My Little Secret

Everybody should have one place to themselves that is untouched with the memories of anyone else. A place they can go to when the world around them seems to be crashing, a place that lets them be delusional, be whoever they want to be. But most importantly a place that doesn't remind them of the sad things.

I have one such place in my apartment, the cozy corner as I called it. It was more than just a place I'd curl up and read a book at, it was sacred. To me, the place was untouched by anyone else. Entirely my own.

The cozy corner was more than just a corner, it was my favorite place in the apartment. To most people it would seem like a regular blanket fort, to me, it was my castle. I was my own prince, my own savior, my own fairytale and my own happy ending. The skeleton of the fort was laid out by a wire that I had tied from one end of the room to the other. The fort was built using the softest blanket and a quite thin one which would be perfect for all weathers. Since I was a person who felt cold all the time, the summers never bothered me.

I held the corners of the blanket with pillows on the inside, giving it a cozy feeling to it. The pillows were laid out on a mattress so soft; one would not want to get out of there. The top of the fort was decorated with fairy lights, it felt like Christmas. The insides of the fort had fairy lights as well, that ran through the ceiling and the fort formed a perfect triangle. The tip of the entrance of the fort had a small dreamcatcher that my best friend Daphne had made for me.

'I had to call her' I thought to myself. '

Daphne Rachel was my constant support in the last five years, she knew what to say, what to do to make me feel better whenever I was upset. She was my person. I could tell her anything and she would never judge me, she could always speak the right words, just like Adam.

I heave a sigh and turn around in my fort. The weekend was the best time of the week, it was the time I had for myself and I could be myself. I always ensured I sort out the issues of the week during the weekend to have a fresh start to the week. The fort smelt of old books and vanilla. I blow the bookish candle out, I loved bookish accessories and of course, books.

My usual routine included running my hands through my mini bookshelf and feeling the books, pick one up and snuggle with a hot cup of coffee on the side. And some cookies of course. I liked to slip into these fantasy worlds more than I could admit. To get away from the real-world problems, pretend like I did not belong there was easy. The reason being, how detached I was to this place that I was in.

I map out my thoughts when Poirot, my dog jumps on me. I was very careful in choosing his name, naturally after one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite mystery books. Poirot always knew what was wrong with me, just like detective Poirot did. This was my safe space. My fort, with Poirot and my books. Poirot had a happy-go-lucky personality, unlike mine. He and I got along quite well.

I hugged him and felt his soft fur and the smell of his new shampoo filled the air. Fresh strawberries, my favorite.

I suddenly hear the beep of my phone's notification and grab it. It was from Victor.

I quickly put the phone aside and skip through the drawing room and put sweatpants and my hoodie on. I wanted to make sure that things were fine between Victor and me. His opinion mattered to Meghan and Meghan's mattered to Aaron, who's opinion mattered to me. I grabbed my keys and look at the broken keychain. More like missing. It had a miniature version of Cinderella's glass slipper on it. A gift from Simon, who held a very special place in my heart. I walk out of my apartment and blew a kiss to Poirot.

I had my story ready, all I had to do was make it convincing to Victor Gibson.

Scene 5, Act 1, and action.