Content warning: Death of family members.

Unlawful Secrets

I grew up keeping a secret. My grandmothers hid unlawful wedding rings on chains around their necks.

Their home was desolate now. A sanctuary for so many, turned sombre.

The attic called to me, nostalgia giving way to intrigue. A deluge of boxes with names scrawled on top. Names I knew. Names I didn’t.

I opened one after another. Gently at first then raucously, secrets and memories lay unearthed. Restless until I knew—we weren’t the first ones.

Zoe L. Gould (they/she) is a queer, neurodivergent writer from Devon, England. They recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. When she’s not writing, she’s trying to stop her cat from walking all over her laptop or eating her current crochet project.

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash.