The Secret

Everyone has a secret. Some we reveal to others, while some we keep to ourselves. While some use secrets to control others, some are controlled by their own secrets. For Max, it was the latter.  

 On his deathbed, Max's father had told him that one of his two brothers – Tony and Shyam – was adopted. This completely changed his life! Every waking moment, all he could think of at the back of his head was who it could be. Every action of his brothers made him cast further doubt. How frail the human heart is: a mirrored cesspool of thought. This secret was planted so deep in his mind that uprooting was an impossible task. It was as if the secret was a demon that had completely possessed him.  

A normal school day was everything but that: normal. At the funeral of their father, as Tony and Shyam mourned the untimely death of their father, Max put on a brave face but there was something hidden behind his courageous visage. Internally, he was conflicting: on one hand, he felt it to be his duty to his brothers to confess. On the other hand, he was sure that to do so was to drop a bombshell, whose explosion would change the three brothers’ relationship forever. As his father’s funeral pyre smoked and crackled, Max stared onto the horizon. Then, with a booming yet shaky voice, he declared, “I have a secret that I must confess”.  

At first, there was no reaction from either brother. Then, to break the silence, Tom jokingly said “Well, what is it?”. Then, Max unfolded everything he knew. Silence again. Max was instantly better : it was as if a cyclopean mountain had been lifted off his chest. The brothers digested the news slowly. Once they had completely understood their situation they asked more and more questions but Max had no answer. There was no way to know who the adopted brother was. After some heated discussions and passionate speeches, the brothers all decided that — at the end of the day — they were raised as brothers and to them, they were brothers.  

This last hour had changed everything and nothing for the three brothers. All of them had gone through Plutchik's wheel of emotions. But, at the end family and brotherly love prevailed.