Lost Keys and the Chemistry Teacher's Cards

Lost Keys and the Chemistry Teacher's Cards

I was back in my childhood bedroom, but the layout felt like my current apartment. I was packing a backpack for work, running terribly late, but I couldn't find my keys anywhere. My old high school chemistry teacher was sitting on the edge of the bed, quietly reading a paperback. Every time I asked him if he'd seen my keys, he just pointed at a stack of heavy antique tarot cards on my desk. I flipped the top card over to see if the keys were underneath, but it was just a blank, dark mirror that seemed deeper than the paper should be. Looking into it made my ears ring with a strange hum, and I felt this sudden, quiet dread that I was missing a bus that only came once every few years. Then my phone alarm went off in real life.