I always thought my life was pretty basic. I woke up, went to school, came home, ate snacks, did homework (well, most of the time), and went to bed. Nothing crazy ever happened. But all of that changed the day I found the weird-looking key behind my grandma’s house.
Grandma likes gardening, so she’s always digging around. But this time, when she asked me to help her pull weeds, I found something sticking out of the dirt. It was a silver key, but not a regular one. The top of it was shaped like an eye, and when I touched it, it felt warm, almost like it was alive.
I didn’t tell Grandma. I didn’t even know why. I just slipped it into my pocket and kept helping. But then that night, when I was getting ready for bed, the key started glowing. Not a normal glow, like pulse and heartbeat. I set it on my desk and backed up because I wasn’t trying to get cursed or anything.
Then the key floated.
Yes. FLOATED.
Before I could even scream, the glow flashed white and shot straight into my chest. Suddenly, I felt like someone had plugged me into an outlet. My whole body buzzed. My leg shook. My arms felt like they were stretching and shrinking at the same time. When it finally stopped, I fell to the floor.
At first, I didn’t feel different. But then I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
I was taller. Not crazy tall, but definitely taller. My skin was glowing as if I had just walked out of a skin care commercial. My hair was shinier and way longer than it had been an hour ago. I looked like one of those “after” pictures on TikTok when someone completely glows up.
The next day at school, everything felt … weird. People stared at me like I was a brand new student. Teachers kept asking if I got a haircut or “did something different.” Even my best friend Maya wouldn’t stop poking my arm like I was some kind of experiment.
At first, I liked the attention. Who wouldn’t? But by lunchtime, things got messy. People who barely talked to me before suddenly tried to sit next to me. Someone asked me to teach them how to “look like that” even though I had no clue how I looked like this in the first place. And the weirdest part? The key-shaped mark was glowing faintly on my wrist.
That night, the glow came back, this time brighter. My room shook. My heartbeat felt like thunder. I realized the transformation wasn’t done. It wasn’t even close. The key wasn’t just changing how I looked; it was changing who I was.
And when the second wave hit, I finally understood the truth.
The key didn’t just unlock something in me.
It unlocked me.
The real version. The stronger one. The braver one. The one I didn’t even know I could be.
And this time, I wasn’t scared of the change.
I was ready for it.
