The Secret

“The Secret” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Lau Yan Ting Hannah, Artistic Strategies Academy, Singapore.

The Secret

It was New Year’s Eve and the cute cups named Cuty and Cutie were sitting on the field outside their house looking at the night sky. They spotted a person wearing a suit with armour. He was happily kicking his ball into the soccer net but they did not know who he was. He came up to them, introduced himself as Iron Man and said, “What is your name?” One of the cute cups answered, “My name is Cuty and her name is Cutie.”

After talking to them for some time, Iron Man decided to tell them a secret and said, “Your friend, Mary was in trouble! She was caught in a fire and I needed to save her.” Cuty and Cutie told him that they would keep the secret but when they met Mary at a New Years’ Eve party later that night, they told her the secret.

When Mary found out, she scolded Iron Man because she was embarrassed and she did not want anyone to find out about her trouble. She was so angry that she tossed Iron Man’s football away when she found him playing in the field. Iron Man said, “Why did you toss my ball?” asked Iron Man. Mary pointed her finger at him and said, “I am very angry with you because you told others that I was in trouble, even though I told you not to.” Iron Man was stunned and he answered, “Who told you the secret?” Mary revealed that it was the cute cups.

Iron Man felt betrayed that the cute cups had told her the secret. Iron Man was so forlorn that he ignored the cute cups, turning his head away from them. He did not want to be their friend anymore.

The cute cups felt regretful but they had an idea. The cute cups bought Iron man another suit with the same armour, in case he needed a new one. They wrapped it as a present and attached it to a letter they had written for him. In the letter, they apologised to him and promised never to reveal his secrets again.

Iron Man felt touched and forgave them. They became friends again.