The Golden Key

As the original owner of the golden key I have decided to make it known how it came to be and just how this process works .
The golden key has helped many people over the years and hopefully will continue to do its work for years to come .

Here is how the whole thing started .

Many years ago on the top of a hill trees were cut down and some wild bushes were removed . After a while a young man appeared on this small vacant block of land and put down foundations for a house . Each month the young man returned and did a lilt more work . Bricks arrived and were stacked on the ground and in a short time some walls went up followed by windows and a roof . Then on the top of the hill ,stood the shell of a new brick home . A month passed and nothing else was done .
A month and then another passed , still nobody came near the house .

The old house on the hill had been silent and still for quite some time .
The weeds had overrun the garden and something needed to be done .
The last time I saw anybody around there was when two police officers stopped and did a quick check over around the place .
I was now intrigued .
I initially spoke to a few locals if they knew what had happened to the owner . Apparently the owner builder was an unknown .
Nobody knew him .
I decided to have a look around the half finished dwelling on the hill .
My luck was in , I found an old book and some invoices from the foundry who delivered the original bricks and tiles .
I found his name , address and phone number on some of the documents I found . That day I tried to make contact .
No answer .
I went to the address and found the home had been demolished .
I was now starting assume what might have went wrong with this guy .

So I went to the library and went through local newspapers around the time the work had stopped .

The puzzle was solved as I discovered he had committed a murder and was sentenced to jail for fifteen years .
That was it for me , I was happy enough to have found an answer .

When I awoke the next morning I was surprised to find out the owner had returned and was working away at the top of the hill .
He started cutting grass and clearing up around the property .
I thought he must have been released from prison .
As the days went on the house started to look well .
He was painting the fence and gates around the place and put some doors on the garage .
The suddenly the work stopped again .
I watched with interest for months but no more work had been done .

I was told a story that he had got sick and died .
No one bother to com near the place
So it lay idle again for a long time .

Suddenly out of the blue one day a man arrived the house .
A man I had never seen before .
He parked a car in the drive and walked around the home .

I watched from my window through pair of binoculars and saw the man was carrying a gun . I knew something wasn‘t right .
Who was this stranger ?
I took a few photos of him and that evening was shocked to see his face on the screen .
He was an escaped prisoner .
Probable a friend of the guy who had built the house . He was responsible for six murders . I rang the police right away and that evening as the police swooped on the house on the hill , a gun battle occurred and the escaped prisoner had been shot dead .
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Sure enough after that the house on the hill was famous .
Once the hype and interest disappeared I returned to the house .
Ther front door was left open and I went inside .
There was a number of bills and other letters on the table and after going through them one by one I decided to pay them myself and take up the identity of the owner .

I had the all the locks changed to fit one key and that’s when I knew this house could be of great benefit to many . The idea I had was to pass on the key to someone in need but it would have to be a responsible person .
Some one who could pay the regular bills in the name of the original owner which would never change . In order for the golden key to work each new tenant would have to assume the owners name and live in the house
As if they owned it . No rent was payable , just the payment of electricity , gas
Rates and telephone and other regular expenses that included maintenance carried out . There was an initial fee of one hundred dollars to purchase the golden key which in turn was refunded when the owner of the key sold it to another prospective tenant .

As I lived close by I was able to keep a close watch on things around the house .
To get the system started I visited some homeless refuges and also spoke to people who were sleeping rough . Every one had a different story but the final choice had to be a person of good character .
The first recipient of the golden key was an old man who had lost his job .
Being old it was difficult for him to find another job . His wife had died and his kids moved overseas . He seemed a responsible person so I explained how the golden key worked . The house was now his until he wanted to leave .
It would then be up to him to find a suitable person to continue to tenancy .

After a year the old man had found a job and even another love in his life .
Shortly after they were married the old man moved out of the house .

The next owner of the golden key was a family man .
He had also lost his job and came to the city looking for work . He and his family had been sleeping rough for a while .
The house now took on a different kind of appearance .
For the first time in years the sound of laughter was heard from the house . Small children played in the garden and happy days had arrived for this man and his family .
He kept the house well maintained . The lawn was manicured and he even established some garden beds . Good fortune was with the golden key .
The man had a found a great job and after a year with the company was offered a managerial role in the company .
The only thing was he and his family had top move to another state .
So another owner of the golden key was found .

The next occupant was a single man who had a problem with alcohol .
For the first time I was concerned about what would become of the golden key system . I had no need to worry because the man did as he had been told .
Bills were being paid and somehow he had even been able to stay off the drink .
How happy I was to see this man rebuild his life during the time he had lived under the roof of the house on the top of the hill .
Sometimes all people need is a break to get on top of things ,
Over the years there have been many people who have come and gone through the front door .
The golden key is still in operation and will continue to do so as long as the owners do the right thing .

The End

By Paul McCann