The Key

Picture Prompt (found here): 

She wasn’t even sure how long she’d been searching; always digging through a seemingly endless supply of keys. Some of them didn’t even fit into the lock; others fit and started to turn, but never allowed her to feel the gentle click that signaled the lock’s mechanism had been open. When she started out, she vowed to never give up. She had felt refreshed, ready to take on the task, like the possibilities were endless. And, at that time, she had a pile of keys - she never anticipated it taking this long. She could have never imagined the discharged pile of steel, brass, and nickel growing by the day – and sometimes by the minute. She was certain they could never run out. 

She looked down, picking up the final key and inhaled sharply. Her hand trembled as she picked up the lock, turning it over in her hands, relishing in the feeling of the cold metal against her warm skin.  She rolled her bottom lip into her mouth, noticed she was holding her breath and let it out in a gust of exasperation. She started to slide the key in – slowly, not wanting the moment to be over if it didn’t fit. If this didn’t work, she wasn’t sure what the next step was. She was certain, however, that she wasn’t ready for the trying to be over. Everyone’s heart had a match, right? She believed that, wholeheartedly. But it didn’t make it any easier to turn the key. It had made it past the lock’s entrance without any effort on her part. Now all she had to do was turn it, and wait for the lock to give…or to be met with more resistance.