literature

Day 23 - Secrets and Lies

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Secrets and Lies
by Edward Dyer
Day 23/28

JOSEPH ushers the audience through a library. He is looking for a particular rack. He finds it and begins looking over the spines of the books.

JOSEPH.

Her name’s Amber.

I was working all night on my essay – the Late Heavy Bombardment. I’m doing geology. By the way. I’d been working on my essay, just over there, for a couple of hours, when she came by. Her beauty was worthy of spotted. You do know what spotted is, right? If anything happens in the library that’s so amazing, or so outragous, you can post it annonomously on there. I’ve not been one of those guys before. You know – to the hottie on floor 2 with the green jacket and blonde hair. But Amber, she definitely would have deserved a place on spotted.

We kept making eyes at each other. We both knew that we were going to be in the library til the early hours of the morning. We were the only two people left on this floor. I don’t know what she was working on. I wonder if she does science as well.

I’ve often wondered about the books too. I don’t know any librarians, but if I did, I’d probably have a secret stash of all the bookmarks that people have left inside. Scraps of paper, rulers, receipts – I bet you’d find them all.

I took a chance. I was going to head over to the shop for a late night snack. You know, some chocolate or something. 4am energy boost. I asked her if she wanted anything. Casual like. I think she’d been waiting for me to talk to her. I hadn’t really made much progress on my essay since she arrived.

But then there are the hidden things.

There was an online movement, if that’s the right word for it. Project Beautiful or something. You would go around sticking postit notes around the Library saying, “You are beautiful”, or “Smile!” because it would brighten someone’s day. It would be your secret if you left one. You’d be the only one who knew where it was.

Secrets. I bet these books are full of secrets. Good and bad.

We started talking properly when I came back from the shop with a bundle of sweets, crisps and energy drinks. She took the flake. We talked for another hour or so before she told me to follow her. She stood up and led me through into the stairwell. And then, when we were out of sight, she kissed me.

If I had a secret, I’d hide it in a book. Something I couldn’t tell anyone else, but I’d want to share. Some day someone might find it, and I wouldn’t be alone any more.

Amber told me to wait there, in the stairwell. I did, for a couple of minutes. I went back to see where she’d gone. She had just finished packing up her bag, her laptop, a few papers. She whispered to me, ‘I’ve left my number in one of the books, if you really want to see me again, you’ll find it.’

He finds a piece of paper inside the one the books. Before he opens it, he goes to a nearby desk and sits down. He takes a breath and opens it.

Or, maybe, she lied.

He takes a pen from his pocket, writes on the paper, folds it back up and places it back inside a book.

He exits.
Day 23/28 - secrets and lies

Uploaded as part of the 28 Plays Later challenge.

 space.org.uk/2015/01/05/28-pla…
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