Secret love
Six years old
and swollen with a secret
I longed to share
but who with?
My parents were away
“on the high seas,” Ruth said.
She was the adult
trusted to look after me
while I lay sick in bed.
“Can I tell you a secret?”
“Of course you can” she said
as she bent over to tuck me in.
“I’m going to marry Hewitt
when I grow up,” I whispered.
I’d had time to think.
Hewitt was her younger brother.
He had all the attributes
tall as he was, dark – yes
and certainly – when I stole a look –
handsome as any prince
seen in a fairytale book.
“Are you!” she said
and went away
carrying my secret with her.
It seemed more real somehow
now that we shared it.
“Look who’s here to see you,”
Ruth said next day.
I looked up to see Hewitt filling the doorframe
his head almost touching the lintel.
“I hear you’re going to marry me
when you grow up,” he said
with cheerful confidence.
He didn’t seem to mind a bit
in fact, judging from his tone,
I thought he actually liked the idea
and then I saw his smirk…
“but – how did you know?”
“How do you think?
Be careful who you tell things to,”
he smiled at Ruth
who stood now at his shoulder, grinning too
until they saw my face.
