Charlie is still sick and we decided it’s best not to go into his dream while he is. Justin woke up an hour ago or so. And Joy, still wide awake, is spending time in our home. 

Suzy and I are sitting on the porch, while Joy is standing on the stairs, trying to talk to her shadow. 

“Jump!” she tells her shadow.

The shadow does not jump. 

It is a strange shadow. I’ve never seen anything like it in the waking world. It seems to have a life of its own, and yet we’re not sure if it is just a shadow or something with a mind of its own. 

The shadow doesn’t move. It stands there, like Joy. 

“Jump!” Joy orders her shadow, mimicking a jump with her hands. 

A couple of seconds later, the shadow mimics that same motion back at Joy.

“Not me,” Joy says. “You! Jump!” 

Her shadow is becoming more impatient, motioning for Joy to jump up and down.

“She’s not listening to me!” Joy complains. 

“Joy, a shadow is not a ‘she’, it’s an ‘it’,” I correct her. 

Joy looks at me, crossing her arms. Her shadow looks at me, its arms akimbo. “Maybe your shadow! Not mine!” 

The confidence with which she answers me just stops me. It’s as if she knows something that I don’t. What does she mean? What does she know?

Her shadow waves at me dismissively.

“Hey! Can you hear me?” Joy shouts at her shadow. Her shadow does the same thing, shouting silently at Joy.

“Are you part of me? Are you separate from me? Why don’t you answer?” 

But her shadow it - she - only shouts back silently at Joy.

Joy keeps trying for a few hours until she goes to sleep, but she never gets an answer to her question. 

—Told by Grampa Walt