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Tuesday 9 July 2013

Creative Challenge #259: The Key

The Key


Funny thing about that key. It just seemed to follow Gina, but let us start at the beginning. Actually somewhere after the beginning.

It began with Gina when she had to hide, leave her town and go away, flee to a place where no-one knew you. She had enough from newspaper men banging at the door, the telephone ringing day and night. Victor, her husband, died in prison after taking his own life, accused of the murder of 10 women. She had married a psycho, a lady-killer and did not even know.

Gina moved away, she just took a pin closed her eyes and stuck it in a map. Her new home would be Hobbing, a village with 500 souls, tucked away at the foot of a range of hills with a stream flowing through it.

The law was convinced that she had nothing to do with the crimes of her late husband and they gave support with a new identity and organisation of somewhere to live. A small cottage was found in Hobbing, and she agreed even without inspecting the cottage before moving. She just wanted to escape and hide away where no-one knew her.

She had been living in the village for two months and had got used to the quiet rural life where the only noises were from the cows and pigs in the neighbouring farm, and agricultural machinery harvesting the fields. Life was almost too boring for her, she knew no-one. There was only one shop in the village and this was her only contact to civilisation.

Mrs. Smith, the owner of the shop, was one of those ladies that was friendly on the surface. Gina visited the shop every morning for groceries and she saw some leaflets laying on the counter advertising the annual middle ages market. She picked up one of the leaflets for a closer look.

“Interested dear?” asked Mrs. Smith.

“Yes” Gina thinking at last to do something different.

“The market takes place every year, a sort of pagent really. All the stall holders dress in the clothes of the Middle Ages, there are conjurers, magicians, fire eaters, as well as some interesting items to buy. Even the village people take part in the fun with their clothing.”

Gina decided to visit the market. It would get her out a bit and surely no-one would recognise her now after such a long time.

The market day arrived and Gina visited the village main street. It was lined with small stalls, selling everything from candlesticks, through old chests and jewel boxes to a selection of old keys.

“Strange” though Gina, when she stopped at a stall with the various old keys, taking one particularly large key in her hand.

“Interested lady?” said a rather stout woman dressed in a long skirt and blouse.

“That is an unusual key, so large. I cannot imagine how the lock is to fit the key” said Gina.

“Just two pounds, said the sales lady. It would look nice hanging by the door on a nail. Make an impression on everyone that visits.”

“No, I don’t think so” said Gina and she left the stall. It was quite an impressive key, but as Gina had no visitors, she had no-one to impress and she had a funny feeling about the key, it felt so warm in her hand.

She walked along the street and turned the corner when an old thin man ran into her. He was dressed in many colours, and wearing a hat with seven peaks, each peak with a bell. He reminded Gina of a court jester from the olden days and then she saw he was blind.

“Your forgot your key lady” he said, waving the big key in front of her that she had seen on the stall.

“That is not my key” answered Gina. “I did not buy the key.”

“Don’t have to buy it lady, all free for you. It’s yours” and he put the key into her shopping bag, the end poking out as it was so long. He turned and more or less disappeared into a doorway.

“Just a moment” Gina called, but he was gone,

She looked at the key again, it was the same one she saw on the stall, it even seemed to be slightly glowing, but it was a hot day, the key was metal, so she put the thought out of her head She really did not want a fuss, and she returned to her cottage, but with a strange feeling: A court jester that appears and disappears and an oversized key that she really did not want.

That evening Gina had a troubled sleep. She dreamt of a long corridor with so many doors and was being led by a man dressed in a cap with bells, the court jester. There was something familiar about this court jester. He seemed to have grown since she saw him in the market, he even reminded her a little of Victor, no impossible. She was carrying the key she did not want and the jester told her to try the doors to see if it would fit. She could hear the sound of thunder in the distance and through the key holes of the doors she could see light flashing.

At the end of the corridor she suddenly saw a door with a large keyhole and she knew this was it.

“Yes, this is the one, put it in the door and turn and you will have your reward” said the jester, who now resembled Victor completely..

“No” said Gina

but the jester Victor  locked her wrist in his hand and made her push the key in the lock and turn the key. The door opened and she was pushed in.

It was a mystery in the village of Hobbing. The lady that moved into the cottage at the end of the Lane had just disappeared. Milk bottles piled up in front of the door, the curtains were always closed at the windows and Mrs. Smith noticed that the daily visits of the lady living in the cottage to her shop ceased.

Eventually Gina just appeared on a list of missing people somewhere in the archives of the police headquarters, together with a large key, covered in blood that had been found by the cellar door in the cottage. 

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5 comments:

  1. Poor Gina....had I known she needed a place to stay...she could have come HERE! LOL

    I will never look at my keys in the same way, now....enjoyable read, Pat

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  2. that's a creepy and intriguing story...something you do very well I must say :)

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  3. Some keys are deadly or lead to death.

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  4. Ooooh, creepy!!! I'm now imagining all sorts of scenarios as to what happened to Gina!!!

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