I grew up in a small town in New Jersey in the 1950s. In the Summer kids were allowed to stay out after dark until their mother called them home. No one ever locked their doors at night or their cars.

One day my mother showed me a key. She said, ” Anne Marie come here. I want to show you something, I walked over to her and she started whispering in my ear. “Anne Marie this is just between you and me. It’s going to be our little secret. I want you to take this key and keep it safe with you all the time even when you are going to sleep.”

She put the key in my hand. I looked it over. It was almost as big as the palm of my hand. It was scary looking. At the top of the key, there was a skull carved into it. “I don’t like it, mom. Why is there a skeleton face on it?”

“Oh, it’s called a skeleton key. And it‘s been made to fit every keyhole in our house. If you ever have to get out quickly or you need to lock all the doors even the bedroom and the bathroom doors you can do it with this skeleton key. Keep it safe. It may save your life someday.”

“OK Mom, I will I’ll keep it with me all the time.” My mother gave me the key to keep me safe. But I always felt I was safe until she gave me that key. And then I was afraid all the time. I didn’t know what was going to hurt me but I knew something was going to some time, somehow. I wish my mother never gave me that awful Skeleton key.

I felt like I had to be on high alert every day, all day especially when I was home alone. Because the key was meant to keep me safe in my house, in my room, or even in the bathroom. Now when I had to take a bath, I tried to get in and out in ten minutes so whatever was trying to hurt me wouldn’t do it while I was getting a bath, going to the bathroom, or brushing my teeth. I locked the door. And I checked and rechecked it to make sure it was locked.

I was always relieved when I was allowed to go outside and play since I thought my life was only in jeopardy when I was at home. So when I got home from school I would rush into my bedroom and change into my play clothes and run outside as quickly as I could. I wouldn’t come back in until my mother call me in for dinner. When school was in session. I started getting nervous about the school day is over. When I arrived home I would rush out as soon as I could and go and visit some of my friends.

One night at dinner my father said to me, “so Anne Marie what have you been up to, it seems like you are never home. How is school going? How are you doing in Math?”

“School is fine, daddy. I got a B on my last math test. And after school, I visit Betsy or Terri and sometimes I go to the library to get some new books to read. I just like being outside, I guess. Probably because I have to sit in a stuffy classroom all day.

One night I was lying in bed and I was just about to fall asleep when I heard my father calling out,” everybody go outside, there is a problem with the heater and everybody must go outside until I know it’s safe to come back in. I called the fire department.”

I was still sleepy when I heard my father yelling for everyone to get out of the house. I thought something terrible was going to happen and I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. I leaned over and grabbed the skeleton key and ran outside. Everyone in my family was outside in their pajamas.

My father said, “Anne Marie what took you so long?”

“I had to grab the skeleton key before I came outside. Mom told me to take it with me where ever. She told me to lock the doors in the house when I’m home alone or in the bathroom. So, I had to lock all the doors before I came out here so nothing bad would happen while we were all outside.”

My father looked over at my mother and said, “Marion, what in the world were you thinking of when you gave her that skeleton key? Didn’t you notice how nervous and upset Anne Marie has been recent?”

“Well, I guess she has been a little out of sorts recently but I didn’t put two and two together. I just thought she was being her normal moody self. I gave her the key because I thought it would give her a sense of responsibility. And she would realize that I trusted her with something important like our safety. Maybe I went a little overboard with the whole skeleton key thing. I certainly didn’t realize that she would think something bad would happen to her if everything wasn’t locked up. “

My mother looked over at me and said,”Anne Marie, I’m really sorry if you were worried all the time. I just wanted you to realize how much I trusted you and that you were being a responsible young girl. And how much I loved you and trusted you.”

Just at that moment the biggest fireman came over to us and said, “well, everything is fine now. We were able to put the fire out in the basement before any real damage was done. I suggest you call the people that maintain your heater to come over as soon as possible to see what the problem is. And I also wanted to mention that it was a very good idea to close all the doors in the house but it is not necessary to lock the doors. ” You can all go in now and I hope the rest of the evening is uneventful.”

We all said, “Thank you.” at the same time and the fireman smiled at us and said, “good night to you all. Keep safe.”

My mother and father came over and hugged me. And then my mother said, “Anne Marie why don’t you just hang up the Skeleton Key on the hook in the kitchen and when you want to lock the door like when you’re taking a bath you can do it then. But I want you to know that you will always be safe in our house. And that daddy and I love you and will always keep you safe. I’m sorry if you were scared. That was never my intention.”

And then I hugged my parents back and I felt tears rolling down my cheek even though I felt so much better. I guess it was tears of relief or maybe I felt happy again. And we all went into the house and my mother made us all some hot chocolate and that was the first night in months when I fell right to sleep and slept through the night. Oh, I almost forgot right after my mom gave me the hot chocolate she said,” go ahead and put the key on the key hook, and don’t worry about it anymore.”