Skeleton Keys

                                        Skeleton Keys

       She'd never seen a key so ugly, the gold veneer stripped away by time, letting the dull bronze beneath show. It was larger than most keys she'd seen with a few jagged points on one end and a cross in a large bulbous circle on the other.  It was hung on a long leather cord that was so cracked and worn she was amazed it still held together.

       She'd been wearing the key for the last few hours after her grandmother had draped it over her neck. She'd been surprised by the weight at first and surprised that the burden hadn't faded yet. As the key rested in the palm of her hand, she could feel heat pulse through the old metal. She shook her head and dropped it, startled by her sudden aversion to it.

        She scanned the waiting room again, searching for the family she knew wouldn't be there but still hoped would come. Pulling her cell phone out, she checked the time again, wondering when someone would tell her what was going on and when she could go back to her grandmother’s room. She sighed and reached up to rub at her temple, the long hours of being there wearing at her.

        She jumped as another announcement came through the speaker system and then winced hearing the call for doctors and nurses to meet the ambulance. It'd been the third such call in the last hour and she was horrified by the sheer number of people rushing towards the check in desk. She bit her lip and glanced back at the stack of magazines beside her. She'd read them all the first few hours of being there and nothing new had yet appeared.

        With a heavy sigh, she picked up the key again, wondering what it opened and why her grandmother insisted she take it.