Our Little Secret: a gripping psychological thriller with a shocking twist from bestselling author Darren O’Sullivan. Darren O’Sullivan

       In those moments when Mum talks of him before he packed his bags, I can see myself as a child again, lying on his broad chest, his breathing raising me up and down as we both dozed in the garden on a spring morning. I see the bedtime stories, his St Christopher necklace gently hitting me as he gives me a kiss goodnight. His breath smelling like rolling tobacco.

       Yes, loads of years have been lost to the archive in my head but, as you can clearly see, I’m going to change that. So hello, diary. Welcome back to my life. You might be wondering why I’ve decided to come back. It’s a good question. One that’s embarrassing but as it’s just you and me I’ll just say it as it is.

       Yet again, there is a boy. Meeting him has ignited that part of me that needs to write it all down. It’s made me not want to lose anything that I might think fondly on later in life. (Or not.) ‘The new man’, as my friends like to call him, really he should be called the first man. In my adult life so far I’ve not met anyone who has interested me in the way he does. There is something about him. Something you can’t quite put a finger on. A depth to him I have never seen before. It’s exciting.

       I’ve got a good feeling about this and I thought it would be nice to put it down in words to find again when I’m old and grey. Who knows who might be by my side? Perhaps, maybe, him? Just writing that makes me feel funny.