Asterisk Week 47: Sobre Chaves
There’s a key on your keyring you never use. What does it open?
Asterisk Project: Grupo de Escrita Criativa
O prompt da última semana de novembro, escolhido por Amante, foi “There’s a key on your keyring you never use. What does it open?”
Segundo Amante, ele escolheu esse prompt por sempre ter sido fascinado por chaves, o que elas abrem, e para que elas são usadas. Ele disse sempre imaginar baús escondidos em sótãos, portas que permanecem trancadas, e o ocasional porão assombrado!
Se você ficou curioso, confira os textos logo abaixo:
There are several keys on my keyring I never use. As I’ve moved from house to house in the last few years, I’ve been keeping all the keys. I don’t know if I have ever told anyone this treat of mine. All those different keys are passports to pieces of remembrance, to the worlds I’ve invented and to the good times I’ve had.
All those gates and front doors have witnessed great moments. The day I came home from a party in which I overdrunk. The day I came home from my last day in college. The day I left. The day I said goodbye to people who left. The strength I had to build to leave places and neighbors behind.
These keys I hold in my hand are just reminders, I know. What can I say? I’m aware I’m over-attached to my souvenirs.
There are several keys on my keyring I never use. They unlock my past, make me savor every gasp of the present and enlighten me what’s important for the future.
My dad used to keep all of his secrets inside a special drawer in his writing desk. Or, at least, that was what he used to say every time we asked him why we couldn’t open that drawer. My dad was a nice man, a fun guy, who had a big heart and a smile that never faded. He always allowed my brothers and I to play in his study. We used to make a mess playing around with his belongings, using his piles of paper and pens to draw, grabbing his books to build forts and similar edifications. He didn’t mind; actually, he enjoyed having us around when working (or at least trying) while we were living our childish adventures.
The limit was the drawer. As it had a locker, we couldn’t just open it with our bare hands, though I tried numerous times. But without a key it was impossible, and my dad wouldn’t tell where to find it. My curiosity burnt in my chest and I used to make tons of questions about the mysterious drawer. But my dad would only laugh and make jokes about my detective skills.
One night my brothers and I went to the movies with mom and dad decided to stay and finish some work. While we were away, three bad guys broke in and made my dad hostage. They trashed the whole house looking for money and profitable items, and my dad cooperated without thinking twice. At some point, the robbers asked the same question I had made so many times:
- What’s in the drawer?
My dad was scared, but he insisted in keeping his secret and told them that there were nothing valuable in the drawer. One of the men didn’t like his answer.
- I will give you one minute to tell me where is the key. If you don’t, I will shoot you dead.
My dad considered the offer for 2 seconds, then took his keyring out of his pocket. Hidden among his several keys was a small one, and that was the one he gave to the robber. The man thanked him, and then shot him anyways. He was dead before reaching the ground.
The rest of the family, we that survived and arrived to the silent house some hours after, spent infinite days suffering and wondering why. The details of the robbery just became of our knowledge when one of the thieves was caught and happily shared all of what he knew in order to smooth his own sentence. Sooner or later, the other guys were arrested as well. We recovered almost all of our stuff and money. My dad wasn’t among the things that came back home with us.
In the end, the robbers didn’t take anything they found in the drawer with them. As my father predicted, they didn’t find anything valuable there, at least not for them. But they were special things for my dad: his university diploma, my mom’s and his wedding certificate, several drawings that my brothers and I have created during the years, silly awards we got in school fairs and things like that, black & white pictures of his parents… Memories that he treasured.
Losing someone is difficult, but the worst part is learning to live without the loved one. Each one of us in the family forged his and her own tools to survive and go ahead with the pain. In my case, I started to carry the drawer’s key with me. It became part of my keyring, and I’ve never used it again. But having it there makes me remember that it’s fundamental to keep the most important things of our lives close to our heart.
Giedrius
My name is Joshua Von Preterdor but friends call me just „Predator“. I‘m a traveler, and I‘m looking for mysteries by traveling all around the world. If you have heard about some mystery there is a big change that I already solved it. All my trophies which I found are saved in a secret vault under the house and time from the time I always inspect them to make sure nothing is missing. In that cave, there is only 1 box which I don‘t open. It reminds me of my biggest mistake and why I lost my family. In that box is a photo album with pictures of my family, a bloody watch and my children paintings. I still keep this box key on my keyring even after all these years. I tried a few times to drop a key to the water but I just froze and I couldn‘t. This key became the last reminder of my family so I‘ll keep it until the day I die.
My story this week is a little creepy LOL.
My date was asking me simple questions about my life, about my ex-wife, about my kids that live with her, and then she looked up my keyring and said:
- There’s a key on your keyring you never use. What does it open?
- How do you know I never use it?
- Come on, I work with keys developnment, I know when a key has been used, and this one didn’t. So, what’s the secret?
Silence.
I couldn’t tell her the true. The key opens the basement door, that place in my house where my ex-wife’s body’s live and my kids’s souls too. I coudn’t tell her, so I lied.
- She’s a reminder of my ex-wife. We don’t talk anymore, so I keep this key with me as a memory from her. I don’t love her anymore, but is a thing of respect, you know? She don’t wanna keep contact anyways.
- Yes, I do. Nice. Great way to honor her. Sweet.
She took my hand and blink at me.
I guess I’ll have a new key on my keyring.
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