Unlock
The chest had nothing but the lock keeping its secret shut away from the Daniel; damn, now he had to find a way to open it, and he didn’t exactly have the patient to turn the whole house upside down for a key. Irritated, Daniel straightened up and dug through one of his many drawers, locating a stray hair pin - how it got in there, he’d never know. He’d seen this in a movie once or twice; and hey, maybe it’d work - besides, he’d lock-picked plenty of times in video games, so at least he had some kind of sporting chance, right? It took Daniel a few minutes of fiddling with the lock before, much to his surprise, it clicked open; the hairpin trick had worked, somehow; he’d think on the logic behind it all later, considering he figured he was just lucky.
But nonetheless, Daniel dropped the hairpin and pulled open the chest; the item inside caused his eyes to widen.
There it was; his coat. The pristine coat from his earlier memory; in absolutely perfect condition, as it had likely been untouched ever since it had been stuffed in the chest. Daniel reached inside, letting his fingers brush against the soft fabric for a moment before he grabbed ahold of it, pulling the grey coat from it’s wooden prison and holding it close to his chest. A warm feeling flooded him, a sense of familiarity; this belonged to him, and somehow, he felt like it was apart of him. Daniel closed his eyes, thinking back to the memory of the stranger tugging off his coat, ripping it away from him; and now, it was his again.
Who had locked it away? His parents? His friends?
While the questions poked and prodded persistently at him, Daniel did his best to brush them aside; it didn’t matter now, did it? He had his coat, and all was well...or was it? He shifted nervously, glancing at the door; with the warm familiarity the coat offered him, it brought a strange sensation, an odd pull. The beach; he needed to go there - the desire to just leave at this very moment was enough to urge Daniel into approaching his bedroom door with the coat in his arms. Determined not to let a single soul stop him, Daniel opened his door and stepped out, realizing his friends were actually still here, huddled in the hallway - they were either sitting and slouching against the wall tiredly, or leaning against the wall.
Written by monochromecheshire on 05 May 2017
