Seven for a Secret Never to be Told

Friday was swimming day at school and Mia couldn’t find her swimming costume. She’d looked everywhere.

‘I’m sure I washed it and left it on the back of the chair in your bedroom,’ Mia’s Nan said rummaging through the wash basket. ‘It’s not here either. Look, I’d better get the bikes out or you’ll be late, run upstairs and get your old one from the suitcase under my bed…it’ll fit at a stretch. Just till yours turns up.’

Mia ran upstairs into her Nan’s bedroom and pulled the suitcase from under the bed. She looked quickly through the old clothes inside but her attention was caught by a sound. It was a slow tapping sound. She looked up trying to work out where it was coming from. It was outside her Nan’s bedroom. She went onto the landing where she could hear the sound more clearly. Tap….tap….tap. It was coming from her own room. She gently pushed open her bedroom door.

The tap….tap….tap continued and she saw that it was actually a drip…drip…drip. Her swimming costume was exactly where her Nan had said it would be on the back of her chair. Mia was confused. It hadn’t been there earlier. She walked over and picked it up. It was soaking wet. It had been dripping onto her bedroom floor and had left a small puddle.

‘Have you found it?’ her Nan called up the stairs.

‘I’ve found my proper swimsuit!’ Mia shouted, ’but it’s still wet. It’s still really wet!’

‘You must have spilt something on it. Now get a move on or you’ll be late.’ Mia went back to the suitcase and found her old swimming costume, wrapped it in a towel and put it in her bag. She brought the wet one down stairs to show her Nan. ‘Well it was dry when I put it there,’ her Nan said. Mia sighed.

‘…and it wasn’t on the chair earlier either. I looked. I looked properly.’

‘I’m sure there’s a rational explanation. I’ll try and think back,’ said Mia’s Nan. ‘Maybe I didn’t dry it… you know what I’m like trying to do half a dozen things at once.’

Mia felt uneasy. Even if her Nan had left it there after she’d pulled it out of the washing machine without drying it, it would never have been wet enough to be dripping on the floorboards. And another thing. Last night she had definitely heard someone crying again.