A Big Secret

As soon as Iris comes home from the kindergarten, she hides in the corner of her room. She doesn’t want to talk to either Mum or Dad. She won't even talk to Aunt Mirjam, who is usually her favourite. You see, Iris has a big secret and all she wants to do right now is to scribble messy lines on a piece of paper with markers. She doesn’t want pancakes with powdered sugar or to play sausage roll games. She is not interested in Aunt Mirjam’s surprise or playing fetch with her dog Bosse. The secret has made a nest inside Iris and she doesn’t know how get rid of it.

It's almost bedtime when Iris finally comes out of her room, sits next to mummy and whispers “Mum, I’d like to tell you something, but I can’t because then it wouldn’t be a secret anymore.”
“It's alright to tell a Mum, we have different rules,” says Mum. To that Iris opens her palm. On it is a small glittering ball.