Shawn and the Shadow (Audio Book)

“Children. Children!!

Settle down! It’s time to get ready for bed – not start the Wizard War, again!”

Grandmother Rita firmly stated to her many grandchildren.

“Gather around, I have a story for you.”

The younglings reluctantly halted the play battle and gathered around their aged, but highly respected, grandmother.

“Many years ago, on the Emerald Green Isle, a young man, Shawn, was assisting his fisherman father, Cathal, on the beach in the warm spring morning.”, recited Rita.

“‘Son’, said the father, ‘you have been my faithful helper for many years. You know the fishing trade as well as I, and you are young and strong and mature enough to handle it by yourself. Your mother and I have decided that it is time for you to take over the business, and for us to retire and live further inland.

Take the boat, yourself, this day and show us how well you have mastered it.’

Saying this, Cathal stepped aside and ushered Shawn onto HIS fishing boat.

That evening, Shawn returned with an overflowing boatload of fish and made himself and his parents very proud.

Within the next few days, Shawn’s parents packed up their simple belongings, hitched their mule to their cart, and bid their fond farewells.

Shawn kept very busy over the next several months repairing and tying new nets, patching, and enhancing his family heirloom boat, and catching and selling many boatloads of excellent, fresh fish.

Fall, then winter, came and went, and still, Shawn worked every day from before the sun rose until after it set. He had everything he dreamed of, except someone to share it with. He was feeling the pangs of loneliness.

In the spring, finally, he noticed that Sara, the now-grown daughter of one of his long-standing customers, was spending a lot of extra time talking with him every week at the market. He noticed her sparkling blue eyes and soft, brown hair that blew beautifully in every gentle breeze. By Fall they were betrothed, and they sealed their love on the Winter Solstice.

The following October, their beautiful daughter, Ella, was born. Their life, as a family, was wonderful and full of joy.

In late November, Shawn returned from his daily fishing and discussed with Sara his strange feeling that he was being watched, both on the shore and in his boat. The back of his head tingled, and several times he almost caught sight of a shadow lurking behind him.

Within the next few days, his daily catch dwindled and then stopped. Day after day, regardless of when or where he dropped his nets, they remained empty. Soon, their family savings were gone. They were reduced to just surviving on wild berries and seaweed soup. Hunger and frustration were the main part of their now frightening, daily life.

With winter’s cold and the wild fruit gone for the year, something had to change, fast, or they would starve.

Terrified, Sara, tightly wrapped Ella in warm blankets and stalked into the dark woods North of their home. If the stories and folk tales were true, a strange, old crone, with knowledge of the dark ways, lived deep in those treacherous woods. Some folks even said she was a witch!

Sara traveled for over an hour along the ancient and heavily overgrown path. The woods grew darker. Beastly sounds burst out often, causing her to shake. Still, she pushed on. Another hour of difficult travel brought her to an opening in the dense foliage. The trees there separated to allow warm sunlight to reach the forest floor.

In the center of the glade, she saw her destination. The cottage was very old yet appeared solid. Its thatched roof was thick and unbroken. Many herbs, fruits, vegetables, and strange, unknown plants grew in odd-shaped plots around and alongside the dwelling. The cross-hatched windows were covered in dark drapes. The closed door’s only ornament was a fierce-looking, tarnished brass gargoyle knocker.

Clutching Ella tightly to her chest, Sara hesitantly reached for the knocker. Before her fingers touched it, the door creaked open! Directly in front of her stood the ancient crone; more frightening than Sara’s imagination had conceived possible! The old woman’s skin was deeply wrinkled. Her clothes were drab and hung loosely on her frail old body. In stark contrast, the crone’s eyes were bright and sharp. They pierced directly into Sara’s inner being. Sara was frozen with fear. Her skin felt icy cold. Her breathing became staggered, and her heart raced!

Sara started to speak, ‘I …’, but, Bridget, the ancient woman, cut her off saying, ‘I know why you’re here. Come in and let us ponder your dilemma’.

Her legs weak and arms shaking, Sara entered the foreboding, ominous cottage.

Later that afternoon, the cottage door finally opened, and Sara stepped out. Bridget stood in the doorway holding baby Ella. Bridget looked long and hard at Sara, then kissed the giggling Ella on her forehead and returned the baby to her anxiously awaiting mother.

Without further words, Sara quickly turned and raced back to the safety of her home and her loving husband.

That evening, when Shawn returned, yet again with nothing but seaweed, she told him about her journey into the dark forest. He listened intently as she described the ancient crone and detailed her recommended solution.

Sara spread a little sand onto their dining table and traced circles, one within another, with her finger. She used tiny pebbles to mark very carefully positioned breaks within each of the four rings. Over and over, she practiced the precise pattern with Shawn until he could reproduce it exactly. When they were both satisfied that he was ready, they went to bed – finally hopeful of an end to their plight.

The next morning, before the first rays of the sun-kissed the ocean, Shawn was on the beach collecting pebbles and shells under the moonlight. He felt the dark shadow close behind him, chilling his back. As the lowest tide rolled out and the sun crested the horizon, Shawn went busily about his task.

He traced a circle about four feet across, above the receding tideline and well below the high tide mark. He marked an opening just large enough for him to walk through with two shells and lined the rest of the circle with the pebbles. Marking a second circle around the first, leaving but enough room for him to walk through, he marked an opening on this circle’s edge furthest from the inner opening, positioned the shell markers, then lined this circle with pebbles, as the first. Very carefully, he duplicated this process until he had a precise labyrinth of four concentric circles with opposing entrances and a single entry in the outermost ring. Finally, he made two piles of pebbles beside the shells marking the outer entrance on the ocean side.

His four-ring labyrinth was complete. Would it work? Could he fulfill his task without faltering nor revealing his true, hidden intention?

Shawn walked the pattern from the outside to the center and back out, many times, working the sand smooth with his footprints. As he paced through the labyrinth the shadow felt closer and colder than ever.

When the returning tide nearly touched the shells marking the only entrance, Shawn committed himself to the final sequence. He entered the labyrinth from the ocean side, careful not to turn around and look for the shadow, and slowly proceeded to the center. Then, without warning nor hesitation, he jumped over the labyrinth walls, landing in the ocean entrance! Quickly, he kicked the marker shells aside and closed the entrance with the two piles of stones.

As soon as he jumped, the shadow, trapped to the ground, spun around and started racing through the labyrinth seeking to recapture him. It sped around and around the inner rings. It moved so fast that the entire labyrinth appeared to darken.

Shawn was successful! The labyrinth was closed, trapping the shadow within its rings. He watched silently as the returning tide covered and eventually hid the labyrinth from sight.

Shawn felt free! His neck no longer tingled, and he no longer felt the dark, chill presence.

Rushing to his boat, he cast off on his first successful fishing voyage in a long time. That night he, Sara, and Ella feasted on his bountiful catch.

The next morning, Shawn returned to find that the labyrinth had sunk, vanishing into the sand, taking the dark shadow with it. Whatever it was, wherever it came from – it was finally gone!

Immediately, Shawn rushed toward the ancient hut in the dark forest. It was his welcomed task to pay the price for the wise woman’s advice. Finding the dwelling, he toiled all day cutting wood, tending the garden, and smoothing the path. The price she had demanded was simple. In exchange for her service, he had to do something nice and beneficial for someone without being asked and without seeking, nor accepting payment. He chose to give back to her and did so for many years to come.

From then on, Shawn, Sara, Ella, and later the next year, baby Jack, lived happily ever after.”

“Younglings, did you enjoy the story? By your enthusiastic response, I see that you did. Now, in exchange for MY service in telling YOU the story, You owe Me! I make of you the same demand that was made of Sara and Shawn. Tomorrow, you are tasked with doing something nice and beneficial for someone without being asked and without seeking nor accepting payment.”

The End