The Hidden Light

Brrring! Brrring! The sound of the school bell ringing consecutively startles 10th grader Kiara. The unexpected noise has pulled her back into reality from a daydream that served as an escape from her 6th period English class. Watching the other children rush the halls with excitement as if the bell were a signifying symbol of freedom for all children throughout the building, Kiara gathers her belongings and exits the classroom with no urgency.

Transitioning from middle school to high school had become a hard transition for Kiara, given it was not just a new school but a new town for her. After two months of transferring to Jefferson Davis High School, Kiara had yet to establish any relationships with her peers. Her 5’8 stature, slim body frame, big natural curly hair, glasses, and British accent often left her open to the criticism and jokes of others.

Exiting the building, Kiara was disappointed to see that the school buses were still at the school. She had hoped that taking longer to end her day would result in missing the buses as she walked home. Accepting that she could not avoid the turmoil, she zipped her jacket up and gripped the straps of her bookbag. She could already see Jimmy and Brandon looking out the bus window as if they had smelled fresh meat. As Kiara got closer to the bus, she dropped her head, watching each footstep in front of the other. She trembled as she heard one of the windows open and Brandon’s voice begin to call out “Big Bird” “Weirdo” “Mutt”; all followed by rocks being thrown at her. She kept her head down as they continued to shout more and more insults about the texture of her hair, the shade of her skin tone, and the type of clothes she wore. The experience of walking home from school had become so lonely for Kiara but fitted perfectly to how she started to feel about herself.

Once she made it off the street that the school rested on, Kiara became a little more relaxed. She took a break to pull her cellphone, headphones, and candy from her bookbag. She started her favorite playlist of techno music and drifted away in peace as she popped skittles into her mouth every few minutes. Before she knew it, ten of her thirty-minute walk had passed. As she made it to the corner of Fieldcrest Drive and Capella Circle she felt a sudden urge to stop.

She paused her music to see if she could hear anything, to which she did not. It was strange, she did not see or hear anything but something strong was pulling her in a different direction. Kiara took the same walk home daily, so she had become familiar with the route. Although the city seemed big and intimidating, everything ran in circles and eventually intertwined. Keeping that in mind, Kiara decided to turn down Capella Circle instead of keeping straight on Fieldcrest Drive. Within a few minutes of walking this new territory, she came across an abandoned house on her left. By the dead grass and boarded windows, she could tell it had been some time since someone lived there, but she was intrigued by the style of the house. Her inner dreams of becoming a successful interior designer when she became older and retiring her single-parent dad, sparked her interest in seeing what the inside of the home looked like. Kiara took a quick scan of surroundings to ensure no one was watching, then scurried into the home after finding one of the side windows nudged open.

Once inside, she used her cellphone for light to explore the house for all of its uniqueness. Excited by the anatomy of the home and the many details in its design, before she knew it Kiara was upstairs in one of the bedrooms. She could tell that a young woman had lived in the bedroom from the décor and clothing hanging in the clothes. As Kiara stepped deeper into the closet to explore the things resting in the back, she heard a squeaking noise. She moved the hanging clothes to the side and pushed against the wooden wall to where it popped open and a little mysterious black book fell out. Rushed with the feeling of fate, Kiara grabbed the book and settled in a corner of the room where she was able to grab a good beam of light shining through the loosely boarded window. She brushed the dust from the cover of the book to find the embroidered words,

The greatest depth of love comes from loving yourself

As she stroked her hand across the words, the book began to shake forcibly before resting back in her lap and flipping open. Kiara adjusted her glasses and began to read the passage:

Hello darling, my name is Cynthia and the year is 1812. This book

was created. centuries ago, for the purpose of encouraging a young

woman that has not realized her greatness yet. If you are reading my

words, that means there is a powerful light inside of you that is

waiting to be seen. As you read through the many other women

before you that were granted this same opportunity, please know that

you are worthy, you deserve happiness, and what you are enduring

now does not have to define who you are. At the end of the book, you

will find instructions of what is expected of you next. Good luck my

love!

Kiara eagerly continues to read through pages and pages of stories easily becoming lost in time. She is amazed at how connected she feels to them. It is as if they read her diary that she keeps hidden under her mattress at home. Feelings of being isolated, lonely, ugly, and abandoned expressed deeply from the trenches of their souls. She is even more intrigued at the drastic change in their nature that came after their encounter with the book. As she finishes up the last story, a card drops from the book. It reads:

Follow the map on the back of the card to unlock what is next.

Kiara flips the card over and tries to make sense of the ancient map. Luckily for her, her interest in interior design and the lengthy time she spent earlier exploring the house had come in handy. She was able to determine that the map is of the house. She rises from the floor, places the closed book in her bookbag, and starts on what feels like a journey of awakening. Not long after, she finds herself at the top of the basement steps looking down into darkness. Kiara is shivering out of fear but is determined to see this through Remembering the words in the book, Kiara pulls her cellphone out for light and takes slow steps down the squeaking staircase. Scanning the room inch by inch, she quickly discovers that the room is empty other than a door that appears to be leading to a cellar. This must be it; she thinks to herself and makes her way over to the door.

She glances at the remaining instructions before proceeding. She taps on the door five times, hops on one foot four times, spins in a circle three times, twist the door handle twice, and bumps the door once with her hip. She steps back to determine if the instructions were accurate. There is silence for minutes and then a light starts to flutter, and the door begins to shake. Kiara is standing still with her mouth wide open and eyes enlarged out of surprise of what magical encounter she is witnessing. The door rushes open and sitting in the middle of the closet is an old wooden box by itself.

Unsure of what to do, Kiara stands motionless as if she is trying to determine whether it is safe to retrieve the box. After a few minutes of no response, Kiara creeps into the closet while examining every crevice of it. She pulls the box out swiftly and immediately runs out of the cellar and out of the house. Her adrenaline rushing so much that she does not stop until she reaches home, bursting through the front doors and collapsing on the living room floor.

After lying motionless for minutes in an attempt to catch her breath, she sits up and glances at the light. She realizes that although it took her three hours longer to make it home, she was alone. She gathered her things and made her way upstairs to her bedroom. She flopped down on the bed and looked over the many pictures of her mom and personal drawings on the wall. Her bedroom had definitely become Kiara’s safe place, surrounded by all things that were special to her.

Kiara picked the box up from the floor and placed in the center of her bed. She fumbled with the lock before a few minutes but was eventually able to get it to unlock. As she lifted the latch, a bright light beamed out; startling Kiara and forcing her to cover her eyes. Once she was able to sense that the light had dimmed, she scooted closer to the book to examine its valuables. She found a note and lots of cash. She skipped over the note and counted the cash, ending at 20,000 dollars. While quiet at first, Kiara eventually let out a loud scream of excitement.

The box that was now empty resting on the bed, began to shake as if it knew Kiara had become distracted from her mission and wanted her to focus. At this point, Kiara was no longer surprised by the magical happenings to which she could not explain; she had become to embrace it. She picked up the note and begin to read it.

Here you will find $20,000 and a purple bottle.

Confused by the purple bottle comment, Kiara shakes the box in search of the pill. A few shakes later, the bottle drops from the box.

The 20,000 is for you to spend however you like.

The purple bottle contains a sacred potion that is designed to

allow you to envision what you have been entrusted to do with your life.

It is completely your freedom to decide what you would like to do.

All that I ask is that you add your story to the book and find another

space to hold it for the next woman.

Without thinking twice, Kiara gulps the liquid potion and falls back on the bed. She falls into a daze where she is able to see herself, maybe three years older, with her dad talking to younger girls. Before the vision vanishes, there is a quick glance of the building's exterior with a sign that reads Home of Vivian McWilliams. Kiara wakes from her daze with tears, grasping for air.

As she gathers her thoughts, she pulls the little black book from her bookbag and turn to an empty page. She takes in a deep breath and begins to add her story to the book. She finds herself writing in a space of genuine truths, but not out of pity but empowerment. Over the next three years, Kiara was able to not only change how she felt about herself but the direction of her life. The daze that she saw was the non-profit organization that her mom always talked about opening one day to help young women. After her mom passed away, the thought of it became a distant memory for her and her dad.

In the end, Kiara gave the money to her dad, to which he brought the abandoned house that Kiara had explored earlier. On Kiara’s 18th birthday, they opened the doors to the Home of Vivian McWilliams, a shelter for teen girls. That same day, Kiara placed the book and wooden box in their original hiding spaces to be embraced by the next young lady waiting to release her light.