Wish away shadows
And your shadows will miss you
As much as you them
Sarah’s Shadow is a simple story of a girl who wishes away her shadow after her classmates say mean things about it. Feeling that those mean comments reflected poorly on her, Sarah wished her shadow away.
But she never really considered that it was a part of herself. So, when her shadow up and walked away after Sarah wishes it away, she only thought she was safe from the judgement of others. Because, as it turns out, not having a shadow could expose Sarah to just as much disapproval from others.
The high point in this story is where Sarah, desperate and crying, flees from a situation that needed her shadow, only to find her shadow, also alone and crying. It turns out, a shadow without a girl is missing a part of itself just as much as a girl without a shadow.
I love that about this story. The allegory is that if you wish away part of yourself, then you are wishing away your Self. By making Sara’s shadow a sentient character in the story, children are confronted with the not only do certain “things” make up their identity, and that perhaps these “things” deserve the same type of compassion as do people. It’s a unique way to introduce and explain the concept of self-acceptance from the point of the things that need be accepted.
@Baker_Andrews_ The Haiku Review
Art by Si Clark
