Nilah's shadows

One afternoon, after finishing her homework, Nilah sat outside on the verandah with Puli, her cat. The sun was bright, and their shadows stretched long and wobbly on the ground. Nilah noticed how her shadow waved when she waved her hand. She stood up and did a little dance, giggling as her shadow followed every move. Puli’s shadow looked like a big fluffy ball with pointy ears. “Let’s play a game, Puli,” Nilah said. “We’ll chase shadows today!”

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She began by chasing her own shadow, trying to step on her feet’s shadow. It was harder than she thought. No matter how fast she moved, her shadow moved with her. Puli didn’t understand the game at first, but when Nilah pointed at his shadow, he pounced on it. His tiny paws moved quickly, but of course, the shadow stayed just out of reach. They both laughed (well, Nilah laughed and Puli meowed loudly).

After a while, Nilah noticed the shadows of the trees swaying gently on the ground. The leaves made pretty patterns that looked like lace. She placed her hand in the middle of the dancing leaf shadows and watched how it changed shape. She tried making a butterfly shape with her fingers and laughed when her shadow looked nothing like a butterfly. “Maybe it’s a funny-looking bat,” she told Puli, who was now lazily chasing the shadow of a butterfly flying nearby.





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Puli purred and curled up next to her. Nilah felt happy. She didn’t need toys or screens. The sun, the ground, and their shadows were enough to keep her busy all afternoon. She promised herself that tomorrow, she would make up new shadow games and maybe even invite her friends to join. For now, she just enjoyed lying on the soft grass, watching the shadows play their quiet game of chase, sway, and dance.