The Music Box

The silver key twinkled in my palm as I spun it around in the sunlight before dropping it. It smashed against my chest with a thump, but I barely took notice of it as I stared up into the cloudless, blue sea that was the sky. The grass surrounding me was beginning to turn an auburn color, signifying the start of change from summer to fall. I sucked in a deep breath and let out a sigh. There would only be a few more weeks until I’d be back in school cramming for tests, staying up all night writing essays, and listening to my teachers lecture about things that wouldn’t even matter after high school.

I mean really. When would I ever use calculus in my life?

There was always that slim chance of becoming a teacher… but let’s think realistically.

Calculus?

Groaning, I lifted myself up and the silver key dangled like a Christmas ornament from my neck on its delicate chain. All my life, I’ve had this key necklace; it had been given to me by my father after my mother passed away from cancer. He told me it was for good luck, but so far nothing ‘good’ has occurred. Everything in my life was completely and totally average. My appearance was nothing new with my brown hair, brown eyes, and pale skin and even my style was plain. One of these days I should probably just run off and change my name to Jane. Plain Jane; it had potential.

I grasped the key in my hand as I walked out of the park and into the bustling city with businessmen running rampant. Since I was a little girl, I’d questioned what the key would one day unlock. This desire of knowledge led to a younger version of me scurrying around the house and trying to open every lock using the key. Those were the days when I wasn’t so boring; when everyday was an adventure. However, never did I ever come across the lock that the key opened and little me gave up hope that it unlocked anything at all. It was a reject key, somewhat like myself.

“Hey, watch it!” An older looking man rammed into me as I had begun to daze off from staring at the twinkling key. I staggered a bit and my face turned bright red in frustration but there was no time to get angry for a few more people ran into me and I was thrown in all different directions. Finally, realizing there was no way to get through this crowd and back to my father’s apartment, my faced smooshed against a glass door which would soon be my escape route.

A tinkle of a bell announced my entrance and a girl – not older than eight, I’m sure – peered up at me from behind a counter. Her eyes were wide as saucers and adorned a bright blue color. She spoke no words to me, however continued staring at me in a way that made me feel quite self-conscious of what I was doing. The store was decrepit to say the least and held items just as ancient appearing. It was like entering this place sent me back to the eighteenth or nineteenth century, but the building itself remained in the feeble condition it was in modern times. Feeling awkward just standing there criticizing the store in my mind, I walked off in a random direction and tried to make it seem like I was interested in whatever was being sold. An old typewriter caught my eye and in curiosity, I tapped the ‘s’ to see if it would work.

Just as my finger made contact with the letter, the piece flew off the contraption and hit the floor.

Oh shoot, I hope no one saw that.

“Ruining the products?” Spoke too soon. I spun around to face the speaker, nearing sending a set of old china flying to its demise. My cheeks flushed tomato red as I stared into the eyes of a handsome man who appeared a few years older than myself. He wore dark-rimmed glasses that balanced on his nose and his forehead was mostly covered by dark bangs. His eyes were just as bright as the little girl’s, though instead of staring at me in the same curiosity as the little girl’s, I found a trace of suspicion and aggravation.

Hah, I probably wasn’t making a very good impression.

“I-I’m sorry!” I squeaked and bowed my head to hide my flustered face. He was still standing there in front of me for a few minutes and I wasn’t sure what I should say.

“Apology not forgiven,” My head shot up as he spoke those words. Heck, if I wasn’t making a good impression, his was horrendous. While shooting glares at him for his rude remark, a voice in the back of the store called out and as quickly as the man had appeared, he vanished. And I didn’t even catch his name. Sighing due to my horrible luck, I wandered away from the crime scene and happened to pass in front of the counter again. The little girl was still staring, so I sent her my own passive look. A giggle erupted from her throat.

She pointed at me and said, “You made big brother mad!” I furrowed my brow, noticing the similarities between the two. Same dark hair, same blue eyes, same paleness. “It was silly!” Cracking a smile, I laughed uneasily at the girl’s statement.

“Uh… you’re welcome?” I answered, and the girl bounced out from behind the mahogany counter and met me out front.

“I’m Julie!” The eight year old introduce with her hand outstretched to me. A kind smile replaced my nervous grin as I took the young girl’s tiny hand in mine.

“My name’s Autumn,” I said and Julie pulled back her hand and started clapping excitedly; exclaiming how pretty and unique my name was. If only my life was as interesting as my name.

After introducing ourselves, Julie proclaimed that she was going to go in the back to help and brother and mother pack up. According to her, their little shop wasn’t doing very well anymore because not many people found interest in the antiques being sold. Due to this, they were going to eventually have to move out of the city and find new grounds to try to start their business off. Julie encouraged me to look around some; that most of the things here were on sale now. For someone almost ten years younger than me, she sure was very business-like when she wanted; much more so than I could ever be. Once Julie disappeared through a backdoor with a sign reading ‘Employees Only’, I set off around the store.

It was sort of a shame that the store would be closing; there were definitely a few cute and out-of-the-ordinary items to see here. On a shelf, there were tons of old glass figures of angels with different inscriptions on their gowns. I was about to touch one with ‘Luck’ written across it, when someone behind me cleared their throat and I jumped. I was so startled that my arms nearly sent things flying but the person grabbed my wrists before I could. Relieved for a second that I wouldn’t break anything else, I turned around to see Julie’s older brother and all relief disappeared. “Don’t touch.”

“Funny, I could say the same thing,” Before I could stop myself, the words were coming out of my mouth. His lip twitched and amusement seemed to flash in his eyes but I was sure I was just seeing things. He released my wrists and they slowly dropped to my sides. He stared at me through his glasses before taking them off to clean them with his sleeve. My break hitched; he was more handsome without the glasses on. One of his eyes was closed while the other watched his glasses, but I was sure he saw the blush deepening on my cheeks and stretching to my ears. And if all else failed, I know he heard my breath hitch.

“So,” he said, putting on his glasses and looking at me. “What brings you here? You don’t look like one to just saunter in this type of store.” I gulped, wondering if I should just tell him the truth or lie.

“Crazy people sent me flying back and forth like a pinball and the store saved me,” I murmured. It was the truth, but after saying it aloud it sounded a tad strange. He chuckled a bit at this statement and a part of me was happy I told him the truth. He’d probably be able to tell if I was lying.

“Well,” he began after his laugh ceased. “Feel free to look around, but we have to close in a bit for the day.” I nodded and spun around on my heel to continue looking around.

Okay, it was more because I didn’t want him to see my beat red face anymore. God, he probably thinks I ate too many tomatoes when I was a child and now I’m red.

For the next ten minutes, with the man keeping a close eye on me, I wandered around the store looking at the antiques. With him staring at me like that, there was no way I would even think about touching anything and he obviously realized this. Once in awhile, the mother would come out and take something off a counter or out of a glass cupboard. She’d look at me for awhile in confusion before continuing on with her business. Even Julie came out once or twice to say hi and follow me around the store. However, for the most part it was only me and Julie’s brother.

My eyes locked on a little box in a corner near the back of the room. I approached it cautiously and stared at it at eyelevel. On closer inspection, I realized it was a music box. It was bright pink with purple ribbon painted on and blue polka dots. There were parts made of metal that glittered in the sunlight. Peering behind me, I noticed the man was no longer watching me, nor in the room for that matter. With evil laughter echoing in my head, I poked the music box with the tip of my pointer finger.

Take that, Julie’s brother!

Curiosity took over the best of me and I found myself trying to open the box. However, no matter how hard I tried, the thing wouldn’t budge. Aggravation taking over now, I lifted the music box up and set it in my lap. I flipped it around trying to find a magic button that would open it. But, while looking at it, I found a little opening at the front of the box. It was a keyhole.

You must be kidding me… I thought with a gulp. Setting the music box back in my lap, I touched the chain around my neck and followed it until it reached the silver key. Without another thought, I yanked the key off the chain and little silver balls that formed the necklace dropped to the floor as I plunged the key into the lock. From the sound of the necklace hitting the ground, Julie’s brother came rushing out of the back, yelling, “What did you–”

Music. It was soft at first, but soon I could hear it as it grew louder. It wasn’t a familiar tune but as I listened to it I felt myself grow calmer to the point where I sighed in relief and rested my head back on the wooden walls. The key belonged to an old music box; that mystery was finally solved. In front of me, Julie’s brother stood looking between me and the colorful box. With a soft smile, he approached me and sat on my right.

“My mother always wanted to know what opened that box.” He chuckled while I stared at the little ballerina in the middle of the music box twirling around to the music. “It seems you had the key to it the whole time. She’ll be pleased to see it opened.” If I hadn’t been contented by the sound of the music, I would have probably noted that our arms were touching. That his hand was laid gently on mine. That our cheeks were only a few inches away from each other. From the back, I heard someone walking and soon the door opened to reveal the mother.

“It’s time to close for the day,” she called, and then spotted us only a few feet away on the floor with the music box playing. Her expression lit up and she rushed over to us and grabbed away the box; listening to it play. Unknown to her, her son was scowling at her. “It’s playing! It’s playing! You got it to open!” I sent her a nervous grin.

“It seems I always had the key,” I explained and stood up before handing her the key. Her eyes brightened even more before launching herself at me and embracing me.

“Thank you so much!” She squealed like she was a girl Julie’s age. “Sadly, it’s time for us to close. Please come again, okay? You’re always welcome!” Before I could answer, the mother was skipping away with the music box and the key.

Behind me, the man said, “Sorry about my mom. She’s a little…” He didn’t seem to find a word to match her behavior. “Anyway, it was nice meeting you.” He sent me a wave and was about to leave through the Employee’s Only door.

“W-Wait!” I shouted, and he turned around to face me with curiosity painting his features. My face became tinted with pinkness. “I-I… I never caught you name.” He laughed and it echoed through the room, causing me to turn even redder.

“Derek,” He sent me a smile and I nodded; slowly turning around and headed for the door. “Hey!” I froze for a moment before facing him. “And your name?”

“Autumn,” I said with a beam of my own before we head our separate ways.

Every day after that, I returned to the antiques store. Julie would always be awaiting my arrival behind the counter and not even seconds later, Derek would be out in the front room as well. I learned that Derek was in college, twenty years old to be exact, and he worked this store with his mother to pay off his loans. He was taking courses on medical fields but his dream was to be a musician; he was a pianist. After a week of coming to the store, he brought me to the back where only employees were allowed and realized that this place was not only their store but their home as well. I was led up a flight of stairs and entered a living room with an old looking piano in the corner. He sat on the bench and motioned me to sit next to him. As I did, his fingers flew across the ivory keys. My mouth dropped to the floor at the sheer beauty and speed in which he played.

“That’s amazing,” I whispered, awestruck. He chuckled and continued playing but otherwise said nothing more. That’s something I’d learned to understand; he wasn’t much for talking and in a way I think that was something I’d grown to like about him. He continued playing for some time, going from Beethoven to Mozart to Chopin to Liszt to every famous pianist I could think of, only stopping once it was time for the store to close up. He asked if I didn’t mind staying there while he helped fix everything up and I told him I didn’t mind. Once he disappeared, I scooted over to the middle of the bench and stared at the tiny notes on the score and immediately was frightened. I pressed two random keys I thought I’d seen Derek hit and they let out an obnoxious ring that mocked me. Quickly, I hit two new keys but the combination let out an even more horrifying sound. Behind me, there was laughter. I spun around and saw an older looking version of Derek.

“You play?” he asked like he didn’t already know the answer. I grinned sheepishly and shook my head.

“No,” I laughed. “But Derek plays wonderfully. I’m quite jealous to be honest.” The man continued to laugh and walked over to me. He motioned me off the bench and as I got up he sat down.

“Who do you think taught him?” he stated and then his fingers played whatever was written on the score and my eyes bugged out of their sockets. Was this some family of prodigies or something? When he finished, he turned to look at me and met my eyes. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Autumn. Julie speaks highly of you and even Derek talks about you.” The last part made my heart flutter and the man must have noticed because he began his laughter all over again. Right on queue, Derek emerged from the door leading to and from the store with his glasses balanced in his head. He rubbed one of his eyes as he watched me and his father.

His eyes met mine. “Do you want me to walk you home? It’s getting dark out.” A smile adorned my lips and I nodded graciously. He sent me a smile back while placing his glasses on the table. We headed out of the front door instead of through the store and were on our way.

“Isn’t it going to be hard to see without your glasses?” I asked and he laughed, shaking his head.

“Nah,” he answered as I felt his hand brush up against mine. “They’re reading glasses; just for close up.” I nodded, but my mind was focused on our now intertwined hands.

The rest of the walk was silent but it was nice to listen to the birds chirping and the light wind whistling in my ears. Summer vacation was going to end in two days and as much as I wasn’t looking forward to it, I was happy to have spent the last week having fun. My mind still dwelled on having to go to school when we arrived at my apartment building. We stopped and I looked up into Derek’s blue eyes.

“Thank you for walking me home,” I said to him and he stared to at me was a soft smile. Suddenly, his lips were pressed against my forehead and I felt my body temperature fly to over one hundred.

“Goodbye, Autumn,” he whispered, as he moved away from me and turned around to leave. Acting on impulse, I jumped out and wrapped my arms around his waist.

“Bye, Derek,” I whispered back and he turned around with my arms still latched around him. He placed a finger on the bottom of my chin and stared into my eyes for a moment before pressing his lips to mine.

God, I could have died there and be happy forever. It would seem that bad first impressions don’t always lead to a horrendous relationship.

We reluctantly pulled away pressed our foreheads to each other’s. After a few minutes, we pulled away from each other because I knew my father would be worried and Derek’s family was probably wondering what was taking him so long. Before leaving, he looked at me and asked, “Are you going to the shop tomorrow?”

“Like always!” I called back and a soft smile formed on his lips.

~**~**~**~**~

My stride explained my emotion in itself; unconditionally joyous. It was strange being extraordinarily happy on the last day of summer; however, my happiness had nothing to do with summer, nor seeing my friends, or anything related to school. I turned a corner with a grin lighting up my face as I almost reached the antique store. But, even a block away, I knew something was wrong and because of this feeling my carefree stride morphed into a worried sprint. A sign confirmed my worry: “Sold”. This store was no longer going to be the antique store and home to the boy I’d grown to have feelings for, but a pastry store.

Because we don’t have enough café’s in the city without this one, of course.

A tear escaped my eyes as I leaned against the glass door. They were gone. I sniffled and peered into the dark store for one last time before leaving for home. However, a glint caught my eye and I blinked. Peering in the store a little better now, I saw something in the back reflecting the sunlight. I looked behind me but no one seemed to take notice of me so I grasped the door handle and hoped that it would open. It did, and while silently cheering I shuffled into the store and ran to the shining object.

It was a key on a chain sitting on top of a pink box with purple ribbon and blue polka dots. Under the key was a sheet of blank sheet music. It read: I'll see you soon. Promise. -D

And as I left that little shop with a music box in one hand, the letter in the other, and the necklace around my neck, I realized my adventure has finally begun thanks to one silver, lucky key.