I'd never seen it before. I think I would remember it if I had. But there it was, an old rusty key, lying on my desk.

"I wish I knew what lock it's for..." I mumbled as I traced the surprisingly intricate engraving. "It's beautiful."

On a whim, I decided to go visit the antique shop next door, thinking maybe they'd know.

‐--‐---------------------

"That's something quite peculiar you've got there.", the old man at the antique shop said, as he pored over it with his jeweler's loupe. "It's way too intricate to fit into any lock. I think this might be a Wishmaker's Key."

"A what?"

"A Wishmaker's Key. Basically, it's a good luck charm, of sorts. Supposedly, when you touch it and make a wish, it opens up an opportunity for you to get what you want. All superstition, of course, but people did believe in it back then."

"So it's like a genie in a bottle?"

"Oh, no, not at all. That's what I like about this particular superstition. It doesn't just grant your wish outright. All it does is give you an opportunity. I think it's a beautiful reminder of the value of hard work."

‐----------------------

Maybe it was just a coincidence. A hundred-year-old good luck charm. Nothing more. Maybe someone just left it there on accident and forgot about it.

But I kept thinking... what if it wasn't? How could I test it out? What should I wish for?

"I wish I had a million bucks.", I muttered to the key, thinking I might as well go with the obvious.

A few minutes later, my boss called. I'd been promoted.

Sure, I wouldn't be a millionaire right away, but the promotion did come with a significant pay increase. It worked, sort of. I decided to keep the key on me from then on. It couldn't hurt to have a good luck charm around, even if it's just superstition. Besides, it's pretty.

A whimsical thought struck me as I walked down the street. What if I wished for something physically impossible?

"I wish I had a pet dragon.", I whispered under my breath, fingering the key in my pocket.

As I thought to myself that there was no way the key could fulfill this wish, I noticed I didn't recognize the streets around me. I'd gotten lost. And wouldn't you know it, there was a pet store right across the street.

Sure enough, there were no fire-breathing mythical creatures in sight. I figured as much. But there was this rather handsome lizard chilling in a tank, somewhere in the back of the store. I checked the name tag that was stuck on the side of the tank.

"Name: Larry Species: Bearded dragon"

Well, what do you know. It actually worked.

"How was I supposed to know he isn't waterproof?"

You can do things that are physically impossible, like walking through walls and lighting fires underwater. The problem is, you can't do possible things, only impossible ones.