A SECRET

Samiya sat up with a start, her heart racing and palms sweating. Her wavy brown locks
which were normally restrained with delicate black pins were now sticking out in every
direction. She looked around her room, eyes darting back and forth. As her serene blue
pupils dilated, allowing her to focus on the objects in the dark expanse in front of her, she
carefully examined every single detail- the picture frame on her desk, the painting hanging
on the wall straight ahead of her and the stuffed animal lying on the foot of her single cot.
Gently leaning over, she picked up the soft, furry creature and hugged it tightly to her
chest.

“I’m scared, Bear” she whispered in it’s ear. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. They
said that something would happen when I turn 10, but they didn’t tell me what. We learnt
that it’s different for every single person. I hope mine’s a good one. I heard that
sometimes, some 10’s turn violent and they have to be restrained and even locked up!”

She picked up her stuffed rabbit and held it in front of her face, looking it straight in the
eyes.

“Why can’t I talk to anyone about it? I really don’t like this. Mom didn’t tell me what
happened to her when she was 10. She says that I have to discover it for myself, and then
learn to harness whatever it is. Bear, why does it all have to be so complicated?”

Samiya continued whispering into Bear’s ears, as her eyes started fluttering shut once
again and her head slowly dropped back down onto the soft pillow. The next day, as soon
as she woke up, Samiya went about her daily routine. It had been ingrained into her since
she was 5- the age where all children were deemed to be ‘mature’ and ‘responsible’ as
the Watchmen called it.

She walked into her bathroom, freshened up and chose her outfit for the day. Today was a
Wednesday, which meant that Samiya had to wear a skirt with a long-sleeved shirt. She
didn’t wonder why, for questioning the Watchmen’s instructions was something that she
would never make the mistake of doing again.

As she rolled up her sleeves three times in precise one-inch folds, she looked at the scars
on the palm of her right hand- the constant reminder that she had to abide by the long list
of rules, or else be subject to the harsh consequences.

Samiya gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Shades of black and grey looked back at her
as she tucked a strand of her lightish-grey hair behind her ear. She examined her chosen
outfit- not that it was much of a choice. Her three shirts were identical, each the exact
same colour. A perfect blend of black, white and grey. As she looked at herself once
more, she noticed a bit of movement near the bottom of her skirt. She looked back down
once more, trying to see what it was, but it had disappeared.

“Was it a fly?” she thought to herself. “I could have sworn I saw my skirt move. The fabric
seemed to open up.”

Thoroughly confused, she went downstairs to greet her mother.

“Good morning, mom,” she slowly started off. “How are you doing this morning?”

“Good morning sweetie,” her mother responded, still busy washing the dishes. “I’m doing
great. How are you?”

“Confused..” Samiya started, but then she caught her tongue and instead continued with
the customary response. “I’m good as well, thank you.”

Her mother’s cautious glace at Samiya’s apparent blunder had now softened.

“Remember your manner, Samiya.” she warned. “We wouldn’t want the Watchmen to be
disappointed in you, would we? Especially now that you are so close to learning what
your Secret is.”

Samiya politely nodded and took her seat at the table. As her mother placed the bowl
containing her breakfast in front of her, Samiya looked up curiously at her mother. She
reached out a tentative hand to her mother’s hair.

“Samiya! What do you think you are doing. Behave yourself and put your hand back at
once! Is this what you have learnt to do? Invade other people’s personal space?”

Startled out of her gaze, Samiya pulled her hand back.

“Sorry, I thought I saw something there.”

Embarrassed, she quietly looked down at her food, ashamed to make eye contact with
her mother. After finishing eating and thanking her mother for the food, she proceeded to
make her way to school. Instead of sitting in her usual place, however, she was made to
sit at a separate table along with two other boys. The three of them were the ‘new 10’s’
and were made to stay away from the rest of their classmates until they had learned what
their Secret was. Once having done so, they would be allowed to return to some form of
normalcy, without the isolation. This was a mandatory precaution, in case the Secret they
developed was a bad one.

On her way home from a tiring day filled with reciting the rules written by the Watchmen
and learning about the efficient management system, Samiya passed by the identical
buildings. However, as she walked past street after street, the structures started
transforming. It was almost like they were coming to life, in a way that Samiya couldn’t
really explain.

“They weren’t changing, at least, not their shapes.” she told Bear that night, as she lay
down, staring at the ceiling. “It was almost as if they were shedding a layer and opening
up whatever was inside them. I don’t know, maybe I’m just imagining things, Bear.”

The next morning, Samiya mentally ran through her checklist before going to get
freshened up. Thursday meant that she had to wear her long-sleeved shirt once again,
except with pants this time. Reaching out to pick up one of the two shirts lying on the
counter, her hand froze. The t-shirts no longer looked identical. Muffling a scream, she
held one in each hand and ran to the mirror. As she ogled at her reflection, she dropped
the t-shirts and grasped her head in her hands.

“Wha-what happened to my hair! It’s no longer grey. It’s not black or white either. It’s a
shade of something I’ve never seen before.”

Peering closer, she was startled at the intensity of her eyes looking back at her. They
seemed to have a new life in them. They weren’t pitch black anymore, but rather
something different. Something she didn’t know how to express in words.

“What is happening to me? Is this my gift?” she wondered.

Samiya chose the t-shirt which she liked better and went down. Greeting her mother, she
decided to test out her hypothesis. She pointed at her mother’s t-shirt and then her own
and asked her mother “Which one do you like better? Which colour looks nicer?”

Her mother looked at her dumbfounded. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay today? You do
remember that all t-shirts are the same colour so that everyone has a standard uniform,
right?”

Samiya smiled to herself and nodded, “I almost forgot mother, sorry.”

As she reached school, she walked on over and joined the rest of her class, for now she
had finally figured out what her Secret was. In a world which was seemingly black and
white, she could see colours. Later that night, Samiya pulled out her diary, and opening to
a fresh page, titled it ‘A Secret’. Contemplating for a second, she scratched it out and
instead wrote, ‘My Secret’. She then continued writing.

“The colour of the sky is particularly lovely. It is probably one of my favourite colours. I
think I want to call it ‘blue’.”