Whispers of the Lullaby(Part-2)

You can read out Episode 1 link in below..

Episode 2: The Melody Returns

The next day, Mira got up early. Once again, the sky was bright; the storm existed just in memory. But the song remained within her, feeling somehow incomplete.

Ella helped their mother prepare breakfast and had her back turned when Mira slipped through the door. She ran toward the old hut.

It was there. Silent. Empty.

She looked everywhere under the benches, behind an old crate, and under the floorboards. Nothing.

Just as she was turning to leave, feeling really down in the heart, she heard it again.

The lullaby.

She froze. The song drifted thick yet soft in the air.

With the direction of the sound, she walked out through the vines and stones at the back of the hut and that was when she noticed something buried under an uneven tangle of leaves.

The music box.

Old, silver, and decorated with tiny stars. Next to it lay a folded note marked by age.

Mira opened the note.

"To the one who finds this song,

Know that it carries the power of lost dreams.

Should the melody uncover what lies concealed,

Beware; some secrets should permanently remain buried.

Handle the song with care.

And take heed: every note has a price."

Mira hugged the music box tightly to her chest and ran home.

Mira showed it to Ella, who looked surprised and a bit un easy.

"I think you found this behind the hut?" Ella asked.

"Yes, and this note was with it. I told you the song I heard yesterday."

Ella's hands seemed steady as she read, but her face changed.

Then she wound the key and opened the box. For the second time the same lullaby was played, as hauntingly beautiful as it was before.

"That's it!" Mira whispered. "That's the song I heard!"

Ella listened until the very last note faded to silence, then slowly closed the box.

"I don't like this," she said. "We leave it. This feels... wrong."

"But it's magic!" protested Mira.

"That's exactly why we should be careful," Ella replied. "Come on. Let's put it back."

Although Mira was unwilling to do it, she acquiesced nonetheless. Together they returned to the hut and put the box and note back where they'd found them.

That night, in the quiet between their different rooms, when sleep began to claim them.

In came the lullaby.

Soft. Faint. But unmistakably real.

Mira got up from bed and dashed into Ella's room only to find her already sitting upright.

"You heard it too?" Ella whispered.

Mira nodded, terrified. "It's following us."

Their eyes met. "We're going back tomorrow. But this time... we're

keeping it."