Rumor had it that the MacFarren family held The Great Secret in their barn.
The town twisted tales so tall we all revered and feared the barn. In hushed voices people said that the blue doors — number twelve specifically — separated us from the information needed to achieve all life’s happiness. An agrarian Oz of sorts.
I believed just like everyone else. Which is why I set out to infiltrate the farm. I’d been down in every way imaginable for longer than I cared to admit. Friends kindly called it a rut. I was blunter and called it a waste of life.
My self-diagnosed problem was that I didn’t take risks. Living made me nervous. Making choices, let alone taking chances, caused me to panic. That’s why my plan seemed perfect. If I was finally going to be brave, I’d do it with a guaranteed happy ending.
I slipped beneath the cow fence late at night, a bag of tools slung over my shoulder. I walked in a direct line to door number twelve so as not to lose my nerve. The yellow frame still shone in the dark, but the dusty blue door faded into the night. I tried the handle.
Without so much as a push, the door swung open. I held my breath as the space slowly revealed itself, letting it out in a whoosh when I finally saw it. Empty.
I began to cry. The Great Secret was less than a story. It was a lie.
Rage fueled my legs as they turned over, taking me to the farmhouse. I beat on the door until Joe MacFarren arrived on the other side with a pistol.
“There’s nothing in the barn!” I screamed.
Joe lowered the gun.
“There are no answers or instructions! There’s no magic or explanations! Nothing!” I was now openly weeping on the wraparound porch.
“Of course there’s not,” he replied. “That’s The Great Secret.”
This story was written as part of a visual writing prompt project I started on Instagram. Each week I offer an image to spark stories and poetry. I make sure to always share a response of my own. They’re short; micro-fiction, really. Still, they’re stories I put energy into so I’m giving them a home here as part of a microfiction series. I hope you enjoy.