The old parlor room had been empty for a while. Uninhabited by creatures of any kind, it was cold and unused in its own frozen little world. Dust blanketed the rosewood piano like the mere coverings of a first snowfall. A staccato of spring rain tapped against the window, creating teary streaks that ran down the glass and could be seen through the thin white curtain. As the rain continued its intricate composition, the giant grand piano sat in its own silence.

The air shifted as Jeanette opened the door. A small whirlwind of collected dust swirled off the piano and floated down to the aged wooden floor. She pushed the curtains aside, revealing the gray, wet world outside. Turning back around, she saw that everything had remained untouched the way she left it. Though the room merely consisted of the rosewood grand and a small bookshelf it was enough to make it a splendor of its own. The bench was still in the same awkward diagonal position. The picture frame remained broken on the floor.

She picked up the cracked frame. Inside was a dusty old monochrome photo. Jeanette smiled; she remembered taking the picture after purchasing the rosewood grand. Her husband Andrew was playing it like a pro, key stroke after key stroke without fumbling or missing a single note. It was Jeanette's favorite song that Andrew had composed for her as her birthday gift. The longer Jeanette stood there, the fonder the memory became. She and Andrew were in their own world of musical bliss.

Gripping the damaged frame, she remembered his promise. Andrew was going to play a new song for her that he had created. His days drafted in the war were long and far from home, so he spent most of his free time creating a new piece that he hoped would comfort Jeanette when they were separated. He promised to play it for her during his two week break. He promised that she would love it even more than the first composition. He promised.

But the bliss was ephemeral. When the dreaded knock on the door came, Jeanette knew that he could no longer keep his promise. Andrew never came back from the war. Even though they had returned all of his belongings, including the long-anticipated score he had written, she couldn't bear to play it or even glance at it. There was too much sorrow, too much pain embedded in the composition. The scene replayed in her head once again; she unfolded the score, left it on the piano, but immediately ran out of the room in tears.

Once again, Jeanette was facing her biggest fear. She was torn. The heartache she had suffered over the past two years was just beginning to dull out. But she missed him, and she wondered everyday whether or not his song could bring closure. Glancing at the piano she decided that she needed to do this. She slid the cover off, revealing shiny ebony keys in the same pristine condition she had left them. She sat down and opened the score, feeling a pinprick of pain in her heart. Jeanette rested her hands on the keys, reminiscing while trying hard to forget. Then she played.

Though rusty at first, the song began to pick up to its full speed. A few fumbles and wrong notes, but the song began to reveal its true beauty. Long and flowing, the notes wound itself around the room, echoing into the hallway behind her. Jeanette felt a warm sense of sorrow and also relief. Andrew's soul, captured in his song, saturated the house as the piano began to crescendo in volume. A sad but dreamy melody, the song brought a sense of closure to Jeanette as a sparkling tear rolled down her cheek.

The song had ended, but Jeanette's tears continued cascading down her face. It was not because of the sadness that had weighed her down for so long. She was now releasing her gloom, feeling lighter and happier as her fingers caressed the keys and Andrew's piece progressed. Now, as the song had come to its end, so did Jeanette's grief. She finally had the courage to let go of him.

Jeanette smiled. She flipped the score to the beginning and played Andrew's song again. As her nimble fingers strolled up and down the heavy keys the world outside cried joyously with her.