Echoes of Love

After her daughter Lily died, Marissa couldn’t bear to touch the piano.

The bench stayed empty, the lid closed, the keys gathering dust like the silence

that filled the house. Music had been their language. Lily’s laughter

echoing through off-key notes, late-night duets, songs half-finished but full of joy.

Now even the thought of playing felt like betrayal. One sleepless night, wind slipped through

an open window, stirring the yellowed sheet music on the stand. Pages fluttered,

landing open on Lullaby for Lily. The song they’d written together. Marissa froze,

her heart thudding. The piano sat in the pale moonlight, waiting. Her hands trembled