John peered into the shadows beneath Michael's bed, and the dark stared back. Sweat rolled down his neck, causing the skin to prickle in fear. Bright, shining eyes blinked open in the gloom and moved toward him. John scrambled frantically backwards on his stomach.
"John?" Wendy went down to her knees at his side,putting out a hand to protectively shield him.
The children stared as the shadow crawled out from beneath the bed and crouched low in front of them. John cowered back, clutching tightly onto Wendy's arm. But she stared in admiration – leaning eagerly forward. "What are you?" She breathed, in awe. The shadow appraised her, cocking his head to the side. "Can't you speak?" The shadow shook his head.
It was the shadow of a boy, about her age and height. "My name's Wendy. These are my brothers, John and Michael. Please don't be shy – we won't hurt you." She smiled reassuringly. The shadow adjusted his position, sitting cross-legged in front of her. "How did you get here, I wonder." Wendy mused, "are you lost?"
The shadow slowly nodded.
"Perhaps we can help." Wendy suggested brightly. She gave John a prod. He straightened up and nodded in agreement, wiping his sweaty palms on the front of his pyjamas.
"Yes lets!" Michael agreed enthusiastically.
Wendy found a map of London but the shadow shook his head. John retrieved the atlas from the library but this didn't help either.
"Where could you be from?"
The shadow pointed up at the ceiling.
"The sky?" John guessed. The shadow nodded. "Perhaps he's an alien?" John suggested.
"How terribly exciting, and tragic," Wendy murmured happily. "How ever will we help him home now?"
"He can stay, can't he?" Michael asked, yawning sleepily. It was now definitely past his bedtime.
"Yes, indeed." Wendy decreed resolutely. Her caring nature couldn't contemplate the idea of shunning this mysterious house guest. Michael clapped happily. "But we mustn't tell mother and father." She added quickly, "they might not like it." The boys solemnly promised not to say a word.
Wendy set up a camp bed in the nursery for the shadow. It was strange, because the shadow floated up before flopping down to be cast against the bed sheets. Could he even feel them? Wendy wasn't sure, but it felt harsh not to set him up a bed at all. Puzzling it over, Wendy tucked Michael into bed. Little Michael rolled onto his side.
"Will you still be here in the morning?" He asked sleepily. The shadow nodded.
Content, Michael snuggled back against his pillow - his eyes already fluttering shut.
"Nighty night, Michael." Wendy whispered softly, kissing him on the forehead. "John, your glasses." She reminded him, noticing that her brother had forgotten to take them off. John set them down on his bedside table, yawning loudly.
"Goodnight," John bid Wendy as she kissed his forehead too.
"Goodnight, John."
Wendy made to leave but hesitated, seeing that the shadow was looking up at her expectantly. She approached him, smiling kindly. "Goodnight, Shadow." She murmured softly. Stooping down – she kissed the shadow's forehead. It was peculiar, in reality she'd just kissed the wall that the shadow was cast against but she'd felt something cold against her lips – like a thin film of ice. Wendy vacated the room, gently closing the nursery door shut behind her.
Once in her bedroom, Wendy leapt onto her bed – grinning excitedly. A boy from the stars had found their nursery! Getting up quickly, she searched her room – checking for anymore living shadows. Perhaps he was all alone, it was a sad thought. She lay in bed, too animated to sleep, and pondered the practicalities of taking a shadow to school with her tomorrow...
The clock struck midnight, its droning chimes resounding through the downstairs of the Darling's home. The shadow flew up onto the ceiling and swept silently across the paint, slipping out of the nursery and into the hallway. It froze on the ceiling, not moving an inch, as Mr Darling trudged up the stairs. The shadow watched Mr Darling move sluggishly, his shoulders sagging and his eyelids drooping with exhaustion. The floorboards creaked as Mr Darling walked beneath the shadow, oblivious to its presence only a few inches above his head, and slowly entered the master bedroom.
The sound of Mrs Darling's even breathing as she slept, filled the room. Mr Darling fumbled in the dark, careful not to wake her as he changed into his nightshirt. He fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow, instinctively cuddling up close to Mrs Darling. The shadow spread out beneath the doorframe and stretched out across the rug. It reached out a hand, the fingers elongating as they cast over the duvet, extending up until Mr Darling was smothered by total darkness.
The shadow's hand reached out, fingers spreading across Mr Darling's throat. The light emitting from the shadow's eyes changed from white to a dark scarlet. Mrs Darling rolled over in her sleep, moving away from her husband. The shadow growled, a deep predatory sound. Outside the bedroom window, two doves took flight – their gentle wing beats briefly disturbing the window pane.
The shadow moved to the wall, its eyes returning to white. Walking along the wall, it left the room and entered instead Wendy's bedroom. She was sleeping now, her hair fanned out across the pillow and her lips slightly parted as she breathed quietly. A perfect vision of innocence and loveliness. The shadow watched her. It put a hand to its forehead, where her lips had kissed him. Purring contently, the shadow swooped down and cast across Wendy's bed – lying at her side, its head darkening her pillow.
When Wendy awoke she quickly pulled on her dressing gown and rushed for the nursery, her hair in tangled disarray. Had it all been a dream? Had a shadow really fallen from the sky? The anticipated disappointed was already making her stomach drop and she held her breath as she pushed open the nursery door.
Michael was giggling on the floor, in a nest of bedsheets, gazing happily up at the ceiling. Wendy felt a burst of intense relief. It was real! The shadow was on the ceiling, flying around the lampshade. It stopped on seeing Wendy and, swooping down, cast itself against the wall behind her instead. Wendy turned and the shadow formally inclined his head in a respectful bow.
"Good morning," Wendy greeted happily, curtsying in return. Life just then, seemed perfect.
The shadow came with Wendy to school, hiding in her satchel amongst her books and stationary. Wendy marvelled at how he was able to secret himself away in so small a space. Her friends puzzled as Wendy went off by herself at breaktime, ditching their normal routine after being so strangely subdued and reclusive all morning.
She snuck off to the back of the caretaker's house. Here, amongst the weeds and broken flower pots, she could expect some privacy. Checking that nobody was around, she opened her bag and set it down on the ground.
"It's safe to come out now." She chimed cheerfully. The shadow emerged, casting itself against the cherry brick wall. "Here, share my food with me."
Wendy spread out her coat to daintily sit on and then set about laying out a tiny picnic for them both. The shadow seemed hesitant to join in, so she nudged a slice of lemon cake closer to the wall for him. Tentatively, the shadow reached out for the cake before stopping. He gestured for her to close her eyes.
That morning, the shadow had eaten under the bed so that the children couldn't watch. Wendy politely put her hands over her eyes. She wondered about the mechanics behind it, how did he eat? What would it look like? What would she see if she peeked between her fingers? She wanted to know, but a small niggle of unease stopped her. She waited a few minutes.
"I'm going to open my eyes now." She warned, waiting a little longer before opening them.
She blinked in surprise, startled to discover the shadow so close. He covered her hand with his and inclined his head, guiding her to look at the wall. Turning her head, she saw that her shadow was cast against the wall. He moved to be cast against the wall also, kneeling beside her shadow. Wendy watched as he leant closer to her silhouette and reached out to hold the side of her shadow's face.
Wendy's pulse quickened. She couldn't physically feel anything, it was just like watching a shadow puppet show. She watched as the shadows on the wall kissed. Wendy held very still and released a shaky breath. Her first kiss. Wendy started in surprise, staring at her own shadow. For a split second, she could have sworn her shadow moved – without her doing so.
For the rest of the day, Wendy paid no attention to her lessons. She kept waving her hand over her desk – challenging her shadow to move on its own again. Her friends gave her sideways glances, debating if they needed to get an adult involved.
"Come on," Wendy whispered, "come alive again." She'd always believed in magic and now, she knew what her heart had always told her - magic was real.