Something in the Shadows…

As promised, here is the final draft of my little shadow story. While some things may change during production (i.e. me playing around in a dark room with some 12 inch shadow puppets and colored light gels) this is what I will reference when making creative decisions regarding lighting, staging, and music. Enjoy!

Once upon a time there was a girl. She was happy, lit from within, a soft glow always emanated from a little cabinet in her chest. In this cabinet was a narrow shelf, and on this shelf sat a little candle with flickering flame. If you looked deeply into the flame, you would see the girl’s soul. This flame both guided her and encouraged her, igniting her thoughts and ideas and setting her world aflame with inspiration. Never had it faltered.

One day she went on a stroll as she often did to let the flame of her candle shed its light on new sights. On this particular day, she encountered something unusual. A forest, it seemed to grow spontaneously out of her path. But as she was curious and in want of fresh air, she walked on. The woods were dark, but her candle lit enough of the path in front of her that she could see clearly as she walked. As her glow hit the trees they cast long dark shadows, stretching out behind them creating new trees from their shadows. She felt surrounded, as if the trees and their shadows inched closer and closer to her, blocking out what little light seeped through the leafy canopy. Crickets chirped, crows called, and rodents rustled in the underbrush. Suddenly it sounded as if the whole forest was coming alive, the sounds rose up from the ground and engulfed the girl. Fear surged up from her stomach and she stopped walking. The forest went silent. No chirping, no calling, no rustling. And then she saw one of the shadows move. The creature was not huge, only a little taller than the girl, but it was not human. It had the hind legs of a wolf, with knotted shaggy fur covering its body. Two thick horns spiraled out of its head. Claws dangled limply by its side. She heard its breathing and then two glowing eyes appeared in the darkness. It looked at her and she could not take her eyes off of it. The shadow monster took a step towards her, and then another, until it was within arms distance. And in the next instant the creature blew out the little candle in the little cabinet in the girl’s chest. Even though it was pitch black without her glow she could still make out the creature’s grin, its eyes crinkling a bit at the corners, before it walked off becoming one with the forest shadows.

She could no longer see the path in front of her. Her candle was dead and she could not see the ground that before had been so clear. The wave of fear was now a flood around her heart in the cabinet where her light used to be. The girl sunk to the ground, heart broken, defeated, lost. She sat there for years, the seasons changing around her from fall to winter to spring to summer. Winter fell again and the forest grew dark. Still the girl sat motionless amidst the dead leaves and snow.

Out of the corner of her eye the girl noticed a faint light a short distance away. Slowly she looked toward it and as she did so the light grew ever so slightly brighter. With all the courage she possessed and fueled by a remnant of her old curiosity, the girl stood up and walked toward the source of the light. It appeared to be a footprint. Suddenly another footprint appeared glowing out of the ground. The girl was amazed. She placed both of her feet in the two footsteps, a smile creeping across her face. Another glowing footstep appeared. Then another. And another. The girl followed the footsteps as they ran out in front of her, illuminating her lost path. Soon the girl picked up speed and was flying over the footsteps, faster and faster as they led her on through the forest. All at once the footsteps stopped and the girl came to a halt right on the edge of of a small pond. She sunk down to peer in and saw her reflection rippling on the surface. She reached her arm into the light blue water. When she pulled it out, she held a candle, the flame flickering brightly even though it had just been submerged in the pool. She opened the little door in her chest and placed the lit candle on the shelf inside.

The girl stepped back away from the pool and as she did so the footsteps she left behind glowed, just like the ones that led her to this place. Feeling a sense of both calm and buoyant energy for the first time in years, the girl turned to face the dark woods yet again. As she walked into the trees she looked back at her glowing footsteps. This time, though the trees and shadows still loomed around her, she walked on, footsteps receding into the darkness. In the distance she could feel the presence of the creature that had blown out her light. It crept along with her as she traversed the soggy forest earth, blending into the shadows of the trees in one moment and appearing stark against the sky light the next. Finally she came to the edge of the forest. The soft orange light of the sunrise showed through the branches that were once again blooming as the girl and her candlelight left the woods.