The Girl Who Takes Pictures of Locks

Charly took pictures of locks, any lock she saw. She kept them on her smartphone and scrolled through them every night before she went to bed. She called each of them by name and whispered words of strength over each one. She knew where they were, what they held.

And who they protected.

She always finished with the same picture — five battered padlocks on a rusted orphanage gate. These were the oldest, brave locks and true, the ones she knew best. Her heroes. They had held out the horrors. They had saved her life.

And she would never fail them.

This story is based, very loosely, on a dear friend whose pictures of locks have become a particular delight of mine. No even bother trying to sort out why — my delights are often completely inexplicable to anyone who isn’t actually me…