All Chapters of Twelve Years Waiting for a House Key: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

"What are you standing there for?"My older brother, Samuel Stroud, waved a hand in front of my face. "Put the key somewhere safe. We're leaving first thing tomorrow morning. If you lose it, you won't be able to get back into the house."My younger sister, Isabelle Stroud, came out of her room carrying an armful of dresses. "Mom, should I take this blue one? Will it make me look darker in photos?"Mom walked over and took the dress from her. "No. Blue looks best on you. Take the white one too. It'll look great in pictures by the beach.""But it'll get dirty easily.""Then I'll wash it for you," Mom said. "What's there to worry about?"She said it so naturally, as though washing her daughter's dirty clothes was simply what a mother was supposed to do. I looked down at the key in my hand, and suddenly I was reminded of something that had happened years ago. I'd gotten dirt on the sleeve of my school uniform once. I was afraid Grandma would be too tired to wash it, so I kn

A moment ago, there had been a key in my hand—something I'd waited 12 years to have. But I was beginning to understand that some doors would forever remain closed, no matter whether I had the key to unlock them. When I came out of the shower, Mom wanted me to sleep in Isabelle's room. But Isabelle was sitting on her bed without saying a word. Mom looked at her for a moment before placing the thin blanket she'd brought for me on the couch. "Don't turn the air conditioning down too low tonight," Mom said. "You'll catch a cold. We're leaving early tomorrow, so we won't wake you. Get some extra sleep."I nodded. Then she seemed to remember something and pointed toward the coffee table. "Keep the house key somewhere safe. While we're away, help us collect any packages that arrive. And water the plants on the balcony every couple of days. Make sure you take out the trash regularly too. It'll start to smell in this weather."Dad glanced at me. "If the building manager comes by

By the time the train arrived, it was already dark out. I slung my old canvas bag over my shoulder and followed the crowd toward the exit. The station was noisy, filled with overlapping announcements, the rattle of suitcase wheels, and people calling out to those who had come to pick them up. And yet, I spotted Grandma and Grandpa the moment I came through the doors. Grandpa was standing at the edge of the crowd, dabbing the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief as he craned his neck toward the exit, trying to see over the people in front of him.Grandma stood beside him. She was short, and the people passing by blocked half of her from view. She was clutching a light jacket in her hands. Even though it was summer, she was always worried that I might get cold. "Grandma, Grandpa," I called out as soon as I stepped outside. Grandma froze for a moment, then her eyes immediately turned red. "Nat!"She hurried toward me, but after a few steps, she slowed down because o

I didn't respond, but Mom already knew the answer anyway. "Izzie's young, and she doesn't always think before she speaks," she explained. "And Sam didn't mean it that way.""I didn't even say anything," Isabelle muttered, finally looking up at us, clearly displeased.The yard fell silent. Mom turned to her. "Izzie.""I only said her stuff looked tacky. I wasn't wrong," Isabelle said with a pout. "And my room's already small, so I don't want to share it with someone else. What's wrong with that?"She looked at me, sounding almost indignant. "Nat, you've always lived with Grandma and Grandpa, haven't you? Of course it's going to take some getting used to it when you suddenly come back."Samuel frowned too. "Exactly," he agreed. "It was just one trip. Don't you think you're overreacting? We weren't trying to leave you out on purpose. And besides, Mom and Dad gave you a key, didn't they? So why did you just leave?"I glanced at him. So to them, a key was enough to make up for

But now that I was finally in the group chat, I felt almost nothing. "Thank you," I simply replied. Then I opened the group settings and turned on "Mute Notifications".As I was about to put my phone away, Mom happened to look at me. She probably had no idea what I'd just done and simply tried her best to smile at me. But somehow, her smile looked even more painful than her tears.After they left, the yard fell quiet again. "They bought way too much," Grandma muttered to herself, gathering the fruit from the table and carrying it inside. "It'll all go bad before we can finish it."Grandpa sat by the door, smoking his pipe."Nat," he suddenly said, setting his pipe aside after a couple of puffs."Yeah?""If you're hurting, you can talk to us about it."I sat down beside him."Grandpa, it doesn't hurt anymore."He didn't believe me. "Really?"I nodded. "Yes."Grandma came back outside and heard me. She reached over and gently patted my head. "That's good," she said.