NEW: the ghost of a shadow.

 

His fingers tangled with the shadows, brittle bones that could snap with little persuasion, reached across the reflection on the pale lit wall.

Nathaniel clenched his fist, but was surprised to see that the shadow of his hand didn't ape his movement. Its hand continued to stretch out, its thin fingers - his thin fingers, spread out, as if ready to touch something, something soft and ephemeral, just out of reach. He withdrew his hand entirely, but the shadow of his hand remained stubbornly in place, still reaching.

He didn't understand fully, perhaps he wasn't meant to. Was his shadow still there, fingers flexing slowly? Or was it another? Something that had folded into his shadow, taken its place?

He sat quietly and softly, making no movement of his own, his hands resting gently in his lap, as he watched the shadow hand shifting its fingers, still searching.

"The ghost of a shadow?" He whispered to himself. "From the land of between?"