Short story - A family full of shadows

Everyone in my family has a shadow. A shadow that appears when it is most needed and will accompany them for the rest of their lives. It's like having a lifelong best friend. Shadows are the pride of the family.

On my grandmother’s side, the shadows have big, round eyes, so big they sometimes look like lanterns in the dark.

On my grandfather’s side, they have elongated, shiny eyes like mermaids in the sea.

In their love story, their shadows met and fell in love even months before they saw each other for the first time.

All my aunts have had their shadows since I’ve known them, and although they all look very similar on the outside, deep down they are very different from each other.

It is said that one of my uncles even has a bluish-green shadow, but when his shadow appeared, he decided to live far away in the forest, and no one could find him or verify if his shadow truly was colorful. But they believe it is, because since childhood, everything around him was always blue and green. The garden at the house was never so beautiful!

Before appearing in our lives, shadows start giving signs of their existence. Everything becomes a little darker around the person who will be their companion. It’s as if a nighttime air envelops them, even during the day.

I remember when my sister met hers. That has been the only time I’ve seen a shadow come into the family. It was a very happy moment for everyone; it was something we eagerly awaited. Her shadow was dark and beautiful and had already manifested several times before revealing itself.

But mine hasn’t even hinted at being close. Everything around me remains as bright and colorful as ever.

I’ve tried searching for it and calling it in all the places I know, inside and outside the house, but no luck.

I’ve even tried makeup and costumes to resemble it, but nothing worked. I think it might have been worse than doing nothing—everything is now brighter and more colorful than before.

Mom and Dad tell me not to worry, that everyone has their time and that I shouldn’t compare myself to my sister, but I know they’re actually a bit concerned. By now, there should have been several signs of my shadow.

I want to think that maybe it’s traveling? On vacation? Shopping?

Perhaps it’s lost in the desert. Stuck in a jungle with toucans and macaws. Or in the middle of a big city.

...Everyone is a little worried... I’ve never felt as observed as in recent times.

But I can’t be the only one in the family without a shadow, right? That’s simply impossible.

In the end, the concern grew so much that we decided to call an expert.

She asked me many questions and had me do exercises to figure out the reason why no shadow was with me.

“But you do have a shadow,” she told me after a while. “The problem is that you don’t want to see it.”

What do you mean I don’t want to see it? But I’ve done everything to see it!

“You’ve done everything to see what you want to see. You haven’t noticed that it’s always been with you.”

I can finally see it!

My shadow is not a dark shadow like the others!

It’s a rainbow full of colors!