A Master Key🔗

One morning my Master knocked on my doors. I found a youth who looked straight into my eyes and said, “I need a place to stay a while.”

“Sure! Come in,” I invited and took him to the sitting room.

He saw the leather couches, carpets, rugs and knick-knacks. He saw the china, the tapestry, and stained glass windows on display.

“Mother, this room isn’t right for me.”

“Let me take you upstairs,” I said, fishing out the keys. “Those rooms are the best in the house.”

I opened the doors of the biggest suite.

“This belongs to my father-in-law when he visits us. You are welcome to use it.”

The mendicant stood at the door and observed with a stillness that belied his years. I peeped over his shoulders anxious that everything was right. Yes it was. The white satin sheets were in place, the lace curtains were just right. The white carpet was spotless, all the linen matched. Everything was white, and everything was right.

“Not this room, mother,” he said.

“Let me show you the next room,” I said, fishing out the right key, “my daughter uses this when she visits us. You can use it now.”

I opened the doors of the next room. It was done in pink, silk, and smelt of rose. There were flowers all around. A lovely inviting room I thought,. I waited. The mendicant had already turned away and was looking at the guest room.

I fumbled for the keys and opened the guest room. Blue was the theme for this room. He asked, “Are there other rooms in this home?”

“Why yes,” I said, flustered now, “I have rooms on the first floor.”

“Let us look at them,” he said with a quietness that froze my heart. No one yet had passed a chance to live in the comfort he had dismissed casually.

I found the bunch of keys to open the doors to the rooms on the first floor.

“This room my for my parents use when they come here,” I said. He stepped into the room. I anxiously checked if the utilitarian furniture was in place. The windows were partially open and a small breeze blew in. He saw the bed and then eyed the shelf with a few things my parents had sentimental value for. He stepped out. “No, mother, not this room.”

"How about the guest rooms?" I asked and opened the doors of each one with my trembling fingers.

I finally opened our modest room and offered it to him.

He stood in silence.

"What about the rooms in your basement?" he inquired softly.

"I haven't opened them in a while. They might be dusty. They are dark, musty, and cold..." I prattled.

"Let us see," he said.

I led him down the stairs to a part of the house that I came to cry.

In there were paintings, handicrafts, and the things I loved to do, had done, but had no place anymore in the life I had built since then. He saw each of them with keen interest. He inquired what medium I had painted them.

"You have a true calling there, ma," he said, pointing at my painting of flowers.

"I have no room for them upstairs," I replied. He said nothing.

"Ah!" was all he said. It was not a sound. It was a bell that shattered the ice in my heart.

"I have the right room for you, Master," I said.

"Let me see it," he said enthusiastically.

"This way, Master," I said and lead him into the garden.

We walk in the sunshine, my Master and I, and past the bushes and flowers that waved their greeting.

I took him into my favorite place, my heaven in all the madness around me.

"What do you do here?"

"I come to experience peace and quiet. I sit still and watch myself."

It was a small, rough cabin. I pushed the door open.

"What! No locks?" asked the Master laughing heartily.

"No one will come here; there is nothing here for them, Master."

"And if they do?"

I stood silent. I knew not the answer. For, no one had ever come into this place. His joyful laughter never stopped.

He entered the room and sat on the mat. He saw a candle and a cup.

“This is the kind of room I live in Ma,” he said.

“Not even a cushion here, Master,” I said choking in tears.

“Truth lives here” said my Master.

“Master! This is not a comfortable room for you. ” I cried.

“There is a simple solution, Ma” he said, laughing as I broke into a smile, “Use the same key for all the rooms.”