My Little Shadow: Chapter 7

Playing with the shadows around us

A glow engulfed Wendy, glorious, brilliant and peaceful, as she relayed the rest of her visit with her mother to me. Her excitement at what she’d learned bubbled over. Contagious, it spread to me.

One thing about the situation nagged at me. Tugged at my compassion and empathy. Compelled to address it, I asked her about it.

“I do have one question, Wendy, if you don’t mind.” Corners of her mouth tilted up, as if she anticipated my concern. “Are you not upset with your parents for keeping this secret from you? No underlying anger or hurt gnawing at you?”

Wendy’s indulgent, loving smile shone back at my question. “No, Sarah, I am truly not angry or hurt.” She nodded as she gathered her thoughts. “I know it was my Dad’s fear of losing me that made him do what he did. He didn’t want me to have another Daddy in the wings, or with wings, so he took Patrick out of the equation. Was it the right thing to do?” Her shrug illustrated her acceptance of the situation, something I couldn’t have done.

“No, but it is what my mother allowed him to do. I had a choice. To forgive and love them anyway, or hold onto anger and resentment and lose them completely.” Serene and confident in her choice, Wendy looked angelic. “I chose to forgive them and love them anyway. It was the right thing to do.” She sat back and sipped a fresh cup of tea.

“Okay. I’m done. What’s been going on with you this week, Sarah? I’m looking something exciting in your report.”

I shook my head, laughing, and picked at a second muffin. Wished I missed breakfast, then my second muffin wouldn’t be so extravagant. Popped a blueberry in my mouth and dropped one on the floor for Bogey, who enjoyed my distraction.

“You’re a much better woman than I, Wendy. Not sure I would’ve handled this as calmly as you have. I hope to one day find the level of peace and serenity that you have found.” Bogey got one more juicy blueberry before I shooed him back to his bed.

Wendy laughed like someone who waded through the darkness to find the sun shining again.

“Don’t give me too much credit, Sarah. I’ve had help along my path.” She waved in my direction. “A lot of that work has been aided and abetted by you. Couldn’t have done any of this without your support and encouragement.”

Her words touched me. Tears welled up, emotion swallowed with effort, I told Wendy, “That means the world to me, Wendy. All I have wanted throughout this journey of ours was to help you.” I reached over and squeezed her hand.”It’s good to know I have.”

She squeezed back. “Never doubt how much you have helped me, Sarah.” She clapped her hands together. “Now, what’s on the schedule for today?”

Catch up finished for this week, we turned out attention to mediumship development. My little shadow houseguest appeared in the doorway as we settled in for the heart of the session. I shot a wink her way and a devilish grin Wendy’s.

“Today I have an exercise for you to do, Wendy.” I rubbed my hands together in glee as I instructed her to get comfortable. “I want you to go into a meditation and see if you can connect with this energy that has been here since your last session.”

“What?” Wendy sat up in surprise. “Did I bring someone with me last week? Who was it?” Her near-panic at having brought someone to my home amused me.

“I’m not entirely sure, to be honest, Wen. Only thing I know is that there has been a shadow with me since your last session. Maybe they piggybacked home with you from the East Coast.” Not comforted by my words, she began to wring her hands and work herself into a state.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Sarah.” My burst of laughter at her reaction brought a smile to her lips. “That was definitely not the souvenir I wanted to bring back for you from Kevin’s place.”

“Yeah, I know.” Eyebrows waggling, I told her about the meditation I wanted her to do. “You can help me figure out who it is, though. I want you to close your eyes and see if you can connect with the energy. I don’t want to influence what you may pick up on, so I won’t tell you anything about what I have found out myself, okay?”

Wendy nodded and wiggled herself into a more comfortable position. Eyes closed, her breathing settled into a deep, even rhythm. Across from her, I sank back into the cushions once more. Silent, I observed her and the surrounding room, waiting to see what, if anything, happened. Wendy sat still, eyes active behind her closed lids, as she searched for the shadow, who appeared at her side.

My little shadow friend stared at Wendy, morphing into a young girl of ten or eleven years of age. In a dirty, one-size-too-small floral-print dress stopping just above her knees, she pulled at the lace collar laying around her neck like a hangman’s noose. Dark, dirty hair hung down her back and around her gaunt face, highlighting the blank, white eyes staring out of it. She reminded me of a stereotypical horror-movie ghost-girl character tormenting innocent children in a soon-to-be-released feature I’d seen advertised.

The girl waved her hand in front of Wendy’s face, trying to get her attention, giggling when she tricked Wendy into not seeing her. She covered her mouth with one hand, shoulders shaking with mirth, and waved the other hand in front of Wendy’s face again.

Head tilted in thought, she changed tactics and reached one hand to Wendy’s face, caressing her cheek before tweaking her nose and twirling in a giggling circle.

Hello.

The girl jumped in surprise when I spoke to her. Her head turned completely around as she looked over her shoulder at me, unaware I had been watching her the whole time. A grimace transformed her face as she tried to scare me. I could feel her confidence in scaring me as she’d scared others before me.

What’s your name, love?

My words ignited her, like fireworks at Disneyland. Her face flared with anger first, then a flash of fear swept across it. Chin raised, her eyes sparked defiant disbelief at me.

You can see me. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to get the measure of me. You’re not afraid of me.

No, I’m not afraid of you. You don’t need to be afraid of me, either. I can help you find your family, if you want to.

She recoiled from me, snarling and hissing like a feral cat, and moved around the room. It was reminiscent of the way characters would move in old Sesame Street sketches, where they would move towards the camera and away again in a jerky manner. The girl did this for a minute or two and stopped to look at me, head cocked, then vanished.

Her antics amused and intrigued me. It was difficult to get a handle on who she was or what she wanted, but it entertained me to figure it out. For now, I would have to wait and see what happened from there.

Her relationship to the negative energy from the other night, the one I was having to warn away from my family, was still unclear. My little shadow friend didn’t feel like she was cut from the same spirit as he was, but she was more than she appeared.

I put my questions and concerns to the side as Wendy withdrew from her meditation. My little shadow popped back in again. Not a word from her, just silent staring as she stood in the doorway, interested in what we were doing.

Gentle, I smiled at her, extending my mother’s protective instinct to include her. I winked at my little shadow friend and turned to Wendy, who was rubbing her eyes and breathing deep to come down from her meditative state.

It was clear from her demeanour that she found something in her meditation that unsettled her. I gave her a moment to compose herself before drawing her back to the reason we were there.

“Welcome back, Wendy. How was your meditation?”

To keep reading, check out the next chapter here:

To go back to the beginning, see chapter 1: