After Marcus, I married again.
And again.
And again.
At first, I tried to remember every man. Their faces, their voices, their habits. But after the tenth husband, the memories started to mix together.
Some were kind.
Some were liars.
Some were cold.
Some loved me too much.
But all of them disappeared.
And all of them left a key.
Number 3.
Number 4.
Number 5.
Number 6.
I started to notice patterns.
Every man said something strange before disappearing.
Every man looked at me like he knew something I didn't.
Every man asked me if I would wait.
One night, after the tenth key, I put all the keys on the table.
They formed a line.
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10
I stared at them for a long time.
Then I noticed something.
Behind each number, there was a tiny symbol. Very small. Almost invisible.
A circle.
A triangle.
A line.
A cross.
Different symbols on each key.
I felt a cold wave run through my body.
These were not just keys.
This was a code.
A message.
A map.
And suddenly, a terrifying thought came to my mind:
How many keys will there be?
That night, I dreamed of a long corridor with a thousand doors.
And behind the last door…
There was a man standing in the dark.
When I tried to see his face, he said:
"I am the last husband.
And I am the only one who never disappeared."
I woke up shaking.
And for the first time, I understood something:
I was not marrying men.
I was walking toward something.
Something waiting at the end of the thousandth key...