The Secret Under My Skin

Written by JT Lawrence

Narrated by Roshina Ratnam

By the time I realised I’d missed a couple of periods and my breasts were tender, it was too late. The black dread bloomed in my stomach, eroding my appetite and my sleep. I thought about killing myself. 

If I killed myself, no one would find out what had happened.

If I took my life, I wouldn't have to harbour the parasite growing inside my body. The only thing that stopped me from slitting my wrists was the knowledge that my mom and dad would be prosecuted.

The State didn’t take kindly to people committing suicide. 

They hadn’t yet found a way to punish citizens in the afterlife; instead, relatives and spouses were arrested.

'Saving Sacred Lives!' said the moving 3D billboards. 'The very hairs on your head are numbered.'

It had always sounded like a threat to me.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fire Finch Press
• Release date: Aug 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9781667049168

JT Lawrence

JT Lawrence is an author, playwright and bookdealer based in Parkhurst, Johannesburg. She is the mother of two small boys and lives in a house with a red front door.

Reviews for The Secret Under My Skin

[MyFirstName MyLastName · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not really what I would call a short story. Very realistic and where we're headed in these times and it's good to get people thinking about that but the story is completely unfinished. And I know that there are those that are meant to be that way I've written a few myself back in my school days but this is too much so. It seems like the first chapter of a short novel. And the novel itself might have been four stars at least but the first chapter how does your story