“Sealing the Shadows” by T.G. Arsenault
Jimmy spends most of his days locked away inside his bedroom. His father doesn’t want other people to see the misshapen boy, but Jimmy’s room is more than just his prison. It’s his sanctuary. It’s where he hides from his father’s drunken rage listening to the man beat his defenseless wife. Since Jimmy’s condition has left him colorblind, he sees everything in black white: a world full of shadows. His father’s shadow is like a monster constantly trying to crawl under Jimmy’s door, and the boy knows he must find a way to get rid of the terrible beast. He cannot handle the terrifying shadows any longer.
About the Author
Originally from Maine, T.G. Arsenault retired from the U.S. Air Force after 22 years. He is the author of the novels, Forgotten Souls (Five Star) and Bleeding the Vein (Gallows Press). He recently finished his latest novel, Fall of an Empire. His short fiction has appeared in multiple online venues and print anthologies and received an honorable mention in the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, Sixteenth Edition. T.G. Arsenault resides in Rochester, New York.
Synopsis
Jimmy sits in his room staring out the window. He imagines that he can see all the beautiful, vibrant colors of summer, but the truth is that the child is colorblind. He can only somewhat understand color by the difference in shades. “Since the day he was born he had lived in a world of shadows.” Loud sounds from the rooms below him alert him to his parents fight. They are always fighting, and he hums to frown out the noise. Staring into his old worn out mirror, Jimmy appraises his misshapen face noting the wide-set eyes and permanent droopy bags. He spits on his reflection insulting himself the way so many other people do. Footsteps vibrate the mirror signaling his father’s approach. The shadow soon appears in front of the door terrifying Jimmy. “His heart fluttered in response; breath mimicked his pulse with short, irregular gasps.” Slurring drunkenly, the man outside his door calls Jimmy’s name. The boy presses his back to the door willing his father to stay out, but he is only able to hold the shadows at bay for so long.
When he finally opens his eyes and picks himself up off of the floor, the sound of his parent’s fighting has died out. Jimmy’s father is no longer at the door. The boy grabs his latest cross-stitching piece to shift his focus somewhere else. His mother had given him the supplies long ago, and he loves to lose himself in the stitching making complex, colorful designs. Although he cannot see the colors, his mother always gushes over the beauty of his art. After falling asleep while working on his stitches, Jimmy wakes to the sound of neighborhood boys outside his window. They taunt and jeer trying to provoke an appearance by Jimmy. He slowly peeks over the edge of the windowsill waving at the cruel children. One of the boys throws a rock, which connects directly with Jimmy’s forehead. “White fire pushed any possible scream deep inside his chest, allowing only whimpers to escape between gritted teeth.” Tears slide down his cheeks as he picks himself up off the floor to watch the boys leave on their skateboards. Doing his best to hide the bruise blossoming on his forehead, he prepares for his father’s daily departure.
Jimmy’s mother makes him breakfast every morning when his father leaves the house, and it’s Jimmy’s favorite time of the day. He bounds downstairs after hearing his father’s car motor fade into the distance. His mother has prepared his favorite breakfast, but as she turns to face him, Jimmy sees the massive wounds disfiguring her beautiful face. His appetite disappears as nausea creeps over him. A sudden darkness fills the kitchen as the sound of a car tearing down the driveway fills the room. His father has returned home early. He scrambles to make it back up to his room before the villainous man enters the house. “If he hurried a bit faster, he’d make it before the shadow crawled up the stairs and nibbled at his toes.” Once in his room, he listens to the sound of his father’s wrath being unleashed on his already fragile mother. She screams bounding up the stairs toward Jimmy’s room.
His father follows, and he can hear the two scuffling in the hallway. The noise increases as his father enters the master bedroom shattering the glass on the gun cabinet. Jimmy holds his breath as the fighting begins again, and he wonders who is winning. They are outside his bedroom door, and he hears his mother leaning against the door. There is a loud, terrible noise; and Jimmy knows his mother is gone. He can see his father’s dark, looming shadow dance beneath the door. Blood oozes gently across the floor toward Jimmy’s huddling form like “a thick pool of shadows creeping in like the froth of a rising tide.” There is no sound or movement outside his door. He grabs his cross-stitching supplies preparing a needle. If he can just block the shadows, they will never bother him again. He takes the thread and slowly stitches both of his eyelids shut creating a safe, dark world away from the evil shadows that took his mother.
Download the Great Jones Street mobile app and read “Sealing the Shadows”for free. Or click to our Medium pub now (membership required).
