Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows…
It was simply an outdoor basketball game. Three on three. Me, Ben and Joe. The sun was pretty high and shining down on us, we could see our shadows beneath our feet. Should have been an easy game. The other three boys weren’t very good. The game started out pretty even. They scored, then we scored, back and forth for about ten minutes of play. And then it happened. Ben passed me the ball; I was in the clear, it was a simple jump shot. One of the guys defending me muttered something that I couldn’t quite hear. I leaped for one of my patented shots. Even looked down at my shadow before releasing the ball. It was very impressive. I watched as the ball went sailing through the hoop, only touching net. But I was watching it like I was lying on the ground. In fact, everything was wrong. The whole scene had turned from color to black and white and it was no longer me. I mean it was me, but not in the sense of the real me. Think of it as Flat Stanley meets Lamont Cranston. I was my shadow and the real me was gone.
It was strange. I was gone, but the game went on. Ben and Joe continued playing as if I was still there. It was really 2 on 3 and they were having a tough time controlling the game, being outnumbered and all. I couldn’t actually see what they were doing but could follow their shadows around as the game progressed. I couldn’t hear what they were saying either.
The game came to a close and we lost. One of the opposing player’s shadow comes up to me and again I hear some muttering that I can’t understand. Next thing I know, a cloud passes in front of the sun, our shadows disappear and I’m there again in my human form just sitting on the ground. Joe and Ben come over to me and tell me it was the worst game I have ever played.
“Man, after that jump shot you took,” Ben said, “it was like you were nonexistent.”
Joe chimed in, “Yeah, we could barely see you, you were never free to get the ball to. What happened?”
I was about to answer when I glanced over at the guy on the other team that had mumbled all those words. He had an evil grin on his face and stared at me in a very threatening way. It was the kind of look that sends a message that is quite clear, “Don’t mess with me. I’d keep my mouth shut if I were you.”
So I said, “Sorry, it just wasn’t my day. It was just too sunny for me and I lost focus.”
The other guy just smiled and chuckled to himself. Lucky for us, we never have to play them again.
