No one was coming, but Des hit the “walk” button anyway. 

Sol jogged over to a blue metal trash can and threw away the empty Rockstar can. Down the block, a guy was singing “Behind Blue Eyes” with an acoustic guitar, an amp, and a red lawn chair. No one was listening.

The tall man was leaning against the walk button on the other side of the street. He was still smiling.

Jo pointed. “Is that guy following us?”

Des looked at Sol. 

Sol waved to the tall man. He touched the brim of his hat and stepped off the curb.

Up close, he was even taller. No matter how far back Des craned his neck to look at him, it didn’t feel like enough.

“I can help you.” Something about the tall man’s voice sounded off. 

Jo buried her hands in her hoodie pocket.

Des flashed the smile from the LinkedIn photo he’d taken at Career Services during his first and only semester of college. “Tell me more.”

“I can help you with your problem.”  The tall man’s voice didn’t sound like it came out of his mouth. 

“Go on,” said Des.

“I can help you with your problem, if you give me your shadows.”

Jo shook her head fast and hard.

“What problem?” Des asked.

“Your problem is the veins.”

Des wondered how he knew what they’d been calling the thing in the gas station. “Can I just Venmo you?”

“I wouldn’t dream of asking for your money.”

“Twenty bucks?”

“All I’m asking is your shadows.”

“Thirty bucks.”

“I’m asking your shadows. You’re not even using them.”

Des shrugged. “What if we need them later, though?”

Sol tilted his head, frowning at something behind his own eyes.  “How do we know?”

“Yeah,” Des said. “How do we know we’re not using our shadows?”

“Wouldn’t you know if you were using it?”

“I don’t know,” Sol said. “I’ve always had it.”

“Of course you’d know,” the tall man said. “It’s with you all the time.”

“Not when I’m in the dark.”

Des thought the tall man took a second to decide Sol was serious, but he might have been imagining it. His expression hadn’t changed all day. “Yes. Exactly. You’ve already been without your shadow. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“Or,” Sol said. “Maybe it was still there. Maybe it’s always there, and you just can’t see it if there’s another shadow on top of it.”

“What do you think?” the tall man asked Des.

“Night,” said Sol, “is the shadow of the Earth.”

“Shit that’s deep,” Jo said.

“Nah,” Des said. “I might need it for something.”

“But the only reason it’s dark at night, when there are all those suns in the world, is because they’re so far away. Do you ever think about what it would be like if we could see all the stars?”

“We can see all the stars,” Des said. “What do you mean, ‘get rid of’ the veins?”

“But imagine if we could really see them.”

“Don’t you want to get rid of it?”

Des remembered. “Well, we can see half of them. Depending on the season.”

“Aren’t there some we never see?” Jo asked. “Like the Southern Cross?”

“Yeah, I think you’re right. Why do you want them?”

“You’re neglecting them egregiously. I want to give them an agreeable and loving home.”

“What I mean is.” Sol squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating. “Does space cast a shadow? Is that why it’s so dark here?”

“Do you need your meds adjusted?” Des asked.

Jo laughed before she could stop herself, then looked at Sol, panicked and apologetic.

“No, I’m locked in.”

“How long has it been since you fed them?”

Des shrugged. “Couple hours.”

“Is that why they call it dark matter?”

“That sounds wrong,” Jo said. She sounded bored, but she’d taken her hands out of her hoodie pocket to mess with her hair and her fingers were tightened into claws.

“Soon, they’ll make it illegal.”

“They’ll make what illegal?” Des asked.

“Soon, they’ll make it illegal to neglect your shadow.”

Des frowned. “Won’t it be illegal to sell it, then?”

“It’s illegal to neglect animals, but it’s legal to sell them,” Sol said. “And kill them. Do you ever think about that?”

“You could go to jail.”

“We’re actually going to leave the state soon, so unless it’s a federal crime, we’ll be—you’re not a vegetarian.”

“I know. Weird, right?”

“How can you claim to care about your shadow, when you don’t even know if it’s with you in the dark?”

“Well, yeah. I can’t see in the dark.”

“Well, I guess she’s not leaving the state,” Des said. “Are you?

“No.”

“It’s going to be a federal crime.”

“Really? Why?”

“The interstate commerce clause,” Sol said. “Civics. Remember?”

“Yeah, that’s what I mean,” Des said. “Even murder’s a state offense. So neglect is, too, right?”

“You can be in one state while your shadow’s in a different state,” Sol said.

“What does that have to do with commerce, though?”

The tall man looked at Jo. “What about you? You seem judicious and charitable. Will you let me take care of your shadow?”

“No thank you.”

“Wouldn’t you like the veins to go away?”

“It’s fine. Thank you.”

“How do you know these two can take care of it for you?”

Jo shrugged.

Sol straightened up. “How do you know I don’t take care of my shadow?”

“What?”

“You said you’d give my shadow a loving home. How do you know it doesn’t already have one?”

“How much do you know about shadows?”

“A lot. I’ve had mine my whole life.”

“I have lots of shadows.”

“I only have one, so I can focus on it.”

“Yeah,” Des said. “He can take better care of it.”

“That’s not what it says. It says you’re failing. It says it wants to leave you and come with me.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“I can hear shadows. I can hear every shadow in the world.”

“So are we in the shadow of space right now?”

For a second, the tall man was silent. Then he said, “I’ll take just one. Just one shadow.”

“Can you take like a third from each of us?” Des asked. “Would that work?”

Jo stiffened.

Des made a “calm down” gesture. She still looked suspicious.

“Are we in the shadow of dark matter right now? Think about how much light would be here if we could see all the light from the other stars.”

“The Earth won’t give me its shadow. It doesn’t care about it. It drags it all the way around the planet every twenty-four hours. Think about how sharp the buildings are. Think about how cold the polar nights are.”

“Rip,” Des said.

“But you can make a difference.”

“Are you sure?” Des asked.

“Think about how much light we could see if we could see the back of the sun.”

“What about other peoples’ shadows?” Jo asked.

“Yeah,” Des said. “Why don’t you take someone else’s?”

“Because your shadows hate you.”

“Why are you trying to buy them?” Des asked. “Why don’t you just take them?”

Jo glared at him.

“I would never do something like that.”

Jo didn’t relax.

“Or why don’t they go by themselves?” Sol asked. “Can they do that?”

“No. You won’t let them leave.”

“Can’t the government take away your pets if you’re neglecting them?” Des asked.

“I’m not affiliated with the government.”

“But I could take away someone else’s pet. I mean, it’d be a crime, but I could. And it’s not even a crime to steal someone’s shadow.”

“Would it be?” Sol asked.

“How would the cops know it was you?” Des asked.

“Would you steal, if it wasn’t illegal?” the tall man asked.

“Yeah, probably,” Des said.

“Well, I understand why someone as egregiously unprincipled as you wouldn’t give up your shadow to help someone else.”

“That’s okay,” Jo said quickly. “You should hang onto them.”

“Not even you?” the tall man asked Sol.

He shook his head contemplatively. “I don’t think so.”

“Well, let me know if you change your mind.”

He touched the brim of his hat and stepped off the curb again.

Jo let out her breath. “No. Hell no.”

“Weird,” Sol said.

There were two seconds left on the walk light. Des took out his Juul.

“Can I hit that?” Sol said.

“Hit your own one.”

“It’s empty.”

“Fine.” Des handed it to him.

“Do you want any?” Sol asked Jo.

It only took a couple seconds for her to decide. “What flavor?”

“Kiwi.”

“Yeah. Sure.” 

Jo’s hands had mostly stopped shaking when she handed the Juul back to Des. “Thanks.”

“Totally.” He put it back in his pocket. “Why did you get so freaked out? What do you think would have happened if we did it?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

The guy down the block was still playing “Behind Blue Eyes.”

“Have you seen that guy before?” Jo asked.

“No. Not before today.”

“We weren’t actually going to do it,” Sol said.

“I hope not.”

Des looked both ways. The light was still red, but no one was coming and the tall man was gone. “Let’s just go.”