Before the Chair

The year was 1920 and Bradley Leroy Tanner was five years old. It was his birthday; the day he had been waiting for his entire life, or at least as much of his life as he could remember. When he was three and even four he was always too little; too little to do anything (he couldn't remember much before being three). But five-year-olds could do all kinds of stuff; five-year-olds could do everything.

The other great thing about being five was that he got to play with his old old key; the one that his mom kept in the bottom of her jewelry box and only brought out for Bradley on his birthdays. The old key fascinated Bradley because he had been holding it when he was left in a basket on Tanner's porch when he was a baby.