Member-only story
Penumbra
A love story shrouded in darkness
H200, W120, D10 cm
Cut aluminum plate, single light source, shadow
Permanent Collection Stellar Place Sapporo JR Tower, Hokkaido, Japan.
Everything we learn about the darkness
We learn in our beds when we’re six.
We know the darkness is alive.
We’ve seen it move. It ripples across our rooms.
Of course, no one believes you.
Why should they? You’re six.
They sit with you, read you stories,
While the darkness whispers under the bed.
I told my mom to leave the light on.
She laughs and says there’s no such thing as monsters.
She mocks me when she looks under the bed and laughs.
She doesn’t understand.
I know the monster isn’t under the bed.
I know the monster isn’t hiding in the closet.
The monster isn’t hiding in the darkness.
The darkness is the monster.
It stands behind her as she goes through the routine.
“Nothing under the bed,” she said
“Nothing in the closet behind your clothes,” she teases.
Look behind you, I want to say.
