What Lurks in the Shadows

 by Charlotte Bennardo

Amy Lee from the rock group Evanescence said in her September 18, 2006 interview with VH1:

"Don't be afraid of the shadows; that only means that there's a light nearby."

Photo by Johannes Plenio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/green-forest-1776267/

Yet how many warnings do we have about shadows?

 

We're cautioned about dark, shadowy streets.

Don't go in the woods after sundown.

The monster lives in the shadows of our closet.

In movies like Ghost, shadows come alive to drag the evildoer to hell. Horror movies like Among the Shadows, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, and Slumber and Lights Out all feed our fear of shadows and what is in them.

Yet, as Amy Lee said, there's light nearby. Light is needed in order for shadows to be visible. In Poltergeist, little Carol Ann is told to "go toward the light" in order to escape the darkness that has her trapped. But sometimes, shadows help us, like when we hide in them to avoid a stalker who is in the light.

Like the Chinese Yin and Yang symbol, one needs the other, and one creates the other. 

Photo by Mike González: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-woman-holding-red-hand-fan-13015502/

So it is in everything: there are two sides, and usually one cannot exist without the other. You cannot have good writing without editing (adding and taking away). you cannot have day without night, and you can't know joy without knowing sorrow. 

Charlotte writes MG, YA, NA, and adult novels in sci fi, fantasy, contemporary, paranormal genres, and now romance. She is the author of the award-winning middle grade Evolution Revolution trilogy, Simple Machines, Simple Plans, and Simple Lessons. She co-authored the YA novels Blonde OPS, Sirenz, and Sirenz Back in Fashion. She also has short stories in several anthologies. Having finished her MFA, she's applying what she learned and is revising several children's and adult novels. She lives in NJ with her family and her floofy cat. When they trimmed the backyard tree, the crazy squirrel couple had to move out, but she is happy to report she has a new squirrel tenant.