When I got back to Tina's room she was still sleeping. I crawled back into bed – avoiding the spoon - and tried to go back to sleep myself, hoping I would wake refreshed. It didn't work. I couldn't get back to sleep. My mind kept churning, trying to reassemble the night.

All I could get was glimpses. Random flashes. Even the tiny snippets were disturbing enough.

I heard Tina's groan and knew she was reluctantly waking. I feigned sleep. I heard her groan. She must have looked at the clock. I heard her leave the room. I guessed shower.

The young girl sat alone during the lunch hour. She didn't sit with the other students in the lunchroom. No, she walled herself in the safety of a classroom. While others were out on the field talking and running (one would not dare call it "recess" in junior high) she stayed behind to read a book.
"What are you doing in here, cow?"
She refused to look up from her reading--not wanting to give her tormentor the satisfaction.
"Are you too afraid to be with the others? Or are you afraid you’ll squash them flat?"
"I don’t weigh that much."

We are never alone. Even if nobody is around you, still you have your shadow. It will always listen to you and it will always be with you. The shadow is what is left from the Altar, the primordial energy, inside each one of us. When you are talking to yourself or an imaginary character, in fact you talk to your shadow. And if you are patient enough, you can hear its answers.

Legend Of The Shadow