
The Broken Parts of You
by Tia Welsh

The first time the shadow answered him, Elias was not afraid. He was alone in the narrow room, its peeling walls marked by time as if it had tried to escape and failed. A weak bulb cast a crooked reflection on the floor, and it was there — not on the wall, not in the mirror — that the shadow moved in a way that did not belong to him. “You think too much,” the shadow said, without a mouth. Elias smiled.