Shadows of Our Warmer Selves -- by Jane Kelley

Just shadows of our former selves -- the ones who enjoyed a few days on a Puerto Rican beach a few years ago. 

That trip was a highlight for my family -- as you can imagine by the bright sun and our bare feet in the golden sand. 

The photo, the shadow, the memory are all tricks of my mind. A virtual world, in a way. 

I'm reminded of Plato's story about the cave. Wouldn't I rather think of that happy day on the beach than look out the window at the reality of slushy snow and an overcast day?

That's our job as writers and readers, after all -- to wrangle images into something  powerful enough to transcend reality.

Shadows are considered to be  insubstantial -- and yet this picture of a picture has conjured up that time.

JANE KELLEY is the author of many middle grade novels including The Girl Behind The Glass, about the most insubstantial thing of all -- a ghost! .