[This image came to me in the middle of the night and it just seemed to personify the feelings that I encountered as an adoptee facing the closed, secretive attitude surrounding my background. The writing may not be professional but the images may strike a chord.]

The Secret
Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a hideous, deformed, ugly creature called The Secret. This pitiful creature was so horrible to see that The Powers That Be knew as soon as they saw him that something must be done. After much consideration, they decided that the best thing for everyone would be for The Secret to be locked away forever, hidden in a deep, dark cave, far from the rest of the world.

The Secret did not know he was ugly, he did not know why nobody could look at him. He howled in despair and frustration but nobody took pity on him. There he stayed, this poor, ugly creature, cold and alone in his dark little cave wondering why he was so despised. In truth, The Secret was not evil, just terribly lonely and terribly sad.

A few caretakers knew of The Secret but none would ever let him out. He was just too horrible to see. Think of all the people who would be hurt just by knowing he existed! The caretakers were very proud of the job they were doing protecting the world from the ugly, horrible Secret.

To this day, very few people know about The Secret. The Powers That Be still think of him as too ugly to be let out in the light of day. So he remains, condemned forever to the dark isolation of his lonely cave.

The irony of our story is that The Powers That Be didn't realize that letting The Secret out into the light would transform him. If he was let out, no longer would he be ugly. He would look like everyone else. But they just didn't see that and none of the caretakers were brave enough to let The Secret out without permission.

You may wonder, dear reader, how I know about this terrible creature and his lonely existance. It's simple really... I am the creature, I am The Secret.

2001 (c) Beth

© 2001