WP

The text message said, "I know what you did."

It said more, not much more, but those words struck first, and those words struck hardest.

"I won't tell another soul, not one. Only you and I will know, and I'm not long for this world. So rest easy now, your secret is yours alone to bare. I'll finally be free of it. But you will have to live with it forever, alone."

She had born that secret alone for all this time-- or so she had thought-- but now it felt different. The secret no longer ate at her, but now it began to feast once more. That her secret was not a secret at all was like discovering an open wound gone unnoticed, now festering from neglect.