"Secrets are important to me, Alice. You might say they're even part of what I do. Keep secrets for the world that others would try to tell." A secret keeper... I move a little closer, then, eyes gone big from all the wonder, and when he holds up a finger I nod. I understand. "A secret known by one is sometimes merely a burden. Your head cluttered up with words you can never speak. Things you can't admit you feel."
Words you can never- I feel my mouth open, a little, maybe those same kinds of words wanting to come out and stopping short. I don't move, though, no. I stay right where I am. I listen. I watch. And deep inside me, where things like to curl and whisper, something else is doing the same.
It seems to take forever, time stretching on, for Samuel to find my present. I stare at him as though it'll make him move faster, on my tiptoes, and when he opens his hand in front of me I gasp. A stone. No, no, it's more than stone, it's a stone with fire trapped inside.
Fire stones and secrets.
"A secret can cut you into two."
"Secrets can burn," I say, though I barely hear my voice because it's far away. The stone feels cold on my palm, though I only glance down once to look at it before my eyes go back to him.
"A secret known by two is a bond of trust. And power, for them both." There's a knot inside me at that, like the fire stone sitting in my stomach almost. A weight. "I want you to do a little work for me around town, when I need it. And other times, I want you to listen to my secrets."
"Yes," slips out and for a long while that's all, until I shake my head a little and that heaviness falls away. "I can do that. I know lots of things and- and lots of people, too." And lots of things about lots of people, I'm thinking.
I step back, I make myself step back, with both hands cupped around the stone. "You just tell me. And I'll help you. With your job." My smile's come back and there's some brightness in the room again, just when I'd started to think it had gone dark. "We can be friends!"
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Date: 2012-01-26 08:03 am (UTC)Words you can never- I feel my mouth open, a little, maybe those same kinds of words wanting to come out and stopping short. I don't move, though, no. I stay right where I am. I listen. I watch. And deep inside me, where things like to curl and whisper, something else is doing the same.
It seems to take forever, time stretching on, for Samuel to find my present. I stare at him as though it'll make him move faster, on my tiptoes, and when he opens his hand in front of me I gasp. A stone. No, no, it's more than stone, it's a stone with fire trapped inside.
Fire stones and secrets.
"A secret can cut you into two."
"Secrets can burn," I say, though I barely hear my voice because it's far away. The stone feels cold on my palm, though I only glance down once to look at it before my eyes go back to him.
"A secret known by two is a bond of trust. And power, for them both." There's a knot inside me at that, like the fire stone sitting in my stomach almost. A weight. "I want you to do a little work for me around town, when I need it. And other times, I want you to listen to my secrets."
"Yes," slips out and for a long while that's all, until I shake my head a little and that heaviness falls away. "I can do that. I know lots of things and- and lots of people, too." And lots of things about lots of people, I'm thinking.
I step back, I make myself step back, with both hands cupped around the stone. "You just tell me. And I'll help you. With your job." My smile's come back and there's some brightness in the room again, just when I'd started to think it had gone dark. "We can be friends!"