Glee | Lock and Key | Tina (One Shot)
Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle, and then a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh cycle. Now here's cycle 8!
"LOCK AND KEY"
Tina
It was easy for them to imagine they could tell everything about her from how she looked: dark clothes, blue streaks in her hair… but that wasn’t where her stories were, her… memories. Some of them she liked to wear on her, not all the time, but still more times than not. Whether she wore one or the other didn’t really matter.
She loved her keys. She’d been finding them for years. They were always fun days… she couldn’t explain it, but memorable days would lead to her finding a new key when she was little. It was when she found out where they came from that she started to wear them out to school and other places. As much as they’d meant to her before, they meant more once she knew they came from her Grandmother Chang.
A few years before, she had been at her Grandmee’s house, helping her with some major cleaning. She found a small tin box, and she heard clinking sounds. When she opened it, she found a half dozen old keys. Her eyes lit up, feeling like a treasure hunter with a brand new, unexpected loot. Of course it wasn’t actually hers… yet. Maybe if she asked nicely…
“Hey Grandmee?” she’d gone to her. She was sorting through her bookshelf, putting aside books she wished to part with. She turned to her twelve-year-old granddaughter with a smile.
“Yes, Teeny?” she asked, indicating for her to sit by her side. Tina showed her the box of keys. “Well look at that, you found them,” she beamed.
“Can I keep them?” she asked with hope.
“Of course,” the grandmother nodded. “They’ve always been yours…”
“What do you mean?” Tina frowned, confused.
“Can I tell you a secret?” she leaned in, and Tina nodded, leaning in as well. “They’re Good Day Keys.” Tina’s eyes grew wide. “She’d long been telling her grandmother about them, had called them that herself. She would always just smile…
“They are?” Tina asked, picking up one of the keys out of the box. “How come you have them?” Grandmee didn’t say a word, just looked at her. So she understood. “You?” she smiled, and her grandmother laughed. “But…”
“Grandmee’s got her secrets, too.” Tina smiled. The grandmother picked out another key from the box, looked at it. “I’ve always liked them… for their shape, for their meaning… I thought you might like them too, and I was right.” She put the key back in the box, and Tina did the same, so she closed the box.
“Why’d you leave them like that?”
“My mother would do it for me… leave something for me to find, to… tie in good memories, to capture them. And I did it with your mother, your aunt and uncle…”
“How come Mom’s not the one who…”
“Oh, that’s because she doesn’t know,” Grandmee grinned. “She never found out. That’s why this has to stay secret. There’s something about not knowing…” Tina smiled.
“What’s her good day thing?”
“I think you know,” she nodded. Tina pondered this, then giggled.
“The frogs!” she nodded, thinking of all the figurines, the images…
“That’s the one,” her grandmother confirmed.
“How come you stopped?”
“Well, the older you get, it’s harder to believe in that coincidence. But I held on to these,” she tapped the box. “Just in case.” Tina looked at the box for a moment, then handed it back to her grandmother.
“Maybe you should hold on to it then,” she nodded, making her grandmother smile and hug her.
She’d returned home after that day and hurried to her room to find the box where she kept her keys. She could pick out each one of them and remember exactly the day she’d gotten it, and what had happened that day. It was just as her grandmother had said.
That evening she’d put her jacket away and found a new key in her pocket.
THE END
* IN CONSTRUCTION! *
PREVIOUS DAYS
[Cycle 1] [Cycle 2] [Cycle 3] [Cycle 4] [Cycle 5] [Cycle 6] [Cycle 7]
[Cycle 8]
[148]
Suggestion Drop Off
Title: "Lock and Key"
Pairing: None; Tina
Rating: G
Summary: Tina likes to wear her keys, and it's not just for style.
Spoilers: None really...
"LOCK AND KEY"
Tina
It was easy for them to imagine they could tell everything about her from how she looked: dark clothes, blue streaks in her hair… but that wasn’t where her stories were, her… memories. Some of them she liked to wear on her, not all the time, but still more times than not. Whether she wore one or the other didn’t really matter.
She loved her keys. She’d been finding them for years. They were always fun days… she couldn’t explain it, but memorable days would lead to her finding a new key when she was little. It was when she found out where they came from that she started to wear them out to school and other places. As much as they’d meant to her before, they meant more once she knew they came from her Grandmother Chang.
A few years before, she had been at her Grandmee’s house, helping her with some major cleaning. She found a small tin box, and she heard clinking sounds. When she opened it, she found a half dozen old keys. Her eyes lit up, feeling like a treasure hunter with a brand new, unexpected loot. Of course it wasn’t actually hers… yet. Maybe if she asked nicely…
“Hey Grandmee?” she’d gone to her. She was sorting through her bookshelf, putting aside books she wished to part with. She turned to her twelve-year-old granddaughter with a smile.
“Yes, Teeny?” she asked, indicating for her to sit by her side. Tina showed her the box of keys. “Well look at that, you found them,” she beamed.
“Can I keep them?” she asked with hope.
“Of course,” the grandmother nodded. “They’ve always been yours…”
“What do you mean?” Tina frowned, confused.
“Can I tell you a secret?” she leaned in, and Tina nodded, leaning in as well. “They’re Good Day Keys.” Tina’s eyes grew wide. “She’d long been telling her grandmother about them, had called them that herself. She would always just smile…
“They are?” Tina asked, picking up one of the keys out of the box. “How come you have them?” Grandmee didn’t say a word, just looked at her. So she understood. “You?” she smiled, and her grandmother laughed. “But…”
“Grandmee’s got her secrets, too.” Tina smiled. The grandmother picked out another key from the box, looked at it. “I’ve always liked them… for their shape, for their meaning… I thought you might like them too, and I was right.” She put the key back in the box, and Tina did the same, so she closed the box.
“Why’d you leave them like that?”
“My mother would do it for me… leave something for me to find, to… tie in good memories, to capture them. And I did it with your mother, your aunt and uncle…”
“How come Mom’s not the one who…”
“Oh, that’s because she doesn’t know,” Grandmee grinned. “She never found out. That’s why this has to stay secret. There’s something about not knowing…” Tina smiled.
“What’s her good day thing?”
“I think you know,” she nodded. Tina pondered this, then giggled.
“The frogs!” she nodded, thinking of all the figurines, the images…
“That’s the one,” her grandmother confirmed.
“How come you stopped?”
“Well, the older you get, it’s harder to believe in that coincidence. But I held on to these,” she tapped the box. “Just in case.” Tina looked at the box for a moment, then handed it back to her grandmother.
“Maybe you should hold on to it then,” she nodded, making her grandmother smile and hug her.
She’d returned home after that day and hurried to her room to find the box where she kept her keys. She could pick out each one of them and remember exactly the day she’d gotten it, and what had happened that day. It was just as her grandmother had said.
That evening she’d put her jacket away and found a new key in her pocket.
THE END
* IN CONSTRUCTION! *
PREVIOUS DAYS
[Cycle 1] [Cycle 2] [Cycle 3] [Cycle 4] [Cycle 5] [Cycle 6] [Cycle 7]
[Cycle 8]
[148]
Suggestion Drop Off
Title: "Lock and Key"
Pairing: None; Tina
Rating: G
Summary: Tina likes to wear her keys, and it's not just for style.
Spoilers: None really...