(When you didn't tell the whole truth, but not because you meant to)
You didn't lie.
You simply forgot to add:
"I was scared."
Now the scared
has become a button.
It rolled beneath a cupboard
and stayed there,
waiting
to be sewn
onto the right word.
*
Beneath the floorboards
there is another scared.
A larger one.
Your father's.
You hardly ever see it.
But sometimes
the house walks
a little differently
around it.
1d ago
Jun 3, 2026 at 6:29 PM UTC
(When you didn't tell the whole truth, but not because you meant to)
You didn't lie.
You simply forgot to add:
"I was scared."
Now the scared
has become a button.
It rolled beneath a cupboard
and stayed there,
waiting
to be sewn
onto the right word.
*
Beneath the floorboards
there is another scared.
A larger one.
Your father's.
You hardly ever see it.
But sometimes
the house walks
a little differently
around it.
From : Tales from the Other Side of the Pillow (for kids and grownups where kids live)
Third door: The Breath Before Speaking
(all that was left unsaid)
