Here's another very long, standalone story—one in a dark, Gothic style:---# **17. "Shadows Over Glastonbury" – The Story of a Place That Remembers Everything**

Glastonbury is known for its misty hills, abbey ruins, and mysterious mounds, which have attracted pilgrims, mystics, and legend-seekers for centuries.

But by day, the place seems peaceful, bustling with tourists and walkers.

At night, however, something entirely different awakens—something that doesn't disappear with the first light of morning.

The locals call them the **Shadows of Glastonbury**.

These are not ordinary shadows of people or trees.

They don't move naturally.

The shadows that appear after dark have a will and a rhythm of their own.

### **I**

The story begins in 1902.

A young folklorist, Margaret Hawthorne, came to Glastonbury to record the legends and stories passed down orally by the locals.

She was skeptical of the tales of ghosts and shadows that haunted the hills at night.

But from the first evening, she sensed something was wrong.

On that first evening, while walking toward the Tor, she noticed movement in the fog.

It was neither animal nor human.

The shapes moved independently of the wind or moonlight.

The shadows took the form of people, though they never breathed.

They moved with a rhythm that was both irregular and hypnotic.

### **II**

Margaret tried to follow them, but each time she approached, the shadow disappeared or changed form.

She began to hear whispers in the air that never came from humans.

They sounded like echoes of ancient conversations, laments, laughter, and screams—voices that told a history of the city no one remembered anymore.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

The shadows didn’t respond with words.

Instead, the air around her thickened, and the fog took on the form of a labyrinth.

Margaret felt herself being watched.

Not by eyes, but by something deeper—as if the earth itself saw and remembered her every move.

### **III**

Every night, the scene repeated itself.

The shadows took different forms: children playing in the ruins of an abbey, monks praying on the hills, knights marching along a track.

But they never left.

They were present, watching, and their eyes—though invisible—seemed to follow Margaret’s every move.

One night, when the fog was thickest, Margaret felt her feet not touch the ground. It was as if she had been drawn into a vortex of history that had lasted for centuries.

Shadows formed a circle around her and began to move to the rhythm of an invisible music.

Margaret realized that each shadow was a memory—the memory of someone who had once been here.

Every drop of fog in the night was a fragment of a story that needed to be heard.

### **IV**

Margaret tried to return home, but every path led her back to the Tor.

She felt the presence of shadows not only around her but also in her thoughts.

Her own memories began to blend with what she saw in hazy shapes.

She no longer knew which events belonged to her and which to people long gone.

The shadows began to seem alive.

They were no longer just reflections of the past.

They were aware of her presence.

When Margaret whispered the question:

"Who are you?"

The fog parted, and a voice, soft and piercing, answered:

> "We are what Glastonbury remembers.

> Every step, every laugh, every scream—everything is recorded here.

> And you… are part of that record."

### **V**

Margaret never left Glastonbury.

Sometimes she was found sitting on the Tor, staring into the fog that seemed to envelop her like a cocoon.

She no longer spoke to people.

She did not look at the sunlight.

Her eyes were still open, but they stared at something no one else could see.

The villagers say that sometimes, when the fog is thick, her voice can be heard in the shadows:

"Don't leave. Listen… listen to the stories that should not be lost."

The shadows in Glastonbury still live.

They are not malicious.

They seek no harm.

But they are eternal.

And if you look into the midnight mist, you might see a glimpse of their world...

and you'll never be the same.

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