Emilka finds a strange key in the hallway. It fits a tiny hidden door no one noticed before, and something magical is waiting on the other side.
Emilka lived in a yellow house with a red roof at the end of a quiet street. She liked running barefoot on the grass and listening to the birds in the trees.
One cloudy afternoon, while Mum was cooking in the kitchen and Dad was reading the newspaper, Emilka noticed something shining on the corridor floor.
She crouched down. It was an old metal key tied with a purple ribbon.
Emilka had never seen it before. She picked it up, and for a moment it felt light as a feather, as if it wanted to bounce right out of her hand.
"Where did you come from?" she whispered.
Was it for the cellar? The attic? Grandmother’s old wardrobe?
Emilka tried the pantry door first. No luck. Then the cupboard door. Still nothing. The key did not fit any of the obvious places.
Just then, Fafik the dog gave a sharp bark and trotted into the living room. He scratched hard at the floor beside the wall, tail wagging like he had found something important.
Emilka looked closer.
There, almost hidden in the skirting board, was a tiny round flap with a little keyhole in the middle. She had walked past that spot a hundred times and never noticed it before.
Her heart began to thump.
Emilka slipped the key into the lock.
It fitted perfectly.
The little flap gave a soft click, and Emilka held her breath as she turned the key. Something moved behind the wall, slow and quiet, like a secret waking up.