Okay! I'd be glad to join!

I've had it with people stealing my shadows! I'm so angry I could chew nails and spit rivets!

@Moira Angela: When I signed up for Shadow City Force Five, you told me that everywhere west of Main Street was my territory. But what's this I find? I found @Bella on the west side harvesting shadows that should be MINE. I followed her and watched her plucking shadows at the park and the pool and the police station - all on the west side of Main and clearly in MY territory.

How am I supposed to fill my quota of shadows if they're getting poached out of my zone? You've got to control Shadow City Force Five, and you need to make the rules clear to @Bella and any other new recruits to Shadow City Force Five and tell them to stay out of my territory or there will be trouble. Dark, shadowy trouble.

Whats good, @Bella?

I'm sorry! I'm really new to Shadow City Force Five and this school. I didn't know that it was your territory. @MoiraAngela just told me how to harvest the shadows and I decided to try. I didn't know that there even were territories! I'm very sorry @LouisC.

I woke this morning with a smile, but oh, how it faltered throughout the day. It was easy to smile as I hummed a familiar tune through breakfast, and classes were a breeze, the subjects getting easier as I paid more attention. I skipped down the concrete paths, the summer heat not able to melt my grin, and as I passed a few others, I even got them to smile!

Then, my shadow tripped me.

I had heard of strange happenings here at this school with people and their shadows, but I mostly ignored mine, letting it do it's thing. I'm not sure why I allowed it to trip me up. Perhaps it was just being mischievous, or if it was in fact my fault, but when I fell, I felt my smile slowly give way to surprise.

To the student that was crushed by the large air mattress that appeared beneath me to catch myself, I apologize. I cannot help what appears to catch me when I fall, even when it's a giant air mattress. You got out, that's the important thing, right?

Anyway. Thanks to my surprise and inability to smile through the fall, the school had a huge air mattress to deflate and dispose of. Surprise gave way to embarrassment, was not a good thing. I had to flee, despite how much I wanted to help clean the mess I made. There were just too many people staring, and if I had started crying...well, the worst thing I managed to conjure up were a few Australian Horror Death Spiders. There are only one or two, and they should die off without mice to feed on.

God, embarrassment is a hard emotion to deal with. I get sad, it rains, I get scared, the lights turn on. But I get embarrassed and anything could happen.

At least no one was hurt, but I am going to be having a stern talk with my shadow later.

Live on, Everyone!

Oh yes, my bad @Bella. At your initiation to Shadow City Force Five I did not specifically talk about the territory issue (although in your orientation packet, Chapter 5, "Know Your Team Members" it does mention that "your Shadow City Force Five team mates may have specific areas they are responsible for shadow reclamation within. Please be respectful of these boundaries and remember we're a team, not competitors! In the case of territorial disputes between Shadow City Force Five members, please refer to Chapter 11, "Shadow Dueling in the 21st Century."). But I get carried away at all the other fun parts of the Shadow City Force Five initiation ritual, like the Ice Cold Shadow Bath, the Blindfold Knife Dance, and the Cupcake Eating Contest, so you can see how I'd get distracted!

Really though, you're doing fine, and I hear you're a much better sewer than @Louis C. anyway. Not only did you do a great job of reversing all those shadows @Louis C. had sewed onto people upside down, but your creativity in actually sewing shadows on to other shadows was truly first rate. I saw a girl with a 30 ft shadow this afternoon and could tell it was your work. We're glad to have you on board! Keep up the great work!

i joined Shadow City Force Five but am worried that i cant find any shadowz!!!!

i walked all the way to Nevacool Park and couldn't find a single one. then i waited in the park with my shadow net and shadow catching gloves and helmet and protective eyeware and even tho the sun was out and i was boiling there were no shadows anywhere.

did all the shadows get caught, @Moira Angela? is it a case of over-fishing the shadow ecosystem? how long does it take for shadows to grow back?

i think we need to make a protected wilderness for shadows until the shadow population returns to natural levels it could be bad if the shadows all went away what about the shadow food chain?

WELL, @kewlio, I can't believe that ALL the shadows have been picked. Though, hmmm, business has been brisk. There isn't a self-respecting Shadownista on campus that doesn't have half a dozen sewn on.

I'll tell you what, Shadow City Force Five... or three... @kewlio, @Bella, and @Louis C. You can start bringing in shadows of inanimate objects. Trees, cars, fire hydrants, whatever. Now, I can only give you half the usual fee on each since they're not really the Grade A Prime shadows that we've required in the past. Plus they're much easier to catch since they don't run away, right? Go ahead and start bringing those in and maybe nobody will notice.

Go Go Go Shadow City Force Five! Alright!

Are my shadows not beautiful, and lanky, and gorgeous, like me? See how they trail in the wind, tatters of my blown-out love, rustling in the breeze like lost kite tails or Buddhist prayer flags in the Himalayas.

@Moira Angela's team does top-notch work. Definitely recommend!

The pavement reflects my movements, my reflections are impossibly light, yet a deep as deep can be shade of black.
I watch them as they dance, slender limbs flowing. Fascinated by their ability to copy my every move, almost without fault.
I take a step and our feet collide on the concrete, silently, almost as if I didn't exist.
Or maybe it's you who doesn't exist?
My shadowy friend, I have known you all my life. But now, you fade away with the setting sun.
As darkness descends, I wave goodbye to my lifelong friend once more, their movements perfectly in sync with mine.
Under the cover of darkness, I leave once more. You may be gone, my shadowy friend, but now I have comfort in the darkness.
The man in the moon keeps me company, and listens to all my strange nighttime thoughts.
But I know that when the sun comes up again, you will greet me with a wave almost exactly like my own.

My Shadowy Friend.

I have seen many eco-systems damaged by the over hunting of the shadows. Ancient empires have fallen, like the Súmac people. Modern economies have been ruined.

I am a sailor on the Sadie Hawkins, the Zephyr Air cargo ship currently in your port, and we've seen it happen on many of our stops. First, shadows are removed from their native environments faster than they can replenish themselves. Then, the eco-systems don't have time to recover before everything starts falling apart. True, the the shadow niches can be filled with artificial shadows, propping up the items in landscape, but there is always something stunted about those places. Perhaps they fully recover in a hundred years, but why let it get to that point?

I think you should listen to @kewlio. You must have more responsible approaches to your shadow farming, @Moira Angela, or there could be serious consequences.

Please, take it from someone who has seen this tragedy first-hand in many different places.