The Locksmith's Curse

Everyone prepared for another tropical Christmas as the eve fell in Sunny Singapore. Hui Ting, a skilled yet young locksmith, was shutting up her quaint, though dimly lit, shop. She had festooned hers, aligned with everyone else’s on the street, with decorations- with fairy lights, mistletoe, and mini fig trees covered with wintry cotton,it was far too festive to be a mirror locksmith shop.

But no one would kiss Hui Ting under the mistletoe. The chambers of the young key maker’s heart were vacant. The gentle hum of Christmas carols filling the air outside did nothing to soothe her emptiness. She was used to being alone; it had been this way for so long that she hardly noticed.

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Hui Ting went about closing the white, spray-painted windows and shuttering the front entrance of the shop, trying not to dwell on the loneliness that consumed her mind during each festive season. A hot bowl of char siew ramen, its inviting aroma wafting through her nose, was more than enough company. Her parents, taken away tragically by a car accident a few years before, had been the centre of her life; now, she sought meaning at her core.

An old woman ducked under the shutter just as she was finishing her task. “Please don’t close up yet. I may have some business for you.”

Hui Ting gazed at her, feeling a sense of intrigue. The lady, face drawn and haggard, had bundled herself up in shawls. An aura of mystique hung over her, cloying and unmistakable. She was almost Macbethian - Hui Ting remembered her lessons in Shakespeare.

The woman, in a near cackle, offered her a bronze key. “This opens the door to something that will complete you.”

As she turned to leave the shop, she turned back and gazed at the young locksmith once more. “Be careful. What you unlock will change your fate forever.”

Hui Ting led her out of the store with a dismissive air. She felt the key and kept turning it over, the words of the old woman lingering, feeling the bronze oddly warm against her fingers, its pull strengthening. Then a gust of wind blew through the front of the store, a sudden, eerie breath.

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She stepped into the street, the abrupt visit of the old woman leaving her feeling unsettled. As she began her 15-minute walk home, she found her pace increasing. She wanted to put it out of her mind. Quickly.

She reached her apartment, the stone-cold bronze key leaving a chill on her slim fingers. The old lady’s warning rang in her mind, its echo haunting, yet leaving a yearning.

The voice of the old woman rang in her mind once more.

“Be careful. What you unlock will change your fate forever.“

She paused for a few moments, staring at the key wordlessly. Then, ignoring her fears, she pushed the key in and turned it.

The door flung open.

The scene within was delightfully festive, with warm, dim fairy lights adding quaint comfort to the atmosphere. Festive candles, burning end-to-end, lent a sense of Yuletide cheer.

Then she saw them. Her parents, Mei Ting and Tuck Leong. Her father, donned in the familiar blue shirt he had worn before the accident, with an ethereal, yet comforting smile. Mei Ting, her mother, was her usual self in the kitchen, preparing everyone’s favourite chicken curry dish. The apron she wore, not new to her, yet odd, filled her with a strange comfort.

Two of her uncles and aunts, whom she hadn’t spoken to for a while, gave her welcoming waves. They had in their hands glasses of Anchor Beer - their favourite drink, the sight of which filled Hui Ting with an odd calming vibe.

That fateful hug before her vacation would have eased her aching memories. Forgiving Uncle Sook for the tiff they had long before would have been a quiet balm for her hurt mind.

But that was over.

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The scene abruptly froze, and the old woman appeared - this time a spectral, but strangely comforting shadow of herself.

“Young lady, the key has shown you what it opens to. But it is up to you to step in.”

Hui Ting gazed at her spectral family and bit her lip. Step in…but what would happen?

After a few minutes, the old woman vanished. Hui Ting backed out of the room, leaving the door open.

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She awoke the next day, her apartment filled with the easing glow of sunlight streaming through the room. She smiled gently, feeling the day’s new lift, and life.

She placed a call to Uncle Sook. “Hui Ting?” The voice on the other end had a masculine lilt of surprise.

“Hi, Uncle Sook. How are you?”

“Good, and you?” I haven’t heard from you since…” He paused.

“Er…that’s why I’m calling. It’s Christmas, and dad would have wanted us to meet. You’re his brother….”

“Sure,” Uncle Sook agreed to what didn’t need to be spoken. “You know I love a party. Let’s rope Aunt Mei Foong in.”

“Okay… we’ll do that.” She began to giggle. “She’ll have a funny story for us.

“That she will,” Uncle Sook confirmed eagerly. “We’ll arrange the details later then. Bye, young lady. It’ll be great to catch up.”

He hung up, but his tone had warmed her. Smiling, she reached for her tablet and began preparing a list.

She hadn't felt at home in years.