The Missing Key

I was scrambling to get out the door to head to work. Surprise surprise, I’d lost track of time. What else is new?

In what felt like a whirlwind motion, I threw my jacket on and grabbed my bag. And even though I was in a rush, I took a second to go through it to make sure I had everything, just out of habit.

That’s when I realized… I couldn’t find my house key.

I started to freak out, trying to think of where it could’ve gone. It should’ve been in either my jacket pocket or my purse. And it wasn’t in either of those places.

How could it not be? It wasn’t like me to misplace stuff. I must’ve been really out of it the other day.

I quickly emptied out my bag, thinking it was probably buried at the bottom and I didn’t see it. But it wasn’t there. Then I went about turning things over, almost tearing apart my room in the process. And when I didn’t find it after all that, I felt myself getting more and more frustrated that I wasn’t finding it.

Funny enough, in the midst of panicking, I suddenly found myself thinking about Nana, and what she usually said whenever we lost something: “Call Saint Anthony!”

I could hear her voice in my head:

“Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please come around. I’ve lost something that cannot be found.”

Most of the time when my family and I did this trick, we did it jokingly. But a lot of times, it did actually work.

Sadly, it didn’t seem to be working in this moment, although I knew from experience that sometimes that trick took time to work. I really hated that sometimes, especially in times like this.

Eventually I saw how late it was getting, so I had to admit defeat and just borrow one of the spare keys from the key rack. But that lost key still lingered in the back of my mind.

***

After some time, the realization hit me: I’ve been in here a while.

I wondered, did she forget about me? Weird. That’s not like her.

Then I started hearing a bunch of rustling and things being moved around. I heard her repeatedly saying, “Where is it??” along with a few other choice words thrown in there too.

Then I heard her say something interesting:

“Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please come around. I’ve lost something that cannot be found.”

What did that mean? I had no idea, and still don’t. One of those weird human things, I guess. Humans are always coming up with weird ways of doing things. They’re funny like that.

After a little more shuffling around, I heard what I think was the door closing. And then it got quiet, so I assumed she left.

It’s kind of crazy. I actually can’t remember the last time she lost me. She must’ve been really out of it.

This pants pocket is super soft, though. She definitely picked a comfy pair of pants to lose me in. It’s actually a nice change from the usual jacket pocket. And I don’t have to share this one with the car key and the phone. I have this pocket all to myself. I like it. It’s weird, but I like it.

It’s kind of nice to have a breather from everything, to get away from all the usual bouncing around and whatnot. And it’s nice to have a break from the phone, the car key, and all the stuff in the purse. The phone is always repeatedly going in and out of the pocket, sitting right on top of me, and vibrating a million times a day. And the car key, being twice my size, doesn’t exactly help in saving space.

The purse isn’t much better; it’s very hit or miss. If I end up in the little side pocket, it’s not too bad. I don’t really have to share that spot. But it sucks whenever I end up at the bottom of the purse because I get squashed under everything else, especially the case for the glasses.

The only time I get any real space to myself is when she’s driving. In that case, the car key is out doing its job, and the phone is elsewhere.

So yeah, it’s nice to get a break from all that. Although I do miss her holding me in her hand. I think she’s always afraid I’ll fall out of the pocket or something. I mean, that’s definitely within the realm of possibilities, so it’s nice that she looks out for me as much as she does. And the warmth of her hand always makes me feel all cozy.

I don’t know how long I’ll be here, but I’m sure she’ll find me soon. I could tell by the way she was tearing apart the room that she won’t stop trying to find me. I really appreciate that.

But for now I guess I’ll just enjoy hanging out in this soft pocket. This really isn’t a bad place to be lost.

***

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