Chapter 1
“The Price Of the Key”
I watch the waves as they kiss the beach. They roll in and wash back out into the ocean. It’s calming. It always has been calming for me.
My hair rustles in the wind hitting my face. I brush my mane of brown hair away. I sigh.
It’s almost time. My alarm on my phone goes off. I get up from the sand and walk towards my beach house.
A month has passed since our last meeting. We haven’t spoken much since. Only to plan this meeting today.
In my room, I open my volume of the book. A golden dust spirals out from it and the book glows. I smile.
“Okay, Disney Orlando Florida,” I pronounce each word carefully.
The dust swirls around me and I’m scooped into the book. I watch as pages fly by my until finally I’m standing at the entrance of Disney.
“We’re not going in,” a familiar voice says behind me.
I shrug. “It’s been a long time.”
“Yeah, I was beginning to worry that you were bailing on me,” he says.
I turn to see my long time boyfriend standing there, his hands in his pockets. His auburn hair cropped shorter than the last time I saw him. His hazel eyes are filled with worry.
“Hey Max,” I smile with tear filled eyes.
He smiles slow and sweet. “Hey Tessa,” he pulls his hands out of his pockets and holds his arms out.
I run to him and hug him. “This month has been awful,” I cry onto his shoulder.
He nods. “I know. We need to figure something out.”
We stand there for a while. Then an Uber car comes to pick us up. I try to question what he has planned but he reveals nothing. He just smiles holding the door for me. I get in trusting him and his plan for our few precious hours of time.
He takes me to this new sushi restaurant. The meal is already there and waiting with a vase of flowers.
I shake my head. “You’ve done too much,” I say it but I’m smiling at how sweet this all is.
“Just for you,” he whispers to me.
I hold back tears. We eat our sushi rolls with chatter of work. He’s still working for his uncle at the key shop. He’s always loved keys. The mechanics of them. The older the better. He has a whole collection. He even liked calling the book, “the key.”
I never understood why, but I let him. I tell him about working with the life guards and getting my training done so I can teach kids how to surf. He supports my dream of being a surf instructor.
Our conversation quiets down, he just smiles at me.
“What?” I ask him.
“Nothing Tessa, we need to get you back home,” he tells me leaving cash for the bill.
I don’t look as I don’t want to know how much he spent on this date. He has the Uber driver take us back to the entrance of Disney. I stand in the same place just as my timer goes off. You can only stay away from where you’re supposed to be for so long.
Then I wait.
But something’s wrong.
The ground doesn’t start to spiral. There’s no golden dust. I’m still here.
I look to Max panicked. He stares at me. He holds out a hand to me. Then gives me his locket. I never knew what was special about it. Until after he puts it on… the ground starts to swirl and the golden dust appears.
I wave goodbye to Max. He doesn’t wave back this time. I realize we never talked about our next date. My smile fades as I’m back in my room.
“Oh, Max,” I whisper.
I walk out of the house leaving the book behind me. The book. The key. Whatever. The waves beckon me so I take my board and go out on them. I enjoy the last of today’s sunlight on the ocean.
