'Oh, I don't know what I'm going to do,' she wailed, wringing her hands nervously. 'The door locked behind me, and my neighbor, who keeps a duplicate for me, is out of town. My husband has the key, but he's at an all day conference at a hotel downtown, and I doubt I can reach him. How am I going to get back in?'
The mailman tried to calm the woman, and advised her to call a locksmith. 'I guess that's my only recourse,' she agreed, 'but to tell you the truth, they charge an arm and a leg and I really can't afford an extra expense right now. Things have been tight.'
The mailman commiserated with her, but pointed out that she had no choice. 'Look, I better be on my way,' her said, 'but here's you mail. Who knows? Maybe there'll be some good news inside one of the letters to cheer you up!'
Julia looked through the envelopes. There was one from her brother Jonathan. He had visited the family the previous week and had stayed for a few days. 'I wonder why he's writing so soon?' she thought. As she tore open the letter, a key fell into her palm.
'Dear Julia,' the letter read. 'Last week, when I was staying at your house and you were out shopping, I accidentally locked myself out. I asked you neighbor for your duplicate, but forgot to return it. So I'm enclosing it now.'"
From "Small Miracles" by Yitta Halberstam & Judith Leventhal
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