The Secret Wall - S01 E05

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 5

Episode 5: The Secret Wall

Wednesday morning arrived with a very heavy gray cloud over the house. It was not a bright morning. It was not a happy morning. The sun was hiding behind the big clouds, and the sky looked like it wanted to cry. The air inside the house felt very thick and very heavy. It was hard to take a deep breath. Amina sat at the kitchen table and watched the clock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The sound was louder than usual. It felt like the clock was counting down to something big.

Joe was moving very fast. He did not look at Amina. He did not ask for his usual breakfast of eggs and bread. He just drank a little bit of water and put on his jacket. He looked very nervous. His hands were shaking a little bit as he tied his shoes. He kept looking at the door and then looking back at the living room. He looked like a man who had a very big secret that was trying to jump out of his mouth.

"I have to go now," Joe said. His voice was very dry. He sounded like he had not slept at all. "I have a very important meeting with a friend. It is for work. I will be very busy all day. Do not wait for me for lunch."

Amina looked at him. She wanted to ask which friend he was meeting. She wanted to ask why he was leaving two hours earlier than usual. She wanted to ask him why he was laughing at the wall last night. But she remembered the way he shouted at her before. She remembered the angry look in his eyes. She did not want him to get angry again. She just nodded her head slowly.

"Okay, Joe," she said. "Be careful on the road."

Joe did not say goodbye. He did not give her a kiss on the cheek. He just grabbed his car keys and walked out the door. Amina stood by the window and watched his car drive away. She watched until the car turned the corner and she could not see it anymore. Then, she was all alone in the house. The silence was very loud. It felt like the house was waiting for her to move.

Amina stood in the middle of the living room. She felt like a detective in a movie. She felt like she was on a mission to find the truth. Her heart was beating very fast, like a little drum. She looked at the big wall of red bricks. She looked at the mountain picture that hung there so quietly. To anyone else, it was just a normal wall and a normal picture. But Amina knew it was not normal. She knew there was something hidden there.

She walked up to the wall. Every step she took made a small sound on the floor. Her legs felt a bit like jelly. She was very afraid, but she was also very curious. She had to know what was going on. She had to know why her husband was changing into a stranger. She stood right in front of the picture of the mountain. The snow on the top of the mountain looked cold. The trees looked dark.

Amina reached out her hands. They were shaking so much that she almost dropped her house keys which she was still holding. She took a very deep breath. She told herself to be brave. She told herself that she was the queen of this house and she had a right to know what was inside her own walls. She grabbed the sides of the heavy gold frame. She expected it to be stuck to the wall. She expected it to be heavy and hard to move.

But it was not.

Amina pulled the right side of the frame toward her. Suddenly, it swung open. It did not fall off the wall. It stayed attached on the left side. It moved just like a little door. It was a hidden door! Amina gasped so loud that she had to cover her mouth with both of her hands. She was so shocked that she almost fell backward. She could not believe what she was seeing.

Behind the picture, there was no solid wall. Joe had lied. The bricks were not solid at all. Instead, there was a small square hole cut into the wood and the brick. It was a secret compartment. It was a hiding place. The hole was not very big, but it was big enough to hide something important.

Amina looked into the dark hole. It was very dark inside, like a small cave. But she saw something. Deep inside the hole, there was a tiny blue light. It was a very small light, like a tiny star. The light blinked every few seconds. Blink. Blink. Blink. It was a very strange sight. Why was there a light inside the wall?

She reached her hand into the dark hole. She felt a wave of cold air come out of the opening. It was much colder inside the wall than it was in the room. It felt like putting her hand into a freezer. Her fingers moved around in the dark. She was afraid that something might bite her. She was afraid that the scratching thing from the night before might grab her hand. But she did not stop. She had to know.

Her fingers touched something smooth. It was hard and cold. It felt metallic. It was not a rock and it was not a brick. It felt like a piece of technology. She gripped the object with her fingers. She pulled it out of the hole very slowly. She was holding her breath. She was so scared that her eyes were wide open.

As the object came out of the dark hole and into the light of the room, Amina’s heart nearly stopped. She felt like she was going to faint. She looked at the thing in her hand.

It was a phone.

But it was not just any phone. It was a very thin, very expensive looking phone. It was black and shiny. The blue light she saw was a notification light on the top of the screen. The phone was turned on. It was working. It was hidden deep inside the wall where no one could find it.

Amina stared at the phone. Her mind was spinning. Why did Joe have a secret phone? Why did he hide it inside a hole in the wall? Who was he calling? Was this the friend he was meeting this morning? Was he talking to this phone at three o'clock in the morning?

She looked at the screen. There were messages on the screen. There were names she did not know. The secret of the wall was not a ghost. It was not a monster. It was something much more real and much more dangerous. She held the phone tightly. She knew that her life was about to change forever. She knew that the man she loved was living a double life.

What should she do now? Should she open the messages? Should she put the phone back and pretend she never saw it? Amina stood there in the gray light of the morning, holding the secret in her hand. The scratching sound she heard before was gone. Now, there was only the sound of her own fast breathing. The wall had given her an answer, but the answer was a new mystery.

Why do you think Joe is hiding a secret phone in the wall instead of keeping it in his pocket?

Who do you think is sending those messages with the blinking blue light?

Should Amina open the phone and read the messages, or is that too dangerous?

What would you do if you found a secret phone hidden in your house?

The secret is out! Amina has found the phone! But what is on that phone? And what will Joe do if he finds out she knows? The story is getting very intense!