A Powerful Secret

• Tameika Cummings, Grade 7, Riverdale Primary School
• Short Story
• 2016

Excellence Award in the 'Top Secret 2016' competition

I’ve been awake for a while now looking at the window. It’s getting close to dawn as I could see the stars starting to fade. I looked over to my sisters Faith, Hope and Sam. We have been living in an orphanage all our lives, but we are not the only ones who live here there’s Emma, Max, Brave and our guardian Mrs Cassie. Usually Brave was sitting on the couch downstairs but when I looked, he wasn’t. I walked silently past Mrs Cassie (who was sleeping at her desk again) to get to the boys room. I peeped through the window but to my surprise Brave wasn’t there either. I needed to find him urgently, so I walked out the door to find him. I could see something glowing through the trees and I was curious to see what it was, so I decided to check there first. It got brighter and brighter, the closer I got to it. Soon I was in a patch of grass in the middle a small forest and there I saw Brave sitting next to a big glowing flower which was most probably what caused the glowing.
“Brave” I said quietly after my eyes adjusted to the light.
“Oh it’s you” Brave whispered, he gave a small smile.
He was wearing his usual white singlet and shorts with his black hair upright like it usually was. I sat down next to him, he looked at the flower and I did too.
“This is a special flower that blooms very rarely” he said.
I nodded and looked at the flower more closely and then looked at him. He looked back at me. Silence started and our gazes locked. He leaned towards me I did the same to him but then he stopped.
“Did you hear something?” he said looking around.
I shook my head then looked around. I could hear something, it sounded like someone was yelling.
“Destiny!”
Whoever it was it was shouting my name.
“Where is she?”
“OVER THERE!”
It was getting louder. I could tell there was three people not one. After a bit of thinking I could tell who those voices were from. It was my sisters coming to find me. I soon could see their shadows in the distance. I could tell Brave saw them too because he was backing away and I realised why. They were running towards ME! I didn’t have time to move so all I could remember was the four of us getting pushed into the flower and me feeling a sharp pain in my neck.
The next thing I knew I woke up in my bed and it was already nine o’clock. For some reason I was still tired so I got up and went to the bathroom to splash some water in my face. When I looked at my reflection I freaked out. I saw a scar on my neck. But not just any scar, this one was the shape of a flame.