At fourteen, Kelly Green was way too old to believe in legends. At least that was what she kept telling herself whenever she passed the drain cover outside her school. 

The Secrets Cave was a legend that was first passed around long before Kelly even existed and, when she thought about it, it made no sense.

It was supposed to have been created before the water drainage system that ran the length of the small town was built, but there weren’t any holes in the ground back then, because there wouldn’t have been a reason for them to be there, much less people to spew their dirty secrets into them.

Kelly leaned her bike against the fence and looked around. It was a Sunday, so none of the kids from school would have any reason to be hanging around, but she had to be sure. She couldn’t share her secret with anyone, but it was going to cling to her all her life if she didn’t let it out.

When she was confident nobody else was around, Kelly laid down on top of the drain lid so that her head was hanging over the edge of the curb, and she was facing the mouth of the Secrets Cave.

‘I,’ she said, swallowed, then went on, ‘I like my best friend’s boyfriend. I’d never do anything about it, but I like him.’

With that, Kelly scrambled to her feet, got on her bike, and sped away.

The Secrets Cave swallowed the information, gurgled, and was at peace.

Yvonne Finch was certainly too old to believe in an underground confessional that swallowed one’s secrets and let them float off to God knew where, but her secret stared her in the face whenever she looked at the blue ribbon that was held to her fridge with a magnet.

Yvonne was tired of coming second to Elaine Peers in the annual baking contest, so she made sure Elaine’s devil’s food cake was inedible by taking one of the syringes her husband used for his diabetes, and used it to inject water from her fish tank (which she hadn’t cleaned for over a week) into it.

Yvonne went home with first prize, but it was a hollow victory.

‘My cake was too dry. It wasn’t worthy.’

Yvonne got up, with difficulty, and scuttled away.

The Secrets Cave swallowed, gurgled rather loudly, and was at peace.

Jillie Waters came to the Secrets Cave with a secret she needed to share, fast, but it wasn’t because her conscience was bugging her – it was because she talked in her sleep. Her new husband had no idea that the  splendid house in which they were spending their twilight years was bought and paid for with the money Jillie had inherited after her first husband’s untimely passing.

‘Silly old bugger complimented me on how lovely and nutty his coffee tasted. If he only knew.’

Jillie smiled.

The Secrets Cave did not swallow the secret, but there was an excruciatingly loud gurgling noise.

Jillie had precisely half a milli-second to realise what was about to happen before she was sucked into the moith of the Secrets Cave and swallowed whole.

It gurgled, then was at peace again.