Lucerne's key

The end of June smelled of freshly cut grass, stifling summer heat, and the distant voices of children from the baseball field. For Rosa, these summer holidays threatened to be as long and empty as all the ones before. She had already reread every book and comic on the massive shelf hanging over her bed, binge-watched every series, and memorized every crack in the badly chipped ceiling. Her only salvation from the endless boredom was the weekly sleepovers at her friends' houses. Packing a small backpack for her night at Sarah’s, Rosa felt a quiet thrill. Those evenings with her closest friends brought her an extraordinary sense of fulfillment and joy, and tonight promised to be just as wonderful. Sarah Knight’s house smelled of old wood and the apricot pies her mother baked. It was quite late, though a lingering summer glow still held back the full dark. The five girls had settled in one room. At first, it was all as usual. They ate popcorn, chips, and other snacks, watching a romantic comedy on the big screen, quoting lines and ruthlessly critiquing every scene, before moving on to discuss the most intriguing school gossip, which had long since gone stale and gathered dust. When the clock struck eleven and true darkness finally fell outside, the room acquired its own special, nocturnal atmosphere. Jessica, ever the bubbly and talkative one, sprawled on a small orange pouf that somehow perfectly matched the rest of the furniture and wallpaper, and suggested they tell scary stories. “Oh, please don’t,” Chloe pleaded, wrinkling her nose and pulling her blanket tighter. “I won’t sleep properly for a week.” “Scaredy-cat!” Jessica snorted. “Fine then, how about some urban legends about our sleepy Merico? Or do you think nothing interesting ever happens here?” Leaning against the striped sofa, Rosa listened to her friends with a faint smile. She never took these stories seriously, approaching them with a dose of skepticism, but she didn’t argue. She was only half-listening, catching just the gist. Jessica told a tall tale about the ghost of a little girl who supposedly appeared occasionally on the old, half-collapsed bridge over the dried-up Leigh Creek, searching for her long-lost doll with living eyes. Sarah recalled a story about the abandoned factory on the outskirts, where a strange sound could be heard at night, like someone tapping out a tune with a hammer on metal. To Rosa, it all felt very dull and cliché. The mysterious mood began to dissipate. Then little Emily — who was, in fact, only a year younger than the rest at fourteen, but whom everyone still called “little” — spoke up softly. “I know a story. About a magician. And a key.” She spoke so quietly her friends had to lean in to hear, but when they grasped her words, a few of them smiled indulgently. “Well, go on, tell us,” Sarah encouraged the reticent girl. “This was a long time ago, about a hundred years,” Emily began. “A magician lived in our town. His name was Lucerne. He wasn’t evil or good… He was just strange. He studied doors.” Rosa couldn’t suppress a snort. “Studied doors? What a boring magician he must have been.” “Not just any doors,” the storyteller quickly amended, seeing Rosa’s reaction. “He studied the space between worlds. Lucerne believed any door could become a portal if you knew how to open it properly. And he created a key that could open anything. Not just a lock, but… the very essence of the door itself. It could lead him to the next room, to another country. Or to another time. Or even… to another world.” The girls fell silent. The ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway became audible. The smile slowly faded from Rosa’s face. Emily’s story… it was different from the others. There was something elusive about it… something that made it feel less like a fiction and more like a half-forgotten truth. “And then what?” Chloe broke the silence in a whisper. “What did he do with the key? Did he travel?” “They say he did,” Emily nodded and continued. “He visited many places and saw many things. Until one day… he made a mistake. That day, he was in his house on Aspen Street, in the old district. He meant to go to his library, but out of distraction, he opened the wrong door. The one that was never to be opened.” “What door?” Rosa couldn’t contain herself. “The door to the world of shadows. Or, as some call it, the world of alien dreams. And creatures came through. Some were just clots of mist with shining eyes, others were shadows cast by no object. They seeped into our world and scattered all over town.” “And Lucerne couldn’t drive them back?” Sarah asked. “He tried. But many stayed here. They say he spent years trying to find them all and send them back, but he couldn’t find every one. And then… he just disappeared. Along with his key.” “And these creatures… are they still here?” asked Jessica, her voice tinged with uncertainty and fear. “Well…” Emily nodded again. “Sometimes people see things out of the corner of their eye. A small detail that doesn’t fit. A shadow moving the wrong way, a flicker of light where none should be… And these creatures aren’t evil… they just are. They live in Merico. They hide from us and live their own lives. And the key… it was never found. They say it’s still in Lucerne’s house. Waiting for a new owner.” Emily fell silent, and a hush descended. Each girl was lost in her own thoughts. The story was beautiful and… somewhat sad. “Well, it’s just a fairy tale, that’s all,” Jessica said with an uncertain smile. “That old house? No one’s lived there for ages. It’s about to fall apart any day now!” “Maybe it is a fairy tale,” Emily said quietly. “But my grandmother said that when her father was a little boy, he saw one of those creatures. It looked like a boy sitting on their fence… except it was woven from spiderwebs. And when their eyes met, it turned into leaves and blew away on the wind.” The conversation petered out. The girls started yawning and began unrolling their sleeping bags, settling into the evening routine. But Rosa couldn’t shake the thoughts the story had planted. Standing by the large window, she looked out at their small, unassuming town. The streets were empty now, the only movement the quivering light from the streetlamps. “Lucerne… The Key… The Creatures…” Rosa found herself wanting to believe this legend. Not all of it, of course… And the creatures… She didn’t feel fear towards them. Rather, it was curiosity. What were they like? How did they live? What did they dream about? Did they miss their world? She tried to picture Lucerne, but for some reason, her mind didn’t conjure an old man in a cloak and pointy hat, but a young man, distracted, wearing glasses, a bit of an oddball… “Rosa, you asleep yet?” Sarah’s question interrupted her reverie. Getting no answer, she continued, “Still thinking about that story? Emily’s always coming up with stuff like that. She has a very vivid imagination.” Rosa still didn’t answer. Her imagination was already painting a picture of that very house on Aspen Street, overgrown with wild shrubs, mysterious, and full of magic.