Keeper of the Key
I rushed to arm the security system on my way out of the house. Running late, again. I yawned wishing I had time for one more cup of coffee. Pulling the front door shut, I tried to insert the key into the lock. It wouldn’t fit. The key looked old. It was engraved with flowers and vines. I hadn’t ever seen it before.
This key wasn’t on here last night. What if someone’s in the house?
Silently, I walked back inside disabling the alarm. I made my way to the kitchen to grab a knife and froze. Right next to the pantry was a black door, that definitely wasn’t there this morning. I tried to turn the door knob, but it was locked.
“I wonder,” I mumbled out loud. “The mystery key.” It was a perfect fit.
The door swung open to reveal a waterfall surrounded by trees and foliage. It was beautiful and almost ethereal. I looked in the pantry where the black door should lead, but there was nothing. I walked back to the black door puzzled.
“Okay, I must have a really high fever and I’m hallucinating. Yeah, that’s the only logical explanation,” I said, being warmed by the sun from the hallucination.
“No, but that’s the most realistic excuse I’ve heard yet,” a man said from beyond the door. He stepped into view and I took a step back. It had the ears and tail of a horse. He was very, very naked.
“Maybe I’ve been drugged?” I whispered to myself, as panic set in.
“No, all of this is real,” he said, stepping into my kitchen. “Meh, this isn’t as bad as the last one.”
“Last what?” I managed to ask.
“The last Keeper of the Key lived in something called an apartment. No room at all. At least you have space here.”
“Great, I’m talking to my hallucination. Smooth move Daphne.”
“You are the new Keeper of the Key to the source of all magic. I am Vankar, your guide.”
“There’s no such thing as magic or satyrs. I’m going to call the doctor,” I said turning to get my phone.
“You’re just delaying the inevitable. Maintaining the magic balance in the world is in your blood.”
“Sure it is.”
“Do you remember your Aunt Clio?” he asked.
“The weirdo that wouldn’t leave her apartment, because there was a magic gateway… Oh my God!,” I said, panicking. “No, no, no. I’m not going to become Aunt Clio. Forget it.”
“You will, or magic will return to take over the world. You like your technology, yes?”
“Yes,” I answered over crossed arms.
He grabbed a banana off the counter. Vankar took a bite grimaced and laid it back on the counter with the bite he didn’t swallow.
“Chemicals,” he said shaking. “If you don’t regulate the magic, you can kiss your technology and your chemicals good bye.”
“Wait, why can’t my aunt do this job still?” I asked.
Vankar shrugged. “Basilisk caught her off guard.”
I pushed him back through the door, slammed it, and locked it. I grabbed my phone and after a quick search dialed a number.
“Yes, I’m needing to hire someone to wall over a door.”
