The Call of the Shadow

Dipu was returning home just before dusk. It was the tail end of autumn, and the air had turned strangely cold. On both sides of the rural road, large krishnachura and peepal trees bent over as if whispering secrets to the earth. There was an uncanny stillness around, as if every sound and every living thing had disappeared.

At the bend of the road stood the old peepal tree. Ever since childhood, Dipu had heard tales that the tree was cursed. Old Renu Mashi used to say that an evil spirit lived in the shadow of the tree, and anyone who stood beneath it after dusk would lose their own shadow. Dipu never really believed these stories, but today, as he approached the tree, his steps involuntarily slowed.

Suddenly, he thought he saw something moving at the base of the tree. He froze, squinting into the thick darkness. There was nothing — just dense, pooling shadows. Yet for a moment, he was certain he saw two glowing, reddish eyes staring right at him.

“Dipu...”

A whisper, cold and close, floated to his ears.

His heart pounding, Dipu turned around and ran, as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn't dare look back, though he felt — no, knew — that something was following him, silent and unseen.

---

At home, Dipu slammed the door behind him. His mother looked up in surprise.

“What’s wrong, son? Why are you sweating so much?”

“Nothing, Ma," Dipu managed to mumble. "Just tired.”

But that night, sleep eluded him. Lying on his bed, he stared at the window. The thin curtain fluttered gently in the breeze. Then he heard it — a soft rustling outside.

Through a gap in the curtain, Dipu saw a shadow standing outside his window. Tall, distorted — shaped like a man but... not quite. Its head was tilted slightly to one side, as though it were peering in at him.

“Dipu...”

Again, that chilling whisper.

Terrified, Dipu squeezed his eyes shut. His body refused to move. When he finally dared to look again, the shadow was gone.

But on the floor beneath the window, there were wet, muddy footprints — prints that led into the room, not out.

---

The next morning, Dipu woke with a burning fever. His mother and father thought it was just a bad cold. They called a local healer, who after inspecting him solemnly said,

“This is no ordinary sickness. This is the fever of the soul. Some dark force clings to him.”

Dipu felt it too — a constant, creeping presence that lurked just out of sight. Even the familiar faces of his parents seemed distant and strange. Darkness pooled in the corners of his room, thick and heavy where light could not reach.

---

In the afternoon, Dipu’s friend Raju came to visit. Seeing Dipu pale and trembling, Raju asked, "What's going on with you?"

Dipu told him everything — the shadow under the tree, the whispers, the strange footprints.

Raju listened intently, then said, “I've heard a story. In a village far from here, a boy lost his shadow... and afterward, he was never the same.”

“What happens then?” Dipu’s voice quivered.

“If your shadow detaches from you, you slowly become a shadow yourself," Raju said gravely. "To stop it, you have to call your shadow back — go back to where it all started, under the peepal tree.”

At first, Dipu refused. But deep down, he knew Raju was right. If he waited too long, it would be too late.

---

That night, they set out with torches in hand. The village was asleep, and a thick mist had blanketed the fields. The moon hung low, casting a pale, sickly glow.

As they neared the peepal tree, Dipu felt the cold bite into his bones. The tree loomed ahead, its shadow stretching far into the darkness.

Under the tree, they saw it — a shadow standing in the torchlight. It looked exactly like Dipu — but its eyes glowed red, burning like coals.

The shadow extended its hand and whispered, “Come... come with me.”

Raju gripped Dipu’s shoulder tightly and urged, "Call it! Call your shadow back!"

Heart hammering, Dipu cried out, "Come back to me! I can't live without you! Come back!"

The shadow paused, as if listening. The tree’s leaves shuddered violently as if caught in a silent storm. Then, the shadow rushed forward and slammed into Dipu, who collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

---

The next morning, Dipu was carried home. His fever had broken. His parents rejoiced, thinking the worst was over.

But Raju noticed something was wrong.

Dipu’s eyes — they weren’t the same anymore. Deep within them, there was now a darkness, vast and endless.

And Dipu’s shadow — it was no longer like the others. It didn’t merge naturally with the light or the earth. It moved slightly on its own, twitching when Dipu stood still, writhing when he walked.

Sometimes at night, people said they heard strange whispers coming from the direction of the old peepal tree. Whispers that said:

"More... more shadows..."



THE END