A sigh in the darkness punctuates the silence that pervades the room. It escapes from a mouth and travels across the empty space, reverberating against the walls. Another sigh, this time from a different person, then the oppressive silence returns. Two people sit in the dark, contemplating the ruin of their lives, their inability to return to the light. They are trapped, trapped forever in the darkness, the darkness of the room and of their minds.

Two years it has been since they entered the darkness, two long years of nothing but sighs in the dark. Now they sit and think of what might have been, if only things had turned out differently, if only they had never left the light. It is too late, they are trapped for all eternity, and no salvation lies in their future, only darkness.

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They tried, in the beginning, to stay out of the shadows. Ever since they were children they had been told how dangerous the shadows were. Always lock the windows and doors at night and always keep a candle burning in every room. But, the allure of the shadows called to them. When no one was looking, they would disappear into the embrace of the darkness, surrounded by something that they thought was comfort. They were dreadfully wrong.

Day by day, their dependence on the shadows grew. People began to notice a change in them. They were furtive and quiet, rarely speaking to anyone, not even each other. Everyone grew worried because they didn’t know what was happening. But, they kept going into the darkness. It began to blind them to the light. They forgot the feel of sun, forgot to enjoy the feel of light on their faces. All they thought about was the shadows, the cool embrace that they couldn’t get enough of.

Then, one fateful day, they entered the darkness once more and found they couldn’t leave. The shadows had deceived them. They finally understood why everyone said to stay away from the shadows. They were trapped. The shadows locked them in a small, dark room. There, the shadows slowly stole all the good memories they still held, making the two into despondent shadows of their former selves.