The sign outside the door said simply, keys. As I entered the store I knew this was no ordinary key shop. Everywhere I looked were racks full of keys. They covered the walls from floor to ceiling. Unlike any ordinary key shop, each key here was already finished, completely formed. And they were intricate and ornate. There were shapes and designs I’d never seen before. Many of them didn’t look like keys at all, not in the traditional sense. But there they were.

I walked to the back of the store, placed my hands on the counter and leaned over a bit to see if anyone was there. As I did this, the wall behind the counter lit up. It showed a meter, with a needle swinging gently back and forth between two different colors. The color on the left read negative, while the color on the right read positive.

Then I looked down to see a golden key laying on the counter in front of me. It had to be the most beautiful key I’d ever seen. I was sure it wasn’t there when I arrived. I also knew that it was exactly what I had come for. I picked it up and closed my hand around it.

I looked back to the meter on the wall, the needle still swaying gently back and forth. I felt the key turning somewhere deep inside me. As it did, the needle moved further and further into the positive. With each turn of the key the needle moved, and joy flowed into my heart. When I opened my hand the key was gone.

I awoke in a state of intense happiness, a single tear coursing slowly down my cheek. I had fallen asleep that night with a problem on my mind. Now it had been replaced by a feeling of surety, a knowing that all was well. I fell back to sleep.

A few days later I had an upsetting experience. As I felt the emotions welling up inside of me, the thought of that dream came into my mind. Then I felt the key turning inside of me, just as it had that night. In my minds eye I saw the needle moving back into the positive as feelings of joy filled my heart. Now I wonder, was in just a dream?