This is a collaboration between myself and Flyboy for WitheringMoon’s competition on Secret Places

I just wanted say thank you to FlyBoy for such inspirational piece of writing – he really has got into the mind of a child and added a whole new dimension to this image.

Secret Place

My head was a castle
with more than a thousand rooms.
One for cat,
one for goldfish
one for teddy bear.
I dreamt of wings and talked with fairies,
and filled my chambers with the incense
of defenceless innocence.
But, like vipers,
hiding in a fresh green field,
there were the others too.
Frosted shadows,
growling, grinning,
firing burning arrows of contempt,
for which no bear could be my shield.
When I got hurt
I went downstairs,
where, in the cellar,
light was never seen.
There, in a dungeon,
was my secret place, where
I locked away the weight of a burden
my little feet just could not bear.
Since then I saw the sun rise
fourteen thousand times, or more.
I bought new lamps,
I found new friends,
and, in the evening,
lit a fire.
But, when the wind starts howling,
and the moon projects a shadow play
of fingers piercing through the wall,
I notice something deep beneath.
Like stumbling feet,
a desperate voice
crying loud to be released?
My hands are tied,
I must endure.
Oh, long ago,
on a dark day,
when things got worse than ever,
I stashed my burden,
locked the door,
and, driven by my burning fear,
I threw away the key,
forever.
*