Whispers of the Lullaby(Part-3)

You can read out Episode 2 link in below..

Episode 3: The Book of Dreams

On the following day, with hearts hammering in their chests and the rucksacks ready, the sisters headed back to the hut.

Everything remained where they had left it the music box resting under a vine canopy and, beside it, the note warning them in silence.

But then Ella noticed a difference.

In the extreme corner of the hut lay a bookshelf halfway covered with leaves, beginning to rot. She made her way over and brushed the dust away. One of the crumbling spines caught her attention an old, thick book bound in cracked brown leather.

She tugged at it. A golden etching on the cover depicted the music box.

Mira gasped. "That’s the same one!"

They had no time to read school was beckoning, and they were already late. So Ella pocketed the book.

All day, both girls were incapable of concentrating. The whole time, their thoughts were on the music, on the warning, on the feel of something just beyond their grasp. Mira came home alone after school. Ella came back hours later, tired and distracted. Mira had her lunch, then laid herself down; sleep would help but it didn't really. The thoughts spun out loud, louder than any of the voices inside her head.

She sat up, opened her bag, and stared yet again at the music box and the note. After a long pause, she walked quietly to the storage room, found a small wooden box, and gently placed the music box and note inside. Then she tucked it under a loose floorboard in her bedroom their old hiding spot.

Later that same evening, when Ella had come back from her chores, she asked softly, "Where did you put them?"

"I hid them," Mira said.

Ella nodded. "Good deal, sweetie. After dinner, once Mom and Dad are asleep, you can come to my room with those. We'll read that book together."

That night, the wind whispered through the windows. And as soon as the lights went out and the house was silent, Mira sneaked into Ella's room with the wooden box held tight.

They sat together beneath the covers, with the book between them. Ella opened to the first page.

"The Song of Forgotten Dreams."

She turned the page.

The ink was faded, almost faint, and the writing was delicate. And what they read next would change everything.