Secret Place

By Joseph C. Collins

Everybody has a secret place. Some are big and some are small; a lot of the time some are in plain sight. You just have to know where to look, but then it wouldn’t be a secret would it?
This is a story about just such a place. I don’t know if it’s true. It may be, it may not, but all I know is that it is a good tale. It is a tale about friends.

It starts in the very small town of Maxwell. It’s a lovely town of solitude for there are no big city sounds here. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I just like a nice, small, quiet town. They are good for sitting.

But for the girl in this story sitting was one of her least favorite things to do. She wasn’t an out of control girl. She just enjoyed having fun, and that also meant exploring: in the trees, behind the rocks and even under porches. Still none of these places she could quiet call her own.
This made her very sad.

“I know,” she said to herself, and so off she went looking for that place she cloud call her own, her own secret place. She looked at many trees and behind many small hills and at the town’s creek but none of these were secret.

She then came to a big opening in the woods. Standing there, thoughts went through her mind of all the great things she would discover.

While walking through the woods she remembered what her father and mother said about losing oneself and how to make sure to find things to remember so she could find her way home.
“What to look for?” she thought to herself.
She came up to: an old tree, log, and then she past a huge rock and then she jumped over a small creek.

“Over the log,” she sang to herself. “And past the mighty rock, and now through the creek.”
As she sang her new song she came to it at last. There it was: a big opening in the woods, a perfect place to call her own. There was a huge tree with branches hanging down perfect for climbing. There was a soft place to sit on the grass. Here the birds sang a song of their own, and there were plenty of places to hide without getting lost.

As she was standing there, her eyes opened wide in wonder. I know what you are thinking. For you and me it would just be another place, but for a little girl it was perfect.
As she was walking up to the tree, she suddenly heard a sound behind her. She turned around and saw a little boy standing in the opening of the path. For a minute both of them were silent.

“How are you?” asked the girl.
“I’m good,” replied the boy.
“Do you want to be my friend?” asked the girl.
“Yes,” said the boy. “I would like that.”
“So would I,” said the girl.

And so every day at the same time they would meet at their secret place. Some days they would play hide and seek, and other days they would race one anther to the top of the tree.
After they were done playing they would tell one another all that had happened to them outside of their secret place.

For many years they came and played and talked, but one day neither of them came.
“What happened?” you ask.
As I said, many years went by. When that happens little girls and boys simply grow up. That is what happened to all the little boys and girls in Maxwell.

Do not be sad for my story does not end here.
For summer has come to the little town of Maxwell and all of the young men and women have come home from a long stay at college.

What do you know? There is that same little girl, but she is not little anymore, oh, no. For she has become a lovely young lady.
“Welcome home,” her family said. “It as been a long time.”
“Yes it has,” replied the young lady.
“Tell us all about it,” and so she did.

The day was coming to an end and all her family and friends were saying goodnight.
“Such a long day,” said the young lady. “I think I will go and have a seat on the porch.”
As she sat there she could remember all the great times she had as a little girl, and then it came to her.

“I wonder if it is still there?” she thought to herself.

She hopped up from her chair just like the little girl she used to be. To the opening of the woods she ran, over the log, past the rock, and through the creek. Once again like so many times before she was standing in her secret place.

“Just as I remembered it: the tree, the birds, everything. But something is missing. What could it be?” she said to herself.
Suddenly she heard a sound behind her. She turned around. There standing in the opening of the path was a young man.

“How have you been,” asked the young lady.
“Well,” replied the young man, "And you?" asked the young man "I been good." the young lady replied. So there in that wonderful place they begin to talked just like when they were little all those years ago.


And so my story comes to its end. Like I said, everyone has their secret place. But for them, theirs was a place that was untouched by time.
And in that place they were, and always will be, friends.