Shadow of Our Mind

The Shadows of Our Minds

The sunshine is peeking through the clumps of trees of all shapes and sizes. The sunlight plays peek-a-boo with the white fluffy clouds casting oddly shaped shadows. You sit and stare at these shadows imaging what they resemble from a familiar place in our minds in the same way a Rorschach Test is used. You study the outline of the darkened shape, and you are transported. You keep your eyes focused to allow your mind to create a vivid overlay onto the lifeless image your eyes look upon.

The picture slowly develops behind our eyes as the image on Polaroid film. The sun continues to play with the clouds and the image now changes shape as if it is moving. Your mind now takes the task of replaying something in the form of a movie. Are you re-watching a moment from your past?

You close your eyes to search for people around you, identify smells, how the wind feels as it is blowing, you hear the trees swaying but you can’t see where you are. You try to turn around, but something is preventing you. Why can’t you see a sign or a landmark to get an idea of where you are.

You enhance your other senses to help you, but you can’t recognize that smell. You know it is like a dirt scent, like how you would imagine mud smells although you have never intentionally gathered a handful to know for sure. You put together the smell, the soft breeze, and the abundance of trees that you are in a forest. But where? Have you ever been in secluded woods before?

The shadow figure appears again. “Hello” you say but receive no answer. The shadow changes shape as if it moved toward you. You stretch your hand out and there’s nothing or no one there. You slowly try to slide your feet to the left to attempt a side view of the figure. Your feet are stuck. You try again a little bit forcefully. Nothing. Your body is frozen.

You hear a loud cawing from above you. There is a crow sitting on one of the high branches of a tree. Then another from your right but it is a bit louder than the first as if it is closer to you. You look for the shadow figure again but it’s not there. The distraction of the crows made you lose focus on the figure. Snap! The sound of a twig being broken under the weight of afoot. It came from behind you. You try to turn again and still can’t move. There is one thing left to do, scream. You bawl up your fists tight and prepare to let out the loudest cry you have ever done. No sound.

You hear the crows now, there is more than one. No, maybe more than two. They are now communicating with each other. They begin to get louder, closer than before. You can’t see them. You are frozen with no voice. You feel your heart beating faster and harder with fear. You feel a presence behind you and the crows are now making quicker raspy calls. The figure is right behind you. You see a shadow form around your feet now. There are more crows now. They are surrounding you. The caws are louder and constant. The darkness of the shadow is surrounding you now.

Then you hear hundreds of wings fluttering at the same time. The sound is so loud and in a second’s time, your hands move to cover your ears. You can move now. You feel the breeze coming from their wings rapidly moving and they are circling you. You are standing inside the eye of a crow tornado. They are protecting you by creating a vortex nothing can penetrate. Suddenly, they begin to break off into groups. They are flying away now; you uncover your ears and turn your head. The shadow figure is gone, the crows are heading south of you and there are faint rays of sunlight peeking through the trees. You can see all around, and you are alone.