The Key

As the sunset, the howling wind brushed along my face, causing my blonde hair to temporarily cover my blue eyes. I struggled to tame my beastly hair, and continued to work. These chores must be completed. It was a typical difficult windy winter day. My shady uncle, who adopted me at age five after my adoring parents perished in a house fire, owns a cattle farm in southern Alabama. The giant wind mill swayed in the distance to the rhythm of the wind. If you listen closely you could hear the rattling of the barn's fragile structure, or the hissing of the water rushing through the hose. Being surrounded by cows was a part of my mundane life, they never disturbed me, and I never messed with them. We had a healthy respect for each other, neither one of us wanted to be here.

As I continued to labor, memories of my parents flooded my thoughts. Although I lost them at the tender age of five, just ten dreadful and prolonged years ago, I still remember every detail. They were seared into my brain, something I'll never be willing to release. Those were the happy years, when I was aware of love, and not completely numb. I was unconscious of the warm tears streaming down my face until I felt the brutal grasp on my shoulders, jerking my petite four foot nine inch body off my knees. "Mary-Grace" the cold and uncaring voice sneered, it was obvious my uncle was angry. "Don't tell me you've been crying again. Forget about those liars, and go clean the stalls." His thick southern accent rang clear, echoing through the miles of dusty air. I kept replaying those words in my head as I shuffled to the stable. "Forget about those liars" I mumbled. Liars? My blood curdled, he was the liar. My parents loved me.

Still angered by my uncle's cold words, I bitterly snatched a shovel off the rack, causing the shelf to collapse. I knew I'd pay for this later; honestly he deserved to lose much more. These thoughts were unacceptable, and I knew it. I smiled as I imagined my distressed mother scolding me, for wishing such a terrible disaster. Those tiny little things I feared as a child, now brought joy to me, that's how I knew she loved me. My smile slowly vanished as I remembered my lowly state. Plus I had work to do, in order to receive dinner tonight. Slamming the shovel in to the muck, I flinched as a chill slithered down my body. Something unearthly entered and exited my body, leaving me motionless.

My fingers slightly twitched and my head pounded, I felt as if someone was continuously beating my head with a drumstick. I was stunned. Normally I'm not very curious. I just accept things the way they are, but this mysterious feeling had sparked my interest. Without hesitation I begin scrambling through the filth, ignoring the stench. After minutes of searching I finally give in, blaming the sensation on my imagination. As I stood up exhaustion over took my body, I struggled to shovel the waste.

Consumed by my thoughts I eventually completed this disgusting chore. As I was walking over to shelf to return my shovel, a glimmer caught my eye. I looked around only to find nothing abnormal. I turned on my heel, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a more intense flash. I was reminded of the time my parents and I had a family picture taken, and the flash was so bright I started crying. Chuckling, I swerved and glanced around, again not finding anything out of order. This time as I turned around the floor of the newly cleaned stall caught my eye, to my surprise I found key. I walked closer and noticed it was surprisingly shiny for a key that looked to be about fifty years old.

It was the kind of key you see in movies, it had a regal feel, I knew this had to be something special. So many questions were rushing through my brain. Where did this come from? What does it open? How old is it? For the first time in years a smirk crawled across my face. I was going to keep this discovery to myself; it'll be my little secret. An explosion of excitement over took me, making me completely forget about my exhaustion. I had something to look forward to. After all these years I was finally going to do something that made me happy. I was going to uncover the story behind this key.