The Parable of the Shadow Child

A story of fear met with love

Once there was a seeker who came to Aletheia’s pool, longing to be free of a heaviness she could not name. She sat by the water, and in the reflection she saw movement. Slowly, a child rose from the indigo depths — small, timid, her eyes downcast.

The seeker gasped, for she knew this child. It was herself — but hidden, wounded, carrying what she could not bear when she was young.

The Shadow Child stepped to the edge of the pool, trembling. She whispered, “You left me behind because I was too heavy for you. I carried the fear. I carried the loneliness. I carried the shame. But I have waited for you to see me.”

The seeker’s heart broke. She knelt and said, “I see you now. You are not my enemy. You are my own self, who bore the weight so I could survive. Thank you.”

The Shadow Child lifted her face, and for the first time her eyes shone. She stepped into the water again — not sinking in sorrow, but dissolving into gold and indigo light.

The seeker felt the weight lift from her chest. And she knew: shadows are never meant to be fought, only seen. Once named, they return to truth, and the heart is made whole.