The key was driving him crazy. It fit perfectly into the middle of the mirror. Who in their right mind made a key out of mirrored glass? And it was the third key they had found. They were all hidden in odd places in the old house and they all fit into the mirror. She just smiled at him and said, “You will figure it out. You always do.” She went back to the potter’s wheel to finish the plate she was working on. This was a small plate and the more she worked it the more she felt that it did not want to be a plate. Maybe it wanted to be a dessert bowl; no a tea bowl! Yes, that was perfect. It was a tea bowl. He was going crazy working with the key that was a mirror and she was fighting a plate that wanted to be a tea bowl. Contradictions seemed the theme of the night.

“Let’s go eat,” he said. “I am in the mood for some Lasagna. Is that new Italian restaurant still open?” “Yes, and that sounds great! I’ll go change,” she said. She went upstairs and held the bannister securely. They were still new to the house and it had narrow and steep stairs. Her hand slid over a rough spot. She looked at it. The light was not good, but it looked like another key. “I found another one,” she said. The restaurant would wait for another night.

The two of them worked the key loose and took it and the other three keys and the mirror to the kitchen table. They laid them all out on the table. The keys were unique – mirrored glass, bone, iron, and amber. The mirror was simple, about 8”x10” and framed by beautifully polished wood. They turned the keys every which way and looked at the mirror from every conceivable angle. Nothing. Nothing made sense except that the keys fit into the mirror. And that did not make sense. Why a key in the middle of the mirror? They went to bed.

A week passed. No new keys were found. The tea bowl was completed and was beautiful. The mystery still sat in their midst. They were actually quite lovely together. The mirror sitting at a pleasing angle with the amber key in its middle. The other keys sitting to the left and the tea bowl on the right. But nothing that they came up with made sense with the mirror and the keys. They obviously went together, but it seemed that there was more.

“I give up,” he said. “I want pizza tonight.” As they headed to the door the most wonderful aroma greeted them. “Pizza?” they said together. They turned around and a prefect olive and mushroom pizza was on the table.

They sat down. “Magic mirror?” she said. “Or keys?” he said. “Or the potter’s wheel we found in the attic?” she said. “Or all of them together?” he said.

The amber key had fallen out of the hole in the middle of the mirror and a wisp of steam smelling faintly of pizza wafted from the hole.