Characters
Rich man – Mark
Assistant – George
Homeless man – Henry
Cleaner – Jonathan
Officer 1
Officer 2
Office Staff

SCENE I

(Mark is standing and drinking coffee with his assistant standing next to him. Henry, a homeless man, passes by with some old tattered bags. He is wearing torn clothes and broken shoes. As he passes by, he drops a coin into Mark’s coffee.)

Henry: “Here take this!”

Mark (angry): “What nonsense is this?! What do you think you are doing?”

Henry: “Why? Is it less? Here take another!” (He puts another coin in Mark’s coffee while Mark gets furious)

Mark: “Are you out of your mind?”

Henry: “This is to remind you of your selfishness. You are stinking rich, but you never ever thought of helping me out. You never gave me even a small coin. How mean and selfish you rich are! You never think of the poor, only of yourselves and how you can get richer. If I were in your place, I would have always helped the poor.”

Mark (looking at his assistant): “George, stop him. He has opened my eyes. I need to help him.”

(George grabs Henry by the hand and pulls him towards Mark.)

Henry (frightened): “I…I…am sorry. I am really sorry. I think I spoke a bit too much. Please don’t punish me. I won’t speak like this, ever again.”

Mark: “Cool down, man! You have taught me an important lesson. As you said, I was selfish and mean. You have indeed opened my eyes. I will help you now.”

(Henry is all frightened and confused as he is dragged along.)

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The inner torment and fatigue to cook up story after story to cover the initial tale leads us to inadvertent slips that can have quite appalling results. Or we become so pressured and nervous like a simmering volcano, that we impulsively blurt it out in the hope for forgiveness and penance.

• Did you always tell mom about your misbehaviour in school?
• Were you wary of admitting a prank you played on a friend?
• Did you admit that you sent the paper rocket across the class?
• Were you vocal about how the cake vanished from the fridge?

These might appear trivial. But there could be non-trivial ones.

• Like telling your friend that your father has an alcohol problem?
• Saying that your parents might actually be heading for a divorce?
• Telling parents that you smoked or did drugs, and now need help?
• Admitting that you have feelings for someone of the same gender?

Why do we keep secrets?

Well, this is a rather personal question and we all might have reasons that are private to us. The most understandable one is — to protect ourselves. Or another very common one — people won’t understand. We worry about outcomes that might befall us if the secret was known. We are uneasy about what that would do to our reputation, name or respect, our position in the football team, music group, science team, or in general, in school, home or the neighbourhood. There can be so many reasons why we choose to hide the truth and feel more comfortable if people who matter to us didn’t know some aspect of our reality.

Secrets — Myths

• Make us feel safe.
• Are less effortful.
• Are an easy way.
• Preserve friendships.
• Keep things going.
• Prevent loneliness.
• Make us feel strong.
• Help stay connected.

Secrets — Facts

• Are burdensome.
• Take great effort.
• Sap mental energy.
• Plague relationships.
• Use up resources.
• Arouse anxiety.
• Make us sheepish.
• Cut us off from people.

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We see what we desire
In this world of sins.
People are liars,
Even our kith and kin.

We see what we know,
Not what is present.
Life’s a tough blow,
The truth is what we resent.
We see what we think,
Amongst people, shallow or deep.
We let everyone sink,
Just to reach the conclusions we leap.

We watch from behind the shadows.
We know all the darkest secrets,
In the world of high and lows.
And all the high expectations set.

We know all of it,
And yet we don’t share.
The truth we call it,
As we see what we want
And not what is there…

Published in the January 2017 issue of The Teenager Today.

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