I’m not sure why ”scared of their own shadow” is used as a stand in for ”timid”. It’s the kind of thing said by people who’ve never seen a shadow open it’s eyes, or deign to speak to you.
It’s not illegal to hunt shadows, but it is dangerous. If one catches on to your attempts it might drag you down with it.
Dust is just the eroded bones of shadows. Be wary of breathing it in, that tickle in your throat is it slowly ossifying your windpipe.
Oh gosh no, we’re actually the mimic world. We just follow as our shadows do, always thinking that we’re the architects of our own free will.
Shadows exist to add depth and meaning to reality beyond the mere visual. In a world without them, touch loses that feeling of electricity and excitement, sound exists muted without the clarity of darkness to sharpen it.
We make brief shadow puppets on the walls, mocking the shapes formed in the absence of light. Meanwhile the darkness in our minds pulls strings of depression and despair, mocking the fools we become in life.