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Once upon a time there was a little girl who would place a plate of cookies and a glass of cold milk beneath her bed every night. Afterwards, she would quickly climb onto the mattress and disappear under the covers. Listening to the clock as it ticked away the time, the little girl would lay there quieter than a mouse, waiting patiently for her friend to appear. However, time and time again, the little girl would fall asleep without catching sight of her unknown visitor.
Instead of being upset with this result, the little girl would eagerly scramble out of bed each morning and collect the empty plate and glass. Sneaking into the kitchen, she would wash the dishes in secrecy and then quietly get ready for the day; she didn't want to wake her parents up after all. To end her routine, every morning she would pop her head back into the room and wish her friend pleasant slumbers before skipping out the front door.
Night after night and morning after morning the little girl repeated the same routine. It had started when she first learned about shadows at school one day. After class let out, the little girl raced home with a multitude of questions.
When she saw her mother, the main one she was concerned about was why she had never met hers. After all, every time she would see her shadow and try to approach it, it appeared to her as if her shadow would run away or hide in on itself. Her mother just chuckled and explained that shadows were shy; if she was patient and kind, however, she might just happen to meet her shadow one day.
After talking to her mother, she sat at the table for a time, pondering on how she could be nice to a shadow. What did shadows like? Looking at the cookie she was eating for her after school snack, the girl had a grand idea. She liked cookies, they made her happy, so maybe shadows would like cookies, too.
Testing her theory, the girl left a cookie under her bed, deciding that it was the best place for a shadow. After all, it was one place that she wouldn't want to go, especially at night, and shadows seemed to like dark scary places. Sure enough, in the morning the cookie was gone. From that point on, the girl tried various attempts to lure out her shadow.
She quickly learned that if she changed up the routine in any fashion, perhaps by moving the cookies or by staying awake to catch her friend, her shadow would not visit. However, on the nights that she placed the cookies and milk in the safe spot under the bed, she would wake to find a small golden flower laying on her pillow, glowing brightly in the greeting light of the sun.
Delighted at such discoveries, the girl tried changing up the late night snacks. Like the discoveries about her routine, she was tickled pink to see that the shadow liked cookies as much as she did. Although some of the foods were sampled, none disappeared completely like the cookies.
One night, the girl became very ill and was unable to bring cookies to her visitor. Waking up in the morning, she noticed a half-eaten cookie was on her pillow. Smiling faintly, the girl hugged the cookie and fall back asleep.
Over the days, the girl gradually grew worse. Despite the medication and attentive care of her mother, the girl's fever continued to climb, causing her to be bedridden for the next week. Groaning in her sleep from the pain and discomfort, the little girl would cry out before falling back asleep, unable to ever fully wake.
Unknown to her, the shadow watched from the darkness every night. Uncertain as to how to return the girl's kindness, the shadow finally crept forward. Reaching out, the shadow caught the girl's hand, but quickly retreated as the heat transferred from the girl into the shadow.
Realizing that the girl needed help, the shadow approached the girl again and slipped into the bed. Despite the discomfort of the heat, the shadow wrapped the girl up in a cold embrace. Absorbing the heat from the girl, the shadow began to glow a soft red. Throughout the night, the shadow held the little girl, not letting go until the fever was completely gone.
Climbing out of bed, weary and exhausted, the shadow stumbled slightly, crashing into the bedside table. Feeling a cold presence, the shadow turned to see the little girl had caught hold of the shadow's glowing form. Too weak from containing the fever, the shadow simply stared at the girl, watching as she climbed out of the covers. Feeling a cool embrace, the shadow was startled as the little girl hugged the shadow tight. Relaxing as the heat balanced between the girl and the shadow, both climbed back into bed, sleep overcoming the pair.
In the morning, the girl woke, her fever broken. Turning her head at the pillow beside her, the girl grew sad, for in place of the glowing shadow was the sun's rays. Over the next few days, the girl steadily grew healthier, but had not seen her shadow since. Although she was sad, she knew that her friend was close by and would return when she needed the shadow the most.
Fin.