The Key

Some time back, I turned over dirt for a new garden bed and uncovered a buried key. One of those old fashioned iron ones sometimes referred to as a skeleton key. Got me to wondering who lost it and how long had it lain beneath the surface?

We've lived on this property for over thirty years. To my knowledge,  there's never been a house on that part of the property. Obviously, the key's been in the ground longer than we've lived here. Talking with neighbors who've lived around here all their lives, I learned nothing but cows ever roamed these acres. One neighbor told me a family once lived closer to the highway and there could still be an old well hidden by overgrown brush. The appearance each spring of flowering bulbs seems to substantiate that. Could my found key belong to that long-gone house? But how it ended up such a long distance away continues to mystify me.

Have you ever come across an object and wondered about its past life? I find it's those little unsolved mysteries of life that fuel the stories I write.