The Darkness, The Light and The Shadow

The Darkness sat upon his throne

when a knock came at the door, from nowhere and everywhere.

“Enter,” said the Darkness.

The doors flew open, and the Light stepped forward, boldly, courageously.

The Darkness smiled. “Welcome. Come in. But be careful… I may swallow you whole.”

The Light smiled in return and entered with all the brightness she could carry. “I have come to vanquish you, you terrible tyrant.”

The Darkness tilted his head. “Me, the tyrant? It is you who have crossed into my realm,

my kingdom. It is you who are bold and brash… not I.”

The Light paused and leaned upon her staff of radiance. “Me, the tyrant?” she said, softly, melodically. “It is you who have sown fear and hopelessness in this land… not I.”

The eyes of the Darkness narrowed, the hollows of the abyss staring into the ice-blue gaze of the Light.

“Excuse me?” said a gentle voice.

Both the Light and the Darkness turned in wonder. “Who are you?” they asked together,

and the timbre of their voices made the cosmos shimmer.

“I am Shadow,” the voice replied. “Born of you, Light, and of you, Darkness. I am your child.”

The Shadow’s nebulous form bowed in humility.

There was silence.

The Darkness whispered, “Welcome, daughter.”

The Light sighed, “He is not our daughter…he is our son.”

The Shadow laughed.

“I am both,” they said. “Darkness and Light. I am born with fear and courage alike. I am misunderstood. I am the grey place. I am the space where one may rest. I am the shade that allows thoughtfulness, resolution, and reflection. I am comfort…. and the sleepless night. I am the place of becoming. I am the threshold of possibility.”

The Darkness laughed. “Then you will teach me how to face the monsters that dwell in my land.” And the Light laughed. “And you will teach me patience… for not all monsters are born monsters.”

And there, the Shadow, the Darkness, and the Light watched the shimmer take form.

~

And may you be blessed as you stand at the threshold…  neither whole nor broken but becoming.