This is a long short story so it is split into 3 parts. I hope you enjoy reading it.
The Key
My wife, Terry, walked in while I was relaxing in my recliner and searching the Internet and
asked. “Did you hear the mailman?”
“I wasn’t paying attention, but you can look on the Ring camera.”
“Never mind. I’ll just go check.” She walked to the front door and opened it. “
“That’s great, but I don’t know why you bother.” I shrugged. “It’s mostly junk mail.”
“There could be some sales I don’t want to miss.”
“Of course!” I leaned back in the recliner and continued my Internet search.
She came back in waving the mail like she just won an Olympic medal.
“Anything good?” I asked.
“Mostly junk, but there’s one letter for you. It’s marked Confidential.” She pulled it out
of the stack and tossed it to me. “It feels like there’s something in it.”
I opened it up and sure enough there was a key taped to the letter. It wasn’t a house key
but some kind of locker key. It was stamped with the number 217-S, and someone had dabbed a
blob of red paint on it. I turned toward my wife and said, “There’s a key. It looks like it’s for a
locker. You know, like from a bowling alley, skating rink, or an airport locker.”
“Is there a message or instruction about what you should do with the key?”
I handed her the letter. “The message is vague and cryptic.”
Terry read the message, “The treasure is behind the locked door. This is the key to
happiness. Find the door and you will understand.”
“Interesting, but I’m sure it’s a scam,” I insisted.
“So, what are you going to do?”
I held up the envelope with the key. “Trash day tomorrow, right?’
“Yes.”
“It’s a scam. I’m going to throw it out.”
“You’re so distrusting,” Terry said.
“It’s the world we live in.” I walked outside and threw it in the trash, then
took the bin to the curb for pick up the next morning.
That evening we had friends over. While playing cards my wife brought up the letter. Our
friends thought it was intriguing and questioned my actions about tossing it in the trash. They
thought it would have been interesting to see how it played out, but I would not be swayed from
my belief.
The next morning at breakfast I heard the trash truck. When I finished my coffee, I
went to get the empty can. I opened the lid, just to check. There has been a time or two when
they passed us by. It was empty, except for the envelope stuck in the bottom. I tilted the bin and
reached in and pulled it out. Really, imagine that. Terry is going to make a big deal out of this.
Like it’s a sign. Hmm! Maybe I won’t show it to her. She’ll never know.
I walked in the house with it in my hand. When I saw Terry standing by the refrigerator,
I tried to hide it in my pocket, but I was too slow.
“Hi Hon. Whatcha got there?”
I knew I was busted. “It got stuck in the bottom . . . but it doesn’t mean anything.”
“Sure, whatever you say, dear.”
“I’ll take it to the office and throw it in their trash. This is ridiculous. I just want to be
done with it.” I grabbed my jacket and walked toward the door.
“Have a nice day, Sweetie.”
“Thanks dear. I’ll bring some Chinese home for dinner tonight.”
Terry waved. “Great! Don’t forget the fortune cookies.”
First thing I did when I got to the work was to throw the envelope in the office trash. It’ll
Be gone by noon. My morning was busy with a new project. It was lunch before I knew it.
When I came back to my desk, I noticed my trash can had been emptied. Finally, it’s gone. Our
regular afternoon meeting ran over, so I was late getting back to my desk. I grabbed my jacket,
when I saw the envelope on my desk with a note attached. It was from the custodian, It read,
“This letter must have accidentally fallen into the trash. It seems important, so I retrieved it for
you.”
I snatched the letter from my desk and shoved it into my pocket. The key was still in
there. My phone chimed to remind me to pick up Chinese for dinner. I punched in the number
and ordered shrimp fried rice, Crab Rangoon, General Tso mild. I like it spicy, but Terry doesn’t,
so I order it mild then I put Cayenne pepper on mine. Oh! Yeah . . . fortune cookies. I didn’t want
to forget those. I tried to ignore my thoughts of the key, but my mind kept circling back to it. I
stopped at Asian 101 for my order then headed home, just a mile away.
After parking the car in the garage, I went into the kitchen and set the food and the
envelope on the table. Terry had poured herself a glass of tea. “Would you like some?”
“No, I’m going to have a beer.” I opened the fridge and grabbed a Tiger beer, made in
Singapore. Lately I’ve been buying specialty beers.
“Everything good?” Terry reached for the bag of Chinese but grabbed the envelope and
held it up. “You seem distracted.”
“I’m a little annoyed.” Pointing to the envelope she was holding. “That keeps following
me. I can’t get rid of it.”
“It’s a sign.”
“I knew you were going to say that.” I frowned. “No, it’s just a coincidence.”
“Aren’t you curious?” She opened the envelope and took the key out “Let’s see if we can
figure out what kind of locker this opens.” She held the key up, inspected it and then dangled it
in front of me. “I’m leaning toward airport locker. What do you think?”
“Why would you say airport?” I reached out and took the key. “For all I know it could be
a safety deposit box.”
“Oh! That could be. I’d love it to be a safety deposit box.” Terry drummed her
fingers on the table. “It’s probably too many numbers for a bowling alley or a skating rink but
not an airport.”
“Well, it doesn’t mean the numbers would start at one. They could start at 100 or 200.
Any number really.” I flipped it over, looking for name. “The letter is puzzling. What’s the
significance?”
Terry opened the shrimp fried rice and scooped some on a plate, then snatched a Crab
Rangoon. She slid the bag over to me. “I’m going to eat while we discuss the key.”
“Good idea.” I dished some General Tso onto my plate, and opened a packet of cayenne
pepper. “You know, as much as I want it to be a safety deposit key, it’s unlikely. Identification
would be required to open it.”
“True and don’t most keys from bowling alley lockers have those plastic caps on
them.” Terry picked up a fortune cookie. “This key looks fairly new, so it hasn’t had a lot of
use.”
“Yeah! So, we should probably eliminate skating rinks and bowling alleys.” I dug in the
bag and pulled out a Crab Rangoon and a fortune cookie. “So, that leaves bus, train or airport.
What about a post office box?”
“Hmm, that could be. All you need is a key, no identification required.” Terry opened her
fortune cookie. “Listen to this.” She held the fortune up to read. “Life is limitless with the right
key.”
“Okay, another coincidence.” I shook my head. “I’m not letting a fortune cookie
determine my life choices.”
“Go ahead open yours.”
“Fine.” I cracked it open and pulled out the fortune then read it. “Your wife is crazy. You
should be careful.”
“No, it doesn’t say that.” She grabbed it from me and read it aloud.” Any key is worth
trying. Opportunity could be knocking.” Terry put her hands on her hips and said, “See! What do
you say now, smarty pants?”
“I want a second opinion.” I reached in the bag and found another fortune cookie.
Terry grabbed it out of my hand.
“I can’t trust you.” She held it up to her eyes. “You only get a few chances in life, don’t
pass them by.” She smiled. “You can’t ignore these messages. We have to try to figure
this out.”
“I still think it’s going to be a waste of time, but I’ll give you a few days.”
Terry giggled and clapped her hands. “Yeah! Come on. Let’s go to the airport.”
“So, you’re convinced we’ll find the locker there?” I stood up. “Don’t get your hopes up,
it could be in schools, amusement parks or any public place.”
“It’s the airport.” Terry picked up her jacket. “I’ll bet you.”
“Bet me?” I took out my keys. “Why? You never pay up.” I laughed. “You owe me
thousands from all the bets we’ve made.”.
“Come on! Just a nickel. That shouldn’t break you.”
“Ok, fine, but if you lose, I want my nickel.”
As we made our way to the airport, I pointed out all the places that could have lockers.
There were a couple prime locations to find lockers at the airport like the baggage area, and main
terminal. We weren’t allowed on the concourse, because we didn’t have tickets, so it seemed an
unlikely location. The numbering system didn’t match our key, plus the airport lockers were
expensive.
After having no luck finding the right locker, we left the airport. Terry had lost the
perkiness in her stride.
“Hey, you owe me a nickel.” I held out my hand. “I’m not going anywhere until I get my
money.”
“I don’t have any change.” She winked. “I’ll pay you later.”
“Yeah, no.”
Terry took out her wallet. And handed me a dollar bill. “Now, you owe me ninety-five
cents.”
I waved the dollar bill at her. “I’ll just consider it payment of a previous debt.”
“You’re such a jerk.” As we walked to the car, Terry asked, ”Where are we going next?”
We passed a storage place, hotel, bus station and the post office. “Let’s check those out,
after we get some lunch.”
“You pay, because you owe me ninety-five cents.”
“Of course, honey.”
We pulled into Panera’s and ordered two sandwiches, two lemonades and a pumpkin
muffie. The bill was twenty-eight dollars. For lunch! “Well, I assume my ninety-five cents
debt is paid?”
“Lunch comes out of a different pot of money. So, no.” She pointed down the street.
“Let’s go looking for more lockers.”
We stopped at three more places on the way home but found nothing. I was ready to call
it quits but Terry said. “One more, please.”
We pulled into the post office parking lot and I handed the key to Terry.
