The Day Morning Forgot

Lina stepped outside into the bright morning sun. The light tickled her nose. Birds should have been singing. The bakery should have been baking. She looked down at the sidewalk. Something was wrong.

Her shadow was gone.

Lina waved her hand. “Swoosh, swoosh!” She expected the dark shape to follow her fingers. Nothing moved on the ground. The light was warm, but the world lay very still, like a picture waiting to be hung.

She walked down the street. Mr. Baker pushed his door. “Push, push!” But the door did not open. He stood with his foot on the step and his hands on the wood. He looked puzzled, like a loaf without a baker. A little blue bird opened its wings. It did not fly. It floated like a kite caught on a string. Lina found herself whispering, “Is it only me?”

People stood like statues. Cars sat quiet in the road. Even the swings in the park hung in the air without swinging. Not one dark, stretchy shadow stretched along the ground. Lina knew what that meant. The very first shadow of the morning, the one that says, “Begin!” had not come out to start the day.

She ran up the big green hill. Thump, thump, thump went her shoes. She climbed to the highest roof in town. From there she could see the whole place. Houses blinked in the sun, but none of them had a friend on the ground.

Lina peered over the edge. Hidden in the roof’s cool crease was a tiny, shaky shadow. It wiggled and wobbled like a leaf on a stem. Lina crouched down so her face was level with that small dark thing.

“Hello,” she said softly. The shadow trembled. It sounded like a tiny cold breeze. It seemed afraid to step into the open light.

“It is a big job to start the whole world,” Lina said. “You go first every morning. You help everything wake up.” The little shadow edged a tiny bit closer. Lina smiled. “You do not have to be perfect,” she told it. “You just have to try.”

The shadow reached. Tap. It touched Lina’s shoe. Warm light spilled across the town like syrup on pancakes. The bakery door swung open. The bird lifted and flew high. People blinked and moved and laughed.

Shadows all returned. They stretched, they danced, they played in the sun. Lina looked down. Her own shadow waved back at her like an old friend.

Even the smallest things can be brave. The day was awake again, and Lina walked home with her shadow beside her.