The city was not like other cities.
Here, people never went outside after sunset. Because everyone knew—once night falls, the "shadows" awaken.
There was a boy named Riyad who didn't believe any of this. He thought these were just stories made up to scare people. One day, he decided to go out at night and discover the truth.
Midnight.
Silence everywhere. A strange coldness in the air. Riyad slowly walked down the empty street. Suddenly, he noticed something odd—his shadow wasn't moving properly!
He stopped.
But his shadow didn't…
Slowly, the shadow separated from him and moved forward. Riyad's heart started pounding. He tried to run, but his legs felt frozen.
The shadow turned around.
And then… it spoke.
"You didn't believe in us, did you?"
With a trembling voice, Riyad asked, "Who are you?"
The shadow smiled. "We are not your fear… we are the parts of you that you forgot."
Suddenly, more shadows gathered around him. Each one looked human, but they had no eyes—only darkness.
Riyad realized, people in the city don't stay inside at night because they are afraid… they stay inside because they know their own shadows might leave them.
The next morning, people saw Riyad standing on the street.
But beneath his feet…
There was no shadow.