The Nonproductive Net

When he was 6, Charlie saw the shadow for the first time. He passed it in the living room as it lurked, silently, shortly after his father was killed in a car accident. He wouldn’t understand until many years later what his father’s death did to his immediate family and relatives. What he did know, was the shadow was there now, where he never noticed it before.

For a period of time after his father’s funeral, the house was always full during the day. Family and neighbors seemed to spend more time at his house than their own. At night, however, when everyone went home and Charlie was laying in bed, the shadow would appear. Sometimes he would see it moving through the hallway, other times it would seem to linger in the doorway to his room. It was silent, but it’s presence made the air feel heavy. Charlie shared a room with his brother, Dan, and knew that he saw the shadow too. He could tell that his older sister, Karen, noticed them too – but neither of his siblings would ever acknowledge them or speak about it.

Karen and Dan spent as much time out of the house as possible. They were older than Charlie and would spend a lot of time at their friend’s houses. They knew that the shadow never appeared outside the house. Because he was only 6, Charlie didn’t really have that option… He would play outside with his friends as much as possible, but he still had to be home when it got dark. Luckily, the shadow only appeared after he went to sleep and his bed covers offered ample protection.

Charlie’s uncles came by the house often after his father’s death. Most of their time was spent working on the house and managing stuff that his dad used to do. It was all strange to him. His dad worked long hours and he rarely saw him outside of the weekends, but now his uncles seemed to have a lot of work to do – even during the week – and they seemed really interested in having his help. He would try to help, but couldn’t do much. It never seemed to bother them though. He wondered why the shadow never appeared when they were there. Maybe it hid from them. Maybe they didn’t see what he saw. When they’d leave though, it was always waiting for bed time.

Most nights the shadow would be pretty quiet. Content to pass the doorway or whisper in the hallways. But after some months it began to wail and pound on the walls. Charlie would wake up to find broken dishes in the kitchen and chairs overturned. His mother would be picking up the mess but never acknowledged what had happened. She knew the shadow made the mess.

Years went by and the shadow was always there. Charlie was afraid that if his friends knew they’d be scared to play with him so he rarely had them over. There were just a few that he trusted. A couple were even brave enough to sleep over. Those friends saw it too. They would try to pretend it wasn’t there for his sake though. A sideways look when it passed by was the only acknowledgment.

Eventually Charlie learned to live with the shadow. It never tried to hurt him and he could block out the noise it made. He never got blamed for the shadow’s messes and his uncles never seemed to be concerned for his safety. There was nothing to worry about.

When he was 16 the shadow spoke to him for the first time. Charlie’s brother was killed in a car accident and the house was once again full of people during the day. This time, though, it didn’t last as long. The house was more empty and the shadow grew bolder. One day when he came home from school the house was dark. All the shades were pulled and the dogs were nervous. As he walked into the kitchen he heard it drawing in air. Too much air, it seemed, for what followed. A single eye, glowing red, flared up angrily illuminating the contours of it’s shape before exhaling in a whisper, “it should have been you...” The smell of things burning would infect his nose and then silence. Heavy, smothering silence that closed his throat and made each second it took to move away feel like hours.

(To be continued...someday)