The whispering shadows

 

The Whisper of the Invisible Friend

Beneath the moon’s pale, spectral glow,
In shadows where the cold winds blow,
A phantom friend begins to play,
Whose presence chills the light of day.

It starts so softly, like a breeze,
A murmur rustling through the trees.
A voice that calls, yet leaves no name,
A fleeting echo, a spectral flame.

At first, it’s comfort, warm, benign,
A partner for the lonely mind.
A laugh so sweet, a whispered song,
Yet something feels profoundly wrong.

“Who are you?” I dared to ask one night,
As candles cast their flickering light.
The silence grew, then softly spoke,
A voice that wrapped me like a cloak.

“I’m your friend, your truest guide,
I’ve always been here, by your side.
When tears fell fast, when hope seemed dead,
It was my shadow where you fled.”

Its words were kind, but strange and stark,
A specter lurking in the dark.
Its presence grew as days went by,
A shadow swelling in my eye.

It knew my thoughts, my fears, my dreams,
It wove itself into my seams.
At every step, its whispers crept,
It followed close while others slept.

I felt its touch—cold as the grave,
A shiver through the nights I braved.
And yet, it claimed, “I mean no harm,
Just let me rest within your arm.”

The room grew still; the air grew thin,
A sense of dread beneath my skin.
“Prove yourself,” I said with dread,
And shuddered when it softly said:

“Look to the mirror, gaze within ,
The truth will lie beneath your skin.”
I turned and stared, my breath grew tight,
As shadows danced in the flickering light.

The glass was warped, the image blurred,
A hollow laughter faintly stirred.
My face, my eyes, began to twist,
As if my soul had ceased to exist.

Its laugh grew louder, shrill, and wild,
The playful giggle of a child.
“You let me in; you called my name,
Now you and I are one and the same.”

I staggered back, the mirror cracked,
My heartbeat pounded, my mind attacked.
Its voice now rang inside my head,
“Your world is mine,” it coldly said.

I sought escape, I ran, I fled,
Yet every corner filled with dread.
Its shadow stretched, its form took shape,
A haunting figure I could not escape.

Its eyes were voids, like endless night,
Its grin too wide, its teeth too white.
A faceless friend, yet all too near,
It thrived upon my deepest fear.

“Release me!” I begged, my voice a plea,
But it only laughed in endless glee.
“You asked for me; you called me near,
Now live with me in constant fear.”

I locked the door, I barred the way,
Yet it was with me night and day.
It whispered truths, it spoke my name,
A twisted friend, my soul to claim.

My family asked, “What ails your heart?
Why do you sit alone in the dark?”
I could not speak; I dared not tell,
Of the shadowed friend I knew too well.

The years went by, my strength grew weak,
Its voice grew loud, its tone grew bleak.
“You cannot win; you are my prize,
Forever trapped beneath my eyes.”

But one dark night, beneath the moon,
I planned to end its haunting tune.
A circle drawn, a candle’s flame,
I whispered prayers, I called its name.

It rose from shadows, dark and vast,
A phantom from my haunted past.
Its grin was wide, its eyes were void,
A creature born to seek, destroy.

“You summon me? You think to fight?
I am your shadow, endless night.
I feed on fear, I drink despair,
You cannot kill what is not there.”

Yet in my hands, a blade of steel,
A weapon forged to break the seal.
I struck the shadow, swift and deep,
But still, its laughter made me weep.

“You cannot slay what shares your soul,
I am the part that makes you whole.
To banish me, to cast me out,
Would leave your heart an empty drought.”

The truth it spoke, I knew too late,
My phantom friend, my mirrored fate.
Forever bound, we twain must roam,
A cursed pair, a haunted home.

So now I sit, in darkened halls,
Where shadows climb the peeling walls.
Its voice still whispers in my ear,
My silent friend, my greatest fear.

And should you walk where shadows creep,
Where the air is thick, and whispers seep,
Beware the friend you cannot see,
Lest it claims you, as it claimed me.