My head was throbbing and as I attempted to force my eyes to open the smell of musty old linen woke my senses. The hard boards beneath me felt warm, I felt as if sweat were pouring out of my body at a steady pace. Slowly my eyes slit open…it was semi lit but I couldn’t make out anything. Thinking that if I used my arms to push myself to sit up that maybe my eyes might just automatically spring open! As I attempted to push myself up my right hand remained frozen in a fist formation. I continued to push myself up and a sharp pain pierced my hand and radiated up my arm. Needless to say this made my eyes open wide. Bringing the clenched fist toward my face I was forced to sit upright without any problem. Wide eyes stared at my tightly clenched fist and watched as the fingers of my right hand unfolded slowly as if a blooming flower. A dull brass skeleton key had left its reddened impression against my fair skin. This was the key to Grandma’s attic…and I was sitting on the attic floor. Hmmm! How did I get up here, and why was I holding this key? I heard a shuffled sound come from the corner to my left. As I glanced over I saw that a large chest was edging its way towards me. What the?? It had stopped just as it entered the stream of sunlight that had crept through the cracks of the peaked ceiling above me. I looked at the key in my hand…looked at the key hole on the chest, scratched my head and studied the key that was in my hand again. I had thought for sure that this key was the one that opened the attic door, but that key hole in the front of the chest sure looks as if it were a perfect match to this key. As I walked over to the chest the musty smell dissipated while the light became brighter. The chest seemed to glow now…it was just my imagination…oh wait! I thought that I had just seen a sparkling tiny butterfly against the darkened areas of the attic. Maybe there were two; no actually there were hundreds of sparkles flying all over the chest. As I got closer to the trunk I realized that these were not butterflies but tiny fairies. I dreaded to think that this was only but a dream. My hand was guided toward the key hole by some unknown force. The key had fit and as I turned the key to the right to unlock the chest I swore I heard my deceased grandmother whispering to me. "This is your destiny, do not be afraid." The chest opened and its contents spilled out in front of my feet. There were many pictures of various sizes, but only of one individual. Putting the key in my pants pocket I knelt down to collect a few photos. What a pretty young lady from so long ago. As I studied the photos the young lady looked very familiar to me. Was this my grandmother so long ago? Nah! It couldn’t be because I knew that grandma was born 1930, this young lady had to have been born around the Civil War 1860’s. There was something in the chest that had reflected some light making it really sparkle. Naturally I picked it up and as I looked at it I saw my self, it was an old traveling mirror. I don’t know how long I had stood there staring at myself in the mirror then glancing at the photos…we were one in the same.
