The Secret Diary

by E. Green

I've been here before. How do I know? Well, I recognise the tree, the lights and the presents. The family always decorates the house like this in winter. They don't wrap me up any more as the young lady knows what her present is and she's eager to get on with her writing. Yes, she's a writer. A good writer, if you ask me. How should I know? I'm her personal diary.

She started writing in my pages four years ago, and, as I'm a five-year diary, this will be my final year under the Christmas tree.

You want to see what she's writing? Can't show, won't show. That's me, true to my lady, my lady Jane. My clasp is shut and I can't be opened till tomorrow when they all come downstairs.
If my clasp is opened, the spell will be broken. What spell? You may well ask. The spell of writing. It's a kind of special magic, a gift that everyone wants. She uses a pen and ink and writes things, words, on my pages. No! Not ordinary words. Ideas for a story, a love story that will be read for ever.


No! I won't let you see the words. They're private. Yes, I suppose I could recite the first line that I can remember. I'll have to be quick. I can hear them coming. I can hear them giggling.

Well, the story starts like this:

'It is a truth universally acknowledged...'

Shhhh! They're here!

© E. Green 2005

E. Green is aged 62, a retired business executive. Married 39 years, he has two sons, two grandchildren. With a career in business management, specialising in finance, business writing became highly developed, but business plans, budgets, and annual reports offered no scope for creativity.
He says: “I always enjoyed reading, in particular Dick Francis’ novels of which I own the complete set of paperbacks. In 2003 I went on a one-year course for creative writing at the local college. Short stories, poetry, and drama were equally covered but I am especially keen on novel writing as its length and structure give opportunities for developing character and plot. I have entered some writing competitions but received no prizes yet. Have widened my reading to cover a range of crime/thriller writers. My preferred writers at present are Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, John Grisham, and Robert Goddard. My current project is a crime story about art fraud.”