Luckily, I had been standing by the window on that frosty
yet sunny evening on December 5th. I had been brooding over how to
tell her the news when I saw the shadows. 1. 2. 3. 4. 4 shadows. Huddled
together on the wall. Two big, sturdy shadows, towering over the bricks. One
small, slight shadow holding a device. The last, a medium sized shadow with
long, flowing hair. I stood, clutching my wine glass, in my shabby jeans and my
faded t-shirt, staring at the animated shadows on the wall.
Even
though the weather was deteriorating, the shadows met every day on the wall
opposite my window, where I stood annotating the peculiar movement of the
shadows. They would converse with each other, standing very close to one
another on the bricks. Occasionally the medium sized shadow would suddenly do a
large exaggerated movement, which was then hushed by the small shadow. Every
day I continued to wonder what they were discussing down there, out in the
cold. I always watched them, by the window, drink in hand, phone right next to
me. Every day I grew more and more intrigued why their body language was so
subtle. I always looked over to the picture of her and I. I still haven’t told
her. But how can I when she has been acting the way she has? I couldn’t tell
her, otherwise the thing that I dread could happen, just might.
The day
came, December 19th, when I was feeling particularly angry. I had
told her the news the night before and she had not reacted the way that I had
expected. She had speculated on the news for a while and then blew up. Why on
earth couldn’t she, for instance, be calm about it? Although I could not stand
still, I still stood at the window that evening to watch the shadows. I was fed
up, I decided, just watching these silhouettes act out their suspicious story
on the wall. I wanted to see their darkened faces for myself. I made a rash
decision. The door violently slammed shut behind me as I stormed out of the
flat. Finally I arrived at the wall on which they met. But they had gone. Where?
Why? Surely it was too early for them to silently slip away?
My
patience was tested as I waited for the evening of December 20th,
when I would put my plan into action. The evening finally rolled round and I
stood, not by my window, but outside, below the glass hole in the wall,
opposite the wall where the shadows met daily. Seven twenty five. They should
be here soon. I crept over to the over-sized wheelie bins which regularly
consumed the packaging of my ready meals and my empty beer cans. Silently, I
crouched down behind the big black one and waited. I didn’t know how long I was
going to be waiting for or if they would even show up. Courage built in me as I
waited for them to appear. I was excited to see their figures close up and hear
what they were discussing.
Eventually,
the four black characters arrived on the wall. As usual they started to
silently talk to each other, without using any grand gestures. I strained my
ears to hear the voices of the bodies that the shadows belonged to. The only
thing that I could hear was a faint whisper. What was it saying? I squeezed my
eyes together and concentrated hard on listening to the soft voice. I wanted to
know what they were saying. I glanced over to the bricks to watch the shadows
whilst listening to the voice. The little voice became harsher and the animated
figure of the small shadow seemed to exaggerate their movement. The shadow
looked as though it was elaborating on a piece of information. The other
silhouettes seemed to keep glancing over at each other.
I crawled past the large green
bin and towards the wall that separated the busy street from the dingy
back-alley. I reached the tall graffitied wall and tried to peer round the
edge. I couldn’t see them. Footsteps. Fearful that they might see me, I got up
and stood with my back against some stacked up boxes. One last step back and my
foot caught on something. The boxes came tumbling down with a crash. The floor
was pulled from underneath me and my feet where above me in the air. I fell
back onto the large pile of rubbish and boxes with one final almighty clatter
and then silence. I tensed my body and held my breath tight in my chest. With a
terrified look in my eye I stared up at the shadows which were frozen on the
wall. Without warning, one of the larger shadows whipped something out of their
jacket. They held the weapon firmly in the hands and stretched their arm out,
the muzzle pointed at the wall. I lay, fastened to the floor by my own fear, as
the shadows walked towards me, getting smaller and clearer as they came. I
examined the figures as they walked and my mouth fell open. How? Why? A shiver
raced down my spine and my eyes started to sting as I came face to face with
the owners of the shadows.
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