“Because it’s been sitting in a closet for years. Michael bought it to make me happy, not to stay hidden.”
Daniel pointed to the winding handle.
“Why would you give it away?”
“Can I?”
His mother nodded.
“Please.”
He wound it slowly.
The little couple began turning beneath the glass.
Then the music started.
I froze.
“Can I?”
I’d heard that melody thousands of times.
I knew every note.
“You Are My Sunshine.”
My hands flew to my mouth.
For a moment, I wasn’t sitting in Carol’s living room.
I was a little girl again, curled beneath my blanket while my mother sat on the edge of my bed.
I knew every note.
I remembered her brushing my hair away from my forehead.
I remembered asking for one more song.
And I remembered her laughing before beginning again.
“Alma?” Daniel whispered.
I couldn’t answer.
Carol was crying too.
I couldn’t answer.
