mischief to get into. I thought about what people had said to me during those early years. I had never really lived up to the potential that others had expected of me. I had not accomplished the things I had meant to. I was a man unfulfilled. I was a lost puzzle piece trying to find the right puzzle. I had always believed that I existed in the wrong time or perhaps the wrong world. I wondered if I had been looking for my spot in the wrong puzzle. I suddenly knew my answer and I opened my eyes.


I made sure that they stayed open while I looked around. The room was empty. I was alone, laying on the floor in dried up blood. The pain was gone and there was no evidence of the wound that had nearly killed me. The knife was by my side but not in my side. I went to stand and that was when a shadow servant appeared and helped me to my feet.


“Where is the Shadow King?”


“You are here sir.” The servant replied.

Changes

I decided to admit that I really don't want a teaching gig next year. I am curious how people will see that.\

In other news I have decided to start focusing on writing again. I will also focus on getting it published. It has always been my dream and it is time to prioritize that dream. I am going to focus on getting a writing group together. One online and also joining an existing one in the local community.

Advice you didn't ask for....

I wrote this for my students. There are some commas missing but whatever.


I know I have said this but it is important to repeat things that need to be heard. I loved being your teacher this year and getting to be a part of your lives. I know that you all have a bright and exciting future ahead of you.

I want to leave you with some advice based off my experiences and also from observing and teaching you this year.

1. Your ability is not measured by how quick you do something as much as it is by how well you do something. Take the time you need and always do your personal best. Take pride in your work.

2. Slow down! This mirrors the first piece of advice but it extends outside of the classroom. Take the time to enjoy where you are and what you are doing at that moment. Time starts flying the older you get and you want to have as many happy memories as possible to think fondly about.

3. Don’t measure yourself against someone else’s success. This is hard to do because everybody wants to compare themselves to their family, peers, and heroes. The reality is that you are not them and your strengths will be different from theirs. Sometimes you have to work harder at something than other people and sometimes it takes you longer and that is okay.

4. It’s okay to fail. Yes, failure happens. The thing you must do is learn from your failure and figure out how not to do it again. Failure is a better teacher than success; even if it hurts a little bit.

5. Work hard. To become better at anything you must put in work. People that are successful put in work to become successful. Rock stars aren’t born they practice all the time to be as good as they are. This is the same for athletes, scientists, entrepreneurs, and teachers. To be good at anything you must put in a lot of time and effort.

6. Pursue things you love even if they are hard and you are terrible at them. I love art and I want to be good at it. Some of you may be convinced that I am but I am still learning and have a ways to go. I have worked hard to be at the level I am and I have enjoyed the process. Another passion I have, when I am home, is basketball but you would never know it by watching me; I am completely awful at it. When I play regularly I am able to perform decently but I won’t ever be good enough to suddenly be recruited by the NBA. It is okay that I will never become a basketball star because of how enjoyable playing a game or shooting baskets is for me.

7. Give younger friends and family a break. You already include the younger kids in the games you play even though a lot of the times they ignore the rules or don’t know them. It can be annoying, I get it. Especially those times when they follow, surround and annoy you on purpose. Understand that it comes from an honest belief that you are cool and that they want you to like them. So be cool. Every once in a while go over and seek them out. Not only let them play but pick the little kids first sometimes; even the most annoying ones. You do it to a certain extent already because you are all amazing, just push it a little further. There was a time in your life or a person in your life that you looked up to, if you still look up to them, was it because they told you that you were annoying or was it because they occasionally took you under their wing?

I could probably go on for ever (I think you all have witnessed this in class) but I think I passed on some of the most important ideas.

I expect great things from everyone of you. Of course, greatness can only be defined by the individual. Pursue your dreams and forge the path that will make you happy.

Thanks for letting me be your teacher.

Let me say it....

Do you ever feel irritated by how people carry themselves when you get near the end of a working relationship? Then, as you look back over the year, you realize it isn't anything new and that they did it all along? Which means what changed is you? It isn't that you changed the level you expect from people because you don't expect more at the end. Not after the disappointments you went through earlier with them. It's just that you never really noticed that their way of handling things is to just blurt out things when it is convenient for them. They don't really think about how it should be handled, that there are more parties involved, or merely the more professional approach. It could be that you notice it because now it directly involves you. So you are irritated and you say something to your confidant and they remind you of every little thing that has happened this year; some of which you complained to her about. You relive all those small irritations and you see that there is a fundamental problem in how the people you work with communicate; or more accurately, the way they fail to communicate.

The problem is that you feel conflicted now. You actually enjoy what you have done and you want to enjoy every moment that you have left. Except at the same time your newly opened eyes have made you hyper aware of the failings. The fact that you are less then 3 weeks from being done has made you jumpy. So you feel irritated and ready to be done with everything; but at the same time you don't want to be. It isn't fair for you or the people you are there for. So you just keep refocusing but you are close to emotionally drained and then the refocusing gets interrupted by their failure to communicate schedule altering plans. Of course when you mention it to them they think 'sour grapes'. 

So here it is.

"My students should hear that I am leaving from me and not your fucking newsletter!"

"God damn it! You knew for over a month that some recycling folks were coming to steal my afternoon and you failed to tell me! How do you not get why that pisses me and my cohort off?"

Let's be real, I am mostly disappointed in myself. I am the one who didn't pay attention earlier; letting all the small irritations slide. It is my fault that the small issues, the ones I didn't address and keep occurring, are making me whine and lash out now. I have put some of these thoughts in to writing with the hope that the effort benefits the one who stays and the one who replaces. Of course the suggestions were not met completely openly. "When I hear of a problem I fix it" says she; but the reality is that she is shooting down the very suggestions she asked us to provide. To the next year's staff, good luck.

What Facebook Really Does or The Reasons The World Knows That You Are Stupid

First, let me be clear, I have no agendas here. I will not predict Facebook's impending implosion or any other theory that is currently floating through the ol' dubya dubya dubya sphere. I am not going to talk about the ads or the fact that everyday Facebook seems to re-prioritize what is actually new posts and what is most interesting. That can be left to the people who give a shit. 

I am just going to complain about my Facebook friends. You see, a lot of people seem to miss the point of certain sites that exist to make you think "What the H E DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS is this dude talking about?!" Then you look at the source and other articles the site put out and realize that they are just messing with you. Lets not pretend the first reaction does not exist, it does. We think, maybe with a lot of doubt, that the article is real. Then we read and the article is vague and does not really give good information. If we are not paying attention to the, sometimes subtle, hints perhaps we go on a rampage and post about it. I get it. Sometimes you get tricked. Sometimes there is enough of a history that you think this could happen. This is an okay and understandable response. To a certain degree. Have you not seen all the crazy pranks that Jimmy Kimmel and others are managing to pull on the "legitimate news teams"? Take a second to investigate a crazy claim before posting about it. Listen to the voice that says "This is crazy!"

For the sake of this argument let's say that you didn't check. It caught you hook, line, and sinker. I mean we are talking about a world that has people "catfishing" other people; meaning it can totally happen. So this fake is seen by you as real and you post about it in a serious manner. Then a bunch of other people post things on both sides of the non-existent argument. Along comes someone, the voice of reason, that sets you straight and reveals the hoax. They even link to proof showing that what you posted is bullshit; the woman stranded on a deserted island but saved by Google maps, the wolf roaming Olympic village, the worst twerker ever, or that Portland, OR is the most racist city ever. It is totally bogus and the proof is posted in a comment on your post. 

Why, tell me why, do you insist on ignoring that post and continuing to debate the fake article or video? Why continue to believe something stupid? Why not just say "my bad!" and have a laugh? Instead you and your friends continue traveling down Indignation Summit and have a bitching party. Mind you I said bitching, like complaining, and not bitchin like the cool 80's term.

My opinion is that Facebook helps you see how poorly people understand satire. Especially when the people think it is politically motivated. Just because Republicans are pictured at the top of every page does not mean that it is a politically motivated attack. Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin did not write the article. I am always confused when something unrelated, like the most racist city, comes down to political parties. They are making fun of you by causing you to get butt hurt by a satirical article. You in essence are the joke. Not the article. You.

Now stop bitching and start paying attention.

THE ARTICLE IN QUESTION (for however long it stays around): 

http://nationalreport.net/portland-oregon-deemed-racist-city-united-states/#sthash.fTe0EsMy.NfbD71bd.gbpl

Lesson Plans

It was a slightly frustrating day. I got up early, made breakfast and then headed to school to work. The power was out. I was hoping it would come back on so I sat down to work. I ended up working 2 hours in the powerless room on science lessons for one group. I needed the power to use my computer and create a document my next 2 weeks of lesson plans to be turned in Monday. I have always had an issue with lesson plan creation but expecting a fully thought out 2 week plan is really stressful to me. I also needed access to the internet, to aid in the finer creation of each lesson, and it soon became apparent that I had done all I could do without power and I needed to go home. I got home and had lunch. Then I set up my computer and spent 3 solid hours filling in the plans, hoping I had enough detail to please the principal. I decided once that was done to interpret my lessons into something I can actually use. So I connected to the internet and found I had an unreliable connection. So I took a break and read. it seemed like the universe kept trying to mess with me today.

Yes... lesson plan formats tend to make me feel confused and as a result are basically useless as far as I can tell. They seem to be more of a way for the overlords to see what you do wrong. I do have a method to my madness but in reality I usually am still creating it the day before. I spend hours looking at material so that I can understand what the point is and then focusing on how to attempt to make it accessible. I know lessons are out there but as I have said before they usually confuse me and when I do figure them out they are never really what I want but I definitely steal useful activities from them. I get that my method is not optimal and crazily time consuming. I also understand that being able to write and use lesson plans would make life easier. It is a skill I work on constantly but often I feel that the wide variety of topics I teach make the long look planning seem scary. I work with an outline of what I want to accomplish and I do my best to fit inside it and I feel free to create as I see fit. My principal changed everything though because she is asking me to have 2 weeks together by the start of every Monday. It seems daunting but perhaps I will get into a rhythm and I will conquer my phobias and trepidation. Perhaps I will get better at writing plans faster. Perhaps I will learn how to quickly adapt other lessons to fit my needs. Until that happens I feel overwhelmed and angry about it. I know I can write generic lessons but I want to write good and effective lessons that also happen to be engaging. So I have a lot of expectations and I find sometimes that plays a part in my sense of irritation.

Suspicions Verified

Have you ever decided to not tell someone something because you knew they would make it seem worse? Then later when you tell everybody they manage to prove you right. Everybody else is supportive and sends good thoughts your way but not that person. That person's response makes you feel utterly inadequate and like you might just be the screw up the little voice in your head says you are.