The Shadow | Teen Ink

The Shadow

September 1, 2013
By SkippyPeanutbutter SILVER, Utrecht, Other
SkippyPeanutbutter SILVER, Utrecht, Other
9 articles 0 photos 49 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Happiness can be found, even at the darkest of times. If one only remembers to turn on the light.&quot; -Albus Dumbledore<br /> &quot;We&#039;re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?&quot; -the Eleventh Doctor


Do you ever feel as though you are the underappreciated sibling doomed to live in the shadows of accomplishments so great, you can’t even reach them in your dreams? I, for one, know all about this feeling of worthlessness. But this is not my story; for every good story needs an ending and my life has not reached that point yet. No, this is the tale of how life on Earth began.

Our legend is set in a time when all life on Earth was single cellular and the Gods took the form of stars and it begins when those very stars granted the Earth two children; twins; a boy and a girl; Sol and Luna.

Sol grew to be a strong, handsome man and Earth bestowed him with the most important task imaginable: illuminating the dark nothingness they lived in. Of course this was a piece of cake for such a good-looking man yet he fulfilled his duties with utter earnest.

Luna grew to be a small yet beautiful woman, but her brother radiated such wonderfulness that it was impossible to outshine him. Earth saw no future in her but was too polite to admit this, so Luna was named Sol’s hand.

The task Earth had given Sol was a fatiguing one; he was not allowed to leave his post, because if he did the sky would turn black as pitch. It wore Sol out until finally, he collapsed.
As he lay on his deathbed, he still emitted a dull spark of light, enough for the gods to continue their work. Luna knew, as she tended her brother, that in this era of darkness it was her time to shine. But the girl, consumed by grievance over her sick brother, could not find the light in her.

The days grew darker as all the energy flowed out of the once so lively man. Everyone looked to Luna, his hand, his sister, who shared the same blood, to set things right again. Alas, she couldn’t.

The poor girl did everything she could for her, now unconscious, brother. But it seemed as though all efforts were without hope.

Then, when all faith seemed to be lost, Sol opened his eyes, and the sky was brighter than it had ever been. The gods of old rejoiced and hailed the mighty Sol. It was not until Earth mentioned some odd goings on, that they realized Sol still radiated only very little light.

But who else could light up the cold darkness of the sky? They asked themselves. There, in the middle of the ebony nothingness, they saw the answer; a beautiful, young woman was smiling down at the weakened Sol. Who this mysterious source of light was, they did not know. But she possessed powers of unimaginable strength; that was certain.

Earth noticed that his waters started moving which caused for several single cellular creatures to collide and become multi cellular. Everything in the universe seemed to fall into place and the culprit for this was standing right there in plain sight. But who was she?
“That’s my sister!” Sol whispered proudly. And indeed it was the little girl who had up till now lived in the great Sol’s shadows. Only now, there was nothing little about her; in that moment she was the universe.

From that day on the twins shared the sky, working together and taking shifts, so that history would never again repeat itself.

So let this be a lesson to all siblings out there: do not live in someone’s shadow, create your own.


The author's comments:
This is my attempt at a 'Greek myth' type of story.

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This article has 9 comments.


on Aug. 25 2015 at 1:54 pm
SkippyPeanutbutter SILVER, Utrecht, Other
9 articles 0 photos 49 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Happiness can be found, even at the darkest of times. If one only remembers to turn on the light.&quot; -Albus Dumbledore<br /> &quot;We&#039;re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?&quot; -the Eleventh Doctor

Thank you!!!! :) :)

on Aug. 24 2015 at 11:13 pm
ThrillQueen126, Seattle, Washington
0 articles 0 photos 46 comments
I'm an older sibling, so i can't say I quite relate to this, but I loved this piece. Your writing is so beautiful, and this was such a wonderful story.

on Aug. 19 2015 at 9:17 am
Kestrel135 PLATINUM, Waterford, Connecticut
43 articles 0 photos 256 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Respect existence or expect resistance&quot;

It does:) Great writing!

on Aug. 19 2015 at 5:05 am
SkippyPeanutbutter SILVER, Utrecht, Other
9 articles 0 photos 49 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Happiness can be found, even at the darkest of times. If one only remembers to turn on the light.&quot; -Albus Dumbledore<br /> &quot;We&#039;re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?&quot; -the Eleventh Doctor

Thank you! Well, what I meant is that they know about Luna (they acknowledged her presence) but they never really lookt twice at her; she was more of a wallflower, too afraid to really show who she really is. IF that makes sense haha

on Aug. 18 2015 at 10:59 pm
Kestrel135 PLATINUM, Waterford, Connecticut
43 articles 0 photos 256 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Respect existence or expect resistance&quot;

Awesome interpretation of making your own mythology! This was very well written, and the themes of named celestial objects and old gods made it easy to understand as a legend. I can relate to the message, and it's a great thing to spread for all siblings. As for suggestions... The transition between Sol being ill and Luna taking her stand as the moon and creating life seemed a little rough to me, only because the gods knew perfectly well who she was before Sol got (relatively) better. If you emphasized that she became so enveloped in Sol's shadow that not even the gods could see her, and so when she came again to fill the sky with her own light and bring life to Earth they didn't know who she was, that might help clarify things a little. Other than that, this was a beautiful and heartwarming piece. It was beautifully written, fluent, and felt like diving into an old legend. To top it off, you incorporated a great message for all siblings! Really well done!

on Aug. 16 2015 at 3:30 pm
SkippyPeanutbutter SILVER, Utrecht, Other
9 articles 0 photos 49 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Happiness can be found, even at the darkest of times. If one only remembers to turn on the light.&quot; -Albus Dumbledore<br /> &quot;We&#039;re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?&quot; -the Eleventh Doctor

thank you so much!

ellwist SILVER said...
on Aug. 16 2015 at 4:26 am
ellwist SILVER, Surabaya, Other
6 articles 2 photos 85 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;They only let you be this happy when they&#039;re preparing to take something from you.&quot; -Khaled Hosseini, the Kite Runner.

This is the sort of fantasy that I'm a very big fan of; the fairy tale-ish sort that you can observe in real life. I especially liked the message in the ending. Great job!

on Aug. 15 2015 at 2:25 pm
SkippyPeanutbutter SILVER, Utrecht, Other
9 articles 0 photos 49 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Happiness can be found, even at the darkest of times. If one only remembers to turn on the light.&quot; -Albus Dumbledore<br /> &quot;We&#039;re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?&quot; -the Eleventh Doctor

Thank you so much!! :)

Meital.S GOLD said...
on Aug. 15 2015 at 10:26 am
Meital.S GOLD, Netanya, Other
13 articles 0 photos 24 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;If you can&#039;t explain it simply, you don&#039;t understand it well enough&quot; - Albert Einstein

I've never really been too interested in fantasy type stories, but now I absolutely love them! This story has a wonderful message, and beautiful descriptions!