Can You Keep A Secret?

• Charisa Yfantis, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2022

“Can you keep a secret”? I asked her. The little girl nodded. She could keep my secret safe and concealed, but I didn't tell her. I waved goodbye to the girl and walked out of the shop. She did not want me to leave though, I did not know why. I tried to say goodbye to her, but she was persistent and wanted me to stay with her. She said she feared ‘Them’. I asked who ‘them’ was, but she did not tell me, she just said they were looking for her. I was pondering. Who could be looking for such a small child. I began to walk out of the gas station as the little girl tugged on my shirt. She will not let me leave. “Why are they looking for you”? I asked, bending down and being in the eye level of the small girl. She stuttered as she spoke, looking behind her constantly as if somebody were behind her. She gulped and looked me straight in the eyes. Her light blue eyes reflected off the clear window, the sun teased like a running cat, enlightening our shadows in the shop. “I know your secret” she whispered to me. I did not know how she could have known. I looked at the small curious girl and smiled. ‘How do you know my secret’? I inquired, ‘I didn’t even tell you’. That's when she giggled, a wide smile spread across her face and she opened her mouth and laughed, but not making a sound. “What’s so funny”? I questioned her. The tiny girl looked down at the floor and back at me, no longer smiling instead looking quite fearful. She took a few steps closer to me and pushed my hair away from my face and cupped my ear before whispering. ‘They are looking for me!’ Of course, such a small girl had a big imagination. I just chortled and put my hand on the girl’s shoulder, ‘You're funny,’ I smiled. ‘You have a big imagination, don’t lose that novelty'. I got up and waved to the girl. I stepped into the sunlight and walked to my car. I heard somebody banging glass behind me and saw the little girl at the window of the shop, I smiled and waved at her again, but she looked scared. She pulled a piece of paper from behind her back and placed it upon the window. In thick black ink it read, ‘Help me!'. Suddenly, a man picked up the little girl and carried her out of the shop. She didn’t make a sound but waved her hand vigorously at me as the man conveyed her to a black car. I wish I helped her….