The notes floated on the air as a figure pushed open a door. The door swung easily open, temporarily casting an abstract shadow across an empty room. The notes still played, but became no louder. The figure sighed with frustration, and left the empty room. All night the notes had played, on and off. And when the figure was certain they’d find the source, it stopped, and the figure left it alone, confused and annoyed. The little tings played “You are My Sunshine”, but the song was never finished. It usually stopped at ‘please don’t take--’, and the figure was left to say, ‘my sunshine away…’

The floor boards whined as the figure came ever so closer to the noise. The notes were still playing, but they neared the end of the song, when it suddenly stopped at its usual place. The last note, however, was particularly loud as the figure stepped in front of another door. The door had peeling red paint, and the knob was one of those old-fashioned, diamond-looking things. The figure, holding a jar with a candle in it, reached for the knob, and turned it. The door grated across the wooden planks, clattering against a wall as it fell open. The room was bare, but in the middle, in a puddle of moonlight, was a music box.

The music box was black, with ivory inlays. It had creeping vines of ivy that encroached a ruby heart on the lid. The corners of the box were sparkling with strips of gold. The lid suddenly lifted itself, slowly, causing the figure to draw back. The lid righted itself, and the moonlight struck a tiny figure that rose from within the box. The figure moved closer. The shape in the music box wasn’t a ballerina, nor a pair of dancers. It was, strangely enough, a skeleton in a black tuxedo.

The skeleton had a shovel over its shoulder, as it looked at the figure with its empty grin slapped across its face. Its other arm was held out and a top-hat was clutched in its fingers. The music began to play again, and the skeleton began to turn slowly, counterclockwise. The lid of the box, the figure noticed, was painted with a sun, covered by heavy, grey clouds.

‘You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are grey.’

The skeleton began to weave as the notes trickled out. Four crows on tiny rods appeared, flying around the skeleton as it wove around in the box. The notes were nearing the finish once more. The crows moved up and down as they flew clockwise, in a circle, around the skeleton.

‘Please don’t take--’

The music stopped, and the figures in the box moved silently about. The figure drew closer to the music box, setting the jar down as it crouched on the floor to get a better look. The candlelight fluttered across the faces of the dancing figures. The figure drew its face to the silent music box. Outside, a sudden clap of thunder sounded. The puddle of moonlight began to disappear, and drops of water fell onto the floor, around the box. The figure lifted its head to the window behind the box, but it was completely black. A particularly fat drop fell on the figure’s head, and the figure glanced up. A considerably sized hole opened up in the roof. The moon was situated in the center of the hole, but dark clouds pushed themselves into the moonlight, and struck it away from the music box.

The figure squinted it was so dark, shielding its eyes from the cold drops that fell. The drops thumped on the floor of the room, and the crows and the skeleton still danced in the silence. The thunder rolled, and a sudden streak of light pierced the blackness, followed by an unearthly moan. The figure that had been looking up at the sky fell to the floor, its head resting against the side of the music box. The candle was struck down as the figure’s foot smashed into it, splattering the wax across the floor. The candle rolled across up against the red door, the wick black and smoking. A trickle of blood slithered from beneath the figure, and seethed under the music box. When the blood struck the box, the song finished playing, the skeleton stopped, facing the dead figure with its outstretched hand, and the crows stood still. The moonlight slowly seeped back into the room, and poured across the music box once more.

The End