The Key

Same Ol Dream……

Reluctantly Katie rolled over and turned off the buzzing alarm clock. Saddened and confused, she laid there thinking about the dream she was having. It was always the same, never changing…. Childhood memories of her grandmother's garden. So real to her she could taste the sweet peas that she stole off the vine as she snuck off to her secret fort that lay hidden in the Lilac bushes.

Holding her head, Katie rolled out of bed asking herself why she had stayed out so late the night before. Today was the big day…. Moving Day…. Three of her friends had taken her out for a couple goodbye drinks that turned into a few more than just a couple…

Slowly making her way from the coffee machine towards the shower, she found herself thinking about her dream again. She could smell the calming fragrance of the Lilacs and hear the sounds of the little wrens jumping from branch to branch as she sat on the rock wall her grandfather had built rearranging all of her keys she had found and hung from the branches.

She had a system to the madness. That only she could possibly know, and the reason for this was because of a keyhole in the fence. She didn’t know what the key hole was for fore there was nothing but Mr. and Mrs. Neighbor on the other side of it. Nonetheless it fascinated her because she could find any key that would fit. Not even in the slightest bit.

Oh em goodness she thought to herself this headache needs to stop. She threw a couple aspirin in her mouth while praying that she wouldn’t be stuck next to a Chatty Cathy on the flight to Spokane. Fingers Crossed she got ready to leave… Two hours later she found herself standing in her driveway saying goodbye to the house she had called home for the last 10 years. It’s been fun ol timer… Be good to your next caretaker. And with that Katie Blew it a Kiss and headed for the airport….

They Meet…

Finally boarded on the plane with her carry on in place Katie flopped down into her seat and closed her eyes. She was exhausted from the excitement of last night and the stress and worrying about everything and everyone she was leaving behind… Holding back tears, she turned on her music and closed her eyes…

Next thing she knew she felt someone sit down next to her… Ugh… I was really hoping this would be a neighbor free flight… Barely opening one eye she peeked over to see what she was up against…

The Lady that sat next to her seemed pleasant enough. She was pretty with long blonde hair and thin framed… The lady glanced over at Katie with a Smile and said “Hi! I’m Sara!”

Katie and Sara spent the whole flight swapping childhood stories. They were so tuned into each other's stories that they were surprised when the pilot came over the speaker saying that they would be landing soon…

The two said their goodbyes as they loaded up their luggage and started walking their separate ways when Katie stopped and turned around… She couldn’t shake the feeling that she needed to keep in contact… Talking to Sara was so easy and comfortable… She felt like she had known her for years…

Katie dropped her bags and ran to catch up to Sara… Hey Lady! This might sound weird but… Here’s my number maybe if ya get bored we could go grab lunch or something… Katie felt her face blush… She felt like she was asking her out on a date… Laughing she said I don’t normally do this but I enjoyed your company on the flight and I don’t have many friends…

Sara had been laughing the whole time watching Katie trying to catch her breath and talk at the same time… Sara took the paper with Katie's number and said look in the pocket of your jacket… Sara climbed into the taxi yelling I had fun too! as the taxi drove away…

Look in my pocket… Katie thought while she was digging around… She pulled out a napkin and on it read… Sara 555-555-1234… Laughing at herself she ran back to her luggage…

Let's Do Lunch!

Two weeks had gone by and Katie finally had time to sit down and relax… She had been unpacking and taking in all the scenery… She still couldn’t believe that she was back on her Grandmother’s property…

She sat on the rock wall of the porch dangling her feet off the side staring off into the water… She had forgotten how beautiful it was when the sun started setting… Getting lost in the sounds of the waves on the shore Katie was startled back into reality when her phone started making it’s Stardust Chime telling her she had gotten a text… Katie pulled her phone out of her back pocket read the text smiled and wrote back Sounds Good!

Katie got up early and jumped in the shower… Her and Sara were meeting for Coffee… She was so excited she was going to get to show off the house she grew up and talked about the whole flight… She grabbed her keys and ran out the door…

Pulling up at the coffee shop Sara was already there waving at her… As soon as Katie was parked and had her door open the two were non stop chitter chatter…

The lost count of how many coffees they had drank when Katie remembered something… Oh ya before I forget… Not trying to be nosey or anything but can I ask… What were you fidgeting with on the plane… You didn’t do it all the time but you did it often enough that I noticed…

Sara reached into her pocket and pulled out a key… I found this when I was a little girl…. I’m not sure what it goes to but it fascinated me so much when I was a child I could never get rid of it… Now I have had it so long I’ve become attached to it I guess you could say…

Katie's heart jumped out of her chest as soon as she saw the key… Looking at Sara she asked “Can I see that?” Sara pushed the key over to where Katie could reach it… Still staring at it in disbelief Katie said We have to get to my place… I have something to show you… The two girls paid for their coffee and hurried out to their cars…

It was only about a 15 min drive from the coffee shop to Katie’s place… As they pulled into the drive Katie stopped in front of the gate that lead into the garden…

Even though she had been home for 2 weeks she hadn’t been to the garden yet… Standing at the gate looking over to the Lilacs Katie noticed something sparkling through the leaves… There’s no way that the keys could still be there she thought… She turned to see were Sara was… Sara was staring out the window of her car… Katie raised her voice and asked if she was ok… Still staring into the garden Katie said Sara? You ok? almost shouting this time… Sara broke her stare looking over to Katie with a smile and a nod of her head… Sara grabbed her phone and got out of the car…

Slowly they walked through the garden… Katie telling stories of eating fresh home grown veggies right out of the garden and how the chickens and turkeys would come and look for worms and bugs and wait for her to toss some goodies their way… She told her the story about how her and her mother would set up a pen half in the water and half on the shore for their geese when they were babies and how the chickens would come down and catch a ride on the geese backs as they swam around…

Finally making it back up towards the top center of the garden… Katie said this is it… My little secret hiding place… The place I told you that I dream about…

Sara was almost in shock by the time they reached the Lilacs… She felt like she already knew all the stories Katie was telling her or that she had been there once or twice… Memories of her childhood were racing through her head… Like the time she could have sworn she heard a Turkey let out a Gobble and this other time she kept hearing boats racing down the lake and the waves making their sloshing noises as they rolled up on to the shore… But the smell of the Lilacs hit her hard… When she would be in her favorite spot to sit and daydream and the wind would blow just right the smell of Lilacs would almost knock you off your feet… And on certain days there would be tiny little clink and clank sounds that came with it… She never could figure out where the sounds and smell would come from because what laid on the other side of her fence was a fairly busy street with with building up and down it… Definitely not a good place for a Turkey nor was there any water for the boats to race around in… the weirdest part of it all was there wasn’t a lilac tree within 30 miles of her house…

Katie smile and said I don’t know if it’s all over grown in there but we are about to find out… You ready?? Katie slowly bent down and got on her knees to peek in… She couldn’t believe what her eyes were seeing… Everything was still their… All of her Keys and doo-dads that she found and hung on the branches were still there… and the bench she made buy bending the branches down and over and up… Weaving them together almost… She crawled in and sat down on the bench…. Eagerly she waited for Sara to get in and comfy…

As Sara got situated and set her wallet and phone down Katie noticed something in the dirt… Using the leave she had been playing with she pretended it was a broom and swished off the dirt that made it look like it had been there for years….

Sara had picked up her phone again and took a couple pics to see what the lighting was going to be like. Nudging Katie, Sara said, “Smile Girl!” Katie quickly put on a cheesy grin and held up the paper next to her face…. As Sara clicked the picture her eyes caught sight of what was in Katies hand… Her phone dropped to the ground and she spun back around to face Katie… With her hands over her mouth and an extremely shocked look on her face… Sara began to recite the words that Katie would find on the paper…

The Note Read:

Hello Out There…

I’m not sure where you are or if you even exist… But one day while sitting here in my thinking spot you dropped your key… You can come by and pick it up but until you do I will hold onto it…

With a confused look on her face Katie finished what Sara was about to say with question in her voice… “Signed… It’s Me… Sara…”

Katie's heart was pounding… Staring at the paper Sara said, “I slid that note under my fence 20 some odd years ago… How is it still around and how did it end up here…”

Katie said “Let me show you the reason I brought you hear” with her right hand Katie pushed a leafy branch to the side revealing a keyhole… “when I was little I would find a key and bring it here to see if it fit but none of them ever did… and sometimes if you put your ear up to it I could hear what sounded like cars driving by with the occasional honk…” by this time they were both totally freaked out, excited… for what they didn’t know, and confused… how could this be happening…

Sara pulled out her key and handed it to Katie… You do the honors… I think you have been looking for it just as long as I have been wondering about it…

Katie smile and slowly grabbed the Key… She already knew it was going to fit… She put the key up to the hole… As it got closer the breeze turned into a blow… Katie looked back at Sara… and the key went in… There was a small rumble and the ground started to almost vibrate Katie turned the Key and the door began to open……