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Leap through the shadows


Leap through the shadows
Lena was eleven years old and had a very important secret. After lessons she used to hide in the old library above the market. Mrs Rose was counting books and Kamil was moving chairs. Outside the tall windows a thunderstorm rumbled and lightning flashed. The wooden floor smelled of dust and paste, and the clock ticked too loudly. Since the solar eclipse, the shadows had done what she wanted them to do. If she touched a dark spot and held her breath, it disappeared. A second later she would emerge from another shadow, just out of sight. She practised this at home, by the wardrobe and bedside lamp. She promised herself that she would not show the power to anyone, ever. Suddenly the lights blinked and the door to the cage clanged open. A chill and a strange whisper erupted from the closed Map Room: Give it back. Mrs Rose went pale and jerked the key, which fell out of her hand. It rolled under a heavy display case of compasses and maps. Kamil checked his phone, but there was no reception at all. - 'We have to go inside,' Lena whispered, listening to the wind. A long, sharp shadow lurked under the display case, like a crevice. Lena knelt down and touched the darkness, feeling the chill like water. - Only for the key,' she warned herself, counting to three. The world rolled up and she slipped under the display case. On the other side it was quieter and darker than usual. Next to the key, the soot trail went off deeper, into the shadows like a doorway. Someone whispered her name from there, in a soft, completely alien voice. Before she could grab the key, the shadow twitched and moved towards her. Something as thin as a thread brushed her fingers and began to wrap around them. - Lena? - sounded from the corridor too, getting closer and closer. She didn't have time to answer, because the shadow pulled her deeper.


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Age category: 8-12 years
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Times read: 17
Endings: Zero endings? Are you going to let that slide?
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