Strange Joy: TT Shadow

She ran her fingers gently across the spines, squinting to read the titles in the dim dancing light, though she already knew them by heart. She enjoyed seeing the gilded letters shine in strange tempos by the flickering candles. As she tickled the paper covers of her collection, she was aware that her obsession with order was some sort of coping mechanism--an attempt to bring stability into her otherwise chaotic life.

She found the book she didn't even know she'd been looking for and slid her index finger lovingly up its spine. Her fingertip curled around the top edge of the cover to remove the title from the shelf, hesitating as a tinge of sorrow furrowed her brow. The facial twitch was quick and barely noticeable, but the hollowness forming in her stomach was more prominent as she thought of the empty space she was about to create.

Carefully removing the book from its dusty home, her excitement grew in anticipation of embarking on her favorite way to escape the misadventure of her life. She noticed how the candlelight created a new kind of darkness to fill the empty space. The deception placated her enough that a smirk briefly appeared on her face, eyebrows raised and eyes sparkling with genuine amusement. It seemed strange to her that such a thing was enough to cover the hole left by her escapist desires, but there is joy when dancing shadows fill our darkest sadness.