Note: the first version is the latest draft I wrote and it contains parts that have not been used in the second version yet.
The second version is an edited version by a friend of mine who is a native English speaker and writer.
I met it when I saw it standing out in the shadows, staring at me.
It was a shade of a kind I could never have imagined or dreamed up in any of my nights of sleep. Looking at it filled me with curiosity I never felt before, but also the biggest of dreads.
I think it must have always been there despite that I have walked past that point at many times during the days in my life, but for some reason I simply had not noticed it until now.
Despite seeking to remain on the background, to always remain unseen like a thief in the night, it was courteous and welcoming, as if always having expected that sooner or later I would see it and address it.
Or: I had walked past that point many times in my life, never noticing the shade till now, yet felt that somehow it had always been waiting there.
Looking at it filled me with both great curiosity, but also a deep sense of dread.
Despite that it sought to remain on the background, rather being felt than observed, it was courteous and welcoming, as if always expecting that I would address it sooner or later.
The Shade: Hello
Narrator: Who, or what are you?
The Shade: Ah, you do not recognize me. That is understandable as most people do not even if they say they would when asked about it. I am one of the oldest companions of humanity, you must have heard of my name during your travels.
Narrator: Is it a well known name?
The Shade: Most definitely. All of you have said my name at some point, most likely every day.
Why, there have been millions throughout history who spoke and acted in my name, people who have built their own name and career on mine. You have condemned many because my name demanded it. Yes, you have even waged wars in my name.
No, I am not he or she you seek in your churches, mosques, and temples, and sing and pray to. But I am universal and known to all, even to those who deny or question the existence of anything higher, for they believe in me the most. (Or: even to those who reason out the existence of anything higher, for they believe in me the most.)
Narrator: That statement would imply you have existed for more than thousands of years, that is impossible.
The Shade: I have been with you from the very beginning. From the moment your very first ancestors started to stand erect and made the earliest attempts at speech to convey their thoughts and feelings to another.
That is when you made me.
And as you grew as a people and spread across the world, so did I. I am present wherever man is, whether he be among many of his fellow man, or walks alone in some forgotten corner of the lands.
Narrator: We made you?
The Shade: When you looked at each other and around you and started to wonder, I was there, perhaps vague and formless but still present.
Your poets write and sing of me. Your philosophers and scholars debate about me to no end, trying to determine my nature. Entire schools of your thoughts are dedicated to me.
Your priests and your leaders even lay claim to owning me.
Narrator: What are you?
The Shade: You seek me out and yet you fear me for what I have to tell you.
For I am cold and without mercy, sharper than any blade crafted. I can cut wounds that will never heal, and scar the human soul deep and permanently. I strike down falsehood, but also hope.
People try to temper me with compassion but they can never take away my sting.
And yet I am also without cruelty, as I can bring peace and solace. I can forge the strongest of bonds, unbreakable and powerful that people would be willing to give everything for these as it means more to them than themselves.
I can inspire friendship and love lasting a lifetime, or I can end it in its infancy or when it is at its peak. I can set people (Or: prisoners) free or chain them forever. I can bring the greatest of joy, or the deepest of sorrow and despair. I can raise great men, or bring them down. I can found mighty empires, or unmake them.
I can show both the best in you and the worst. I do not judge, I merely reveal.
I am neither good or evil, beautiful or ugly, I simply am.
Narrator: That would imply that you are omnipotent
The Shade: To a degree, I am as powerful as what power you give me for that is where it comes from.
And you want to give me power for you feel it is essential for your world to work, for your mind to understand, even if you hate me for it because hate me you do.
It is my lessons that drive and shape the human spirit, without me you are empty and without purpose. (Or: It is my lessons that drive and shape the human spirit, for without me you are empty and without purpose.)
But you often regret knowing me.
Narrator: Have we never tried to turn away from you? Tried to end you?
The Shade: Of course, at various moments in your lives you have sought to silence me, pretend that I do not exist.
Even seeking to replace me with a different version of myself.
For you see, I am not singular, rather there are many versions of me, each of them fitting your wants and needs, but all of them competing with another at one point sooner or later. For in the end by your own accord there can only be one of me.
But you always come back to me despite how many times you reject me. You can not deny me.
Narrator: If you have always been with us all from the start, then why do I see you only now.
The Shade: most likely you did not wish to see me until now or believed you already knew me. Preferring to keep your gaze off of me to avoid that I would tell you otherwise.
Perhaps something has changed in your life, something that you always held for fact and would never be put into question. A decision or an act by your own hand or by that of another, willfully or by accident. Fate itself could be the one that has made you look.
Or could it be that you remember something you would rather have left forgotten as it would call to me as it did now.
Maybe I have finally caught up with you and you realize now I am all that you have left to turn to. That question you have to answer yourself, I can merely reflect.
Don’t be embarrassed, it happens to all of you eventually.
Narrator: So what is your name?
The Shade: Why, isn't it obvious? I am the Truth.
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Edits:
I first met it when I saw it standing out in the shadows, staring at me.
It was a shade of a kind I could never have imagined or dreamed up in any of my nights of sleep. Looking at it filled me with both great curiosity, but also a deep sense of dread.
I had walked past that point many times in my life, never noticing the shade till now, yet felt that somehow it had always been waiting there.
Despite seeking to remain in the background, to always remain unseen like a thief in the night, it was courteous and welcoming, as if having expected that sooner or later I would see it and address it.
The Shade: Hello
Narrator: Who, or what are you?
The Shade: Ah, you do not recognize me. That is understandable. Most people do not, even if they say they would when asked about me. I am one of the oldest companions of humanity... you must have heard of my name during your travels.
Narrator: Is it a well known name?
The Shade: Most definitely. All of you have said my name at some point, most likely every day. Why, there have been millions throughout history who spoke and acted in my name, people who have built their own name and career on mine. You have condemned many because my name demanded it. And yes, you have even waged wars in my name.
No, I am not he or she you seek in your churches, mosques, and temples, and sing and pray to. But I am universal and known to all, even to those who reason out the existence of something higher, for they have reason to fear me the most.
Narrator: That statement would imply you have existed for more than thousands of years. That is impossible.
The Shade: I have been with you from the very beginning. From the moment your very first ancestors started to stand erect and made their stumbling attempts at speech, to convey their thoughts and feelings to another. That is when you made me.
And as you grew as a people and spread across the world, so did I. I am present wherever man is, whether he be among many of his fellow man, or walks alone in some forgotten corner of the lands.
Narrator: We made you?
The Shade: When you looked at each other and around you and started to wonder, I was there, perhaps vague and formless but still present. Your poets write and sing of me. Your philosophers and scholars debate about me to no end, trying to determine my nature. Entire schools of your thoughts are dedicated to me. Your priests and your leaders even lay claim to owning me.
Narrator: What are you?
The Shade: You seek me out and yet you fear me for what I have to tell you. For I am cold and without mercy, sharper than any blade crafted. I can cut wounds that will never heal, and scar the human soul deep and permanently. I strike down falsehood, but also hope.
People try to temper me with compassion but they can never take away the pain I can bring.
And yet I am also without cruelty, as I can bring peace and solace. I can forge the strongest of bonds, unbreakable and powerful for which people would be willing to give everything, as it means more to them than themselves.
I can inspire friendships or love that last a lifetime, or I can end it in its infancy or when it is at its peak. I can set prisoners free or chain them forever. I can bring the greatest of joy, or the deepest of sorrow and despair. I can raise up great men, or bring them down. I can forge mighty empires, or unmake them in a moment.
I can show both the best in you and the worst. I do not judge, I merely reveal.
I am neither good or evil, beautiful or ugly, I simply am.
Narrator: That would imply that you are omnipotent
The Shade: To a degree, I am as powerful as what power you give me for that is where it comes from. And you want to give me that power, for you feel it is essential for your world to work, for your mind to understand, even if you hate me for it, because hate me you indeed do. It is my lessons that drive and shape the human spirit, for without me you are empty and without purpose.
But you often regret knowing me.
Narrator: Have we never tried to turn away from you? Tried to end you?
The Shade: Of course, at many moments in time you have sought to silence me, pretend that I do not exist. Even seeking to replace me with a different version of myself.
For you see, I am not singular, rather there are many versions of me, each of them fitting your wants and needs, but all of them competing with another at one point sooner or later. For in the end by your own accord there can only be one of me. But you always come back to me despite how many times you reject me. You can not deny me.
Narrator: So what is your name?
The Shade: Why, isn't it obvious? I am The Truth.
