A Theater of Shadows

I stepped squarely before the warm glow of a small nightlight resting near the floorboards, and there it was—a towering colossus mirroring my every breath upon the hallway wall! With a deliberate tilt of my head, my shadow counterpart answered in kind, stretching its limbs up toward the ceiling like a grand specter of the stage. I flung both arms wide, then dropped into an elaborate, sweeping bow; the giant phantom dipped its coattails in flawless synchrony. We traded several silent, dramatic encores before I finally lowered my hands, utterly charmed by my gargantuan midnight companion.