Hi. I need to talk about something that happened when I was twelve. I've never really told anyone this before, if I'm being honest. This was 1996, late November. I was living with my mom in Duluth, one of those old houses up on the hill overlooking the lake. The kind of place where the windows are tall and the rooms are always a little too cold. I remember that day specifically because school had been cancelled. Some kind of furnace issue. My mom had to work anyway, and my little brother was upstairs napping, so I was doing homework alone. It was overcast, that heavy grey sky we'd get in late fall, and I was in the living room doing homework at the big table near the window. That's when I first noticed it. If I'm being honest, I wish I hadn't.
The living room had these huge windows, floor to ceiling almost, that faced west. And there was a lamp on behind me, one of those old standing lamps with the brass base. I wasn't paying much attention to anything except my math homework, but then I saw movement. Not in the room. On the wall. My shadow was there, like it should be. I could see it stretched out across the hardwood floor and up onto the wall. I was sitting still, pencil in hand. But my shadow, it moved. Just slightly. A tilt of the head. And then I realized. That wasn't my shadow moving. There was another shadow. Right next to mine. Overlapping it slightly, like someone was standing just behind me and to the left. Close enough that their shadow merged with mine at the edges.
I froze. I mean completely froze. Didn't turn around. Didn't move. I just stared at that shadow on the wall. It was distinctly shaped like a person, head, shoulders, the suggestion of arms at the sides. Taller than me. Much taller. And it was just... standing there. I remember my heart was pounding[ so hard I could feel it in my throat. The shadow didn't move for what felt like forever. Neither did I. We were both just... there. And then, slowly, it tilted its head. The way you do when you're looking at something curious. Studying it. I could see the distinct outline of the head tilt in the shadow on the wall. This wasn't a trick of the light or my imagination. days create such eerie lighting - Jason' The shape was clear, unmistakable.
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