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Deiji stepped out of the car to see a familiar sight in front of her. The huge tree with an empty swing was still. She looked around to see if anything had changed. Nothing really. Just some unwanted shrubs and dry leaves everywhere. She smiled fondly at the old home of hers. Precious memories of her childhood came flooding back to her and she closed her eyes in order to embrace them. She opened her eyes and started to walk ahead pulling the trolley bag behind. She wondered how it never occurred to her that she had to come back to this beautiful place. Maybe she forgot it existed. Maybe not...
Because her health has deteriorated and she needed a break. That was when she remembered her childhood summer vacation home. She called her father and asked if it was still there and he said yes. She packed and two days later she was walking inside it. She looked inside the house and it needed a little bit of cleaning. Not much but a little bit because a few months ago one of her father's friends held a party here so much of it was cleaned then.
Rest of the afternoon she took her time to clean the home. When she was done, she plopped onto the sofa and stayed there for ten minutes before going to the bath. She soaked in there for a good amount of time and by the time she came out the sun was setting already. Her body shivered when the cold breeze from the window touched her skin. She sprinted downstairs in the bathrobe when she heard her phone ring. It was her mother.
"Hey Mom!"
"Ya it's all good here. I just came from the bath. Now I have to make some dinner and have a good night's sleep."
"It's fine mom, really. I feel good already."
"Ya, bye. Love you loads."
Her stomach was rumbling with hunger already so she skipped the 'putting on clothes' part and went to the kitchen. She grabbed two eggs from the grocery bag she bought on the way and made quick scrambled eggs because she was too tired to make anything fancy. She changed into a nightgown after eating and went to her parents bedroom because hers had only a small bed, the one from her childhood. It didn't take her much time to doze off.
Then sometime after, she was woken up by a strange yet familiar sound. She didn't mind it and tossed in the bed trying to sleep. But then she kept hearing it so she woke up and went downstairs to get her prescribed sleeping pills. When she was about to take the pill the sound came again. She put the pill on the kitchen counter and went to look at what that was. She grabbed her sweater from the bag and stepped outside. It was pitch black outside except till the place where the corridor lights illuminated. She looked around to see any possible source of the sound but didn't find any.
But the sound is so close...
She slipped into her shoes and pulled the sweater closer to her body as walked in the direction of the sound. As she got closer it was getting more clear.
It was a music box!
Who could be playing a music box at this hour? Especially in a place like nowhere.
