Key

Written by Jacob Ibrag

Removing

the camera around her

neck, she gripped it lightly with her

right hand. This place was her inheritance

and only connection to her mother’s existence. Before

last week, she was just another product of an orphanage. She

thought about the word mother and its literal definition and why

she was gifted this place rather than her biological brother and sister.

Before indulging into anymore thought, she noticed an envelope sitting

underneath a Picasso original. Opening it, she found a large black key, a

photo of a black door and a letter with the words, ‘deliver me or leave.’

She remembered that door from when she was a kid. While all the

other children followed the art guide, she had slipped away

and walked towards the expressionism wing. Staring

at her first Jackson Pollock piece, she pretended

to live in the empty spaces between the

lines that were held together

by an ordinary

brown

frame. That’s

where the door was, next to

the piece she had almost disappeared

into. Standing in front of the black door, she

slipped in the key and turned the handle. Stepping

into the room, the lights had immediately activated

as well as a film that played on the entire wall

in front of her. It was her mother cradling

 a newborn baby, ‘you’re  watching

this, so I guess I must

be asleep.’

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Photography by Paolo Raeli