The Key

a very short story

Let’s see it, Wait a second, it’s probably in my other pocket, Come on, come on, make it quick, Just wait, it’s bound to be in my coat.

But it wasn’t, the Past couldn’t find the key he had held for so long, the key to the future. Impatient and rash as always, the Present berated the Past, How could you lose it, and what am I going to say to my people, that we don’t have a future, Well, we just don’t have the key, Don’t you get it, are you stupid, without the key how are we going to get there, can you walk through closed doors, No, So, you see, we’re doomed, it’s over, it’s all gone, Then how are you still alive.

The question stopped the Present in his tracks, You’re right, I get it now, there is no future and there never was, it doesn’t exist yet, it is we who become the future, didn’t you notice the lower case, What are you talking about, Nevermind, The important thing is that there will be a future after all, Yes, indeed, what a relief, And it’s even better don’t you think, cause now you no longer have to rely on me to open the door, you can do it on your own.

And that’s when the Present returned to his neurotic questions, It’s all on me, what am I going to do, what if I fail, what if this, what if that, and then soon, accusation, We’re a nobody, our existence is so fleeting no one can even measure it, pfft, the present, we’re nothing, here one moment gone the next, pathetic. The inner inquisition continued, with many new voices like pointed fingers appearing to join the choir of complaints, all of it rising up into a frenzy and leading to a sudden burst, with the Present shouting at the top of his lungs, I can’t do it, I quit. But the Past, who had become distracted by something in the woods, spoke before the scene could reach its climax, There it is, I found it, I found the key, it was under this rock, can you believe it, hahaha, alright, let’s go.