The Key

Part 1

Once upon a time there was a girl who lived in a small town. Slowly but surely, she grew tired of life. Everywhere she looked, there were only problems. The world literally crushed her, which is why everything seemed so small and narrow to her. Whatever she started, she quickly gave up. It was hopeless, she could do nothing. She lacked talent in everything. Always only failures. She cried: "I'm going to be sick with worry!".

Despite her parents' encouragements that she was still young and that all doors were open to her, she was desperate and asked angrily, "Where are all these doors?"

"Close by," her father replied. "You just have to find the right path that will lead you there."

"How am I supposed to do that?".

"I don't know," said the father. "But maybe you will find a solution in your dreams.".

"Oh yes!" exclaimed the girl enthusiastically. That she found a solution to her problems based on her dreams happened more often. She believed in the special power of dreams and that they could really be a sign, even a help.

That night she went to bed excited. Hopefully, she would fall asleep. In her dream, a forest appeared to her where she was. She seemed restless and searching for something.

The next morning, she woke up wondering what the dream could mean.

"How am I supposed to find the doors that are supposed to be so open to me?".

She then decided to wait for the next night, maybe the next dream would give her clarity.

She was right, because the next night she dreamed again of the forest and how she followed a path. She went on and on and on.... Slowly her legs began to ache.

"What am I supposed to find here? Where are the doors?" she asked, exhausted.

So, she continued her way, but there was no door in sight. After a few hours of unsuccessful searching, she went home, hanging her head and feeling sad.

She woke up and was disappointed. Normally she could always rely on her dreams, but now she felt let down by them.

At dinner, her parents tried to cheer her up. "Why don't you wait a little longer?" her father said. "You must have misunderstood something. Your dream must have had a different meaning."

That night the sky was full of stars. The girl fell asleep and dreamed of the same forest again. Just like in the previous dream, in this dream she was looking for the doors. But something was different. She followed the path, and this time it actually led her to a door! She walked towards the door, looked around and noticed that there were many other doors besides the door. She had found them all!

"Ah, finally!!!" she shouted in relief. Excitedly, she stood in front of the first door. She reached out to open the door but was disappointed to find that it was locked. She quickly rushed to the next door. But this one was also locked. In a panic, she ran to the next door and the one after that and so on, until she bitterly realized that they were all locked!

"What's going on here? What is this?" she cried in despair. Then she woke up.