In a quiet town nestled between two hills, there was an old antique shop that had stood for over a century. No one knew who had built it, or where the owner came from. The sign above the door read "Elias' Curiosities," and though the windows were always fogged with dust, the shop never seemed to close. People whispered about the items inside—objects that had been touched by something beyond human understanding. One rainy afternoon, a young woman named Lila wandered into the shop. She had been searching for a gift for her grandmother, but what she found instead was a small, unmarked box on a shelf near the back. It was wrapped in faded blue paper, tied with a frayed red ribbon. Something about it called to her, as if it had been waiting for someone to find it. The shopkeeper, a gaunt man with eyes like polished obsidian, watched her without speaking. He didn’t offer help, nor did he seem surprised when she picked up the box. Lila paid without question and left with the package tucked under her arm. Back at home, she carefully unwrapped the box. Inside lay a silver locket, its surface etched with intricate patterns that seemed to shift when she moved it in the light. A tiny key was attached to a chain, and beneath the locket was a note written in elegant cursive: *“When the moon is full, return to the place where time forgets.”* Lila didn’t think much of it at first. She placed the locket on her nightstand, and the key beside it. But that night, she dreamt of a forgotten garden, where the trees grew upside down and the air hummed with voices she couldn’t understand. When she woke, the locket was cold to the touch, and the key had moved slightly, as if it had been turned in an invisible lock. Over the next few days, strange things began to happen. Her reflection in the mirror sometimes moved when she wasn’t looking. The locket would vibrate faintly in her pocket, even when she wasn’t holding it. And each night, she felt a pull toward the garden in her dreams, though she couldn’t remember how she got there. On the night of the full moon, Lila followed the dream. She walked through the streets of the town, past houses that no longer existed in her memory. The air was thick with mist, and the stars blinked like distant eyes. When she reached the edge of the woods, the locket warmed in her hand, and the key fit perfectly into a rusted door hidden behind a tangle of ivy. Inside, the garden was real. Trees bent at impossible angles, their leaves shimmering with a soft, otherworldly glow. At the center stood a fountain, its water flowing upward instead of down. The locket opened in her hands, revealing a tiny portrait of a woman with Lila’s face. She stepped closer, and the woman in the locket smiled. Then, the world around her shifted. The garden dissolved, and she found herself standing in the shop again, the locket now empty. The shopkeeper was gone, and the shelves were bare. The only thing left was the key, still warm in her palm. Lila returned home, but something had changed. The townspeople no longer recognized her. Her apartment was different, as if it had been rearranged by unseen hands. The mirror showed a stranger, and every time she tried to speak, no sound came out. She wandered back to the shop, but it was gone. In its place was a field of wildflowers, swaying in a wind that hadn’t blown for years. The key slipped from her fingers and fell into the earth, disappearing into the soil. And somewhere, in the quiet corners of the world, the locket waited for the next person to find it.