Chapter 21: The Key

The door's transparency drew me on, the proverbial moth circling a flame. Only it was simply me being pulled by the mist lingering inside me for as long as I could remember. No more did it hover without power, now surging its excitement as if it had a life of its own. The key felt lighter and lighter while I drew closer, the silver seeming to meld itself to my hand as though my skin itself were the same material and it would dissolve at any moment.

Once again the mist emerged from me, though this time I didn't falter, stronger for its departure, caldera of emotions vibrating. The mist within gushed forward in a wall of joyful coils and filled in the place where the door should be.