'Keep your face to the Sunshine and you cannot see a Shadow'

I repeated that motto over and over, trying to avert my eyes to the sight before me.

Instead, I turned to my mum and asked, for the nth time; "Why are we not helping those Shadows over there?"

Instantly, hundreds of eyes turned my way, like always, their stares piercing and murderous.

Mum turned to look at me, and I squeezed her hand in impatience.

She let out a big sigh and said "You do remember the motto, right?"

"Yep!" I saide proudly, "Keep your face to the Sunshine and you cannot see a Shadow! But what does that have to do with the people over there, sitting on the side of the streets? They look hungry. And sad. We should go cheer them up! They look like they need a hug. And I'm a great hugger!"

I beamed with exuberance at my answer, sure that it was correct one. Only, mum's face didn't switch to a proud look, it only got more gloomy. Gloomy people are bad. Gloomy people needed hugs. And I'm a great hugger!

I hugged mum tightly, then lookd up at her and tilted my head in a way that expected an answer.

She got paler by the second, probably because of all those people staring at us. Why are they staring at us? Had we done something wrong?

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I thought it was perfectly normal to take a stroll down the street, mother-and-daughter-bonding style.

I looked at them back then said, in perfect acuity, "It's rude to stare. Don't stare at us!"

Some people looked away guiltily, most of them just stared harder. I stared at them back, keen to give them a taste of their own medicine.

Their stares turned deathly chilly.

Yeesh.

What had I done to warrant such treatment?

I racked my brain for answers, then something caught me eye.

Oh yeah!

The starving people!

"Hey muuuuum! Hey mum! Mum! MUM!"

All I got back was a silence-inducing stare.

"What."

That sentence alone got me really, really, really scared.

I don't like mum when she's like this. She's scary.

"I- I was j- just wondering why we ig- ignore the.. The umm.. The poor people. The people on the side of the streets. They look like they need lots of hugs. And I'm a great hugger! We should go hug them."

More stares.

Angry stares.

Stares that made me uncomfortable.

"They’re the Shadows, Katie. And you know how we deal with Shadows, don't you?"

Mum's question got me racking my brain. Then I remembered the motto.

"Oh, right! Keep your face to the Sunshine and you cannot see a Shadow! Are they the Shadows? Does that mean we ignore them? Why? They look lonely! And in great need of a hug!"

"Do you want to end up like them?"

Hmm… I thought about that for a moment.

"Nope!"

"Then ignore them."

"But whyyyyyyyy?" I whined.

"Because that's the way the world works."

I pouted in anger, then, in a burst of defiance, let go of mum's hand and raced towards the people, ignoring mum's desperate cries to come back.

I scrambled over to the Divide. The line that marked us different. Us sunshine. Them Shadow.

I hesitated a second, contemplating seriously.

Was I really about to do this?

Yes. Yes I was. They looked like they needed hugs really badly.

I stepped over the Divide, and walked through the filthy ground.

Onward to the Shadows!