The Fragmented Luna

The Musical Jewelry Box

Valerie was leaning against the side of my body with all her dead weight pressed onto me. She was stumbling about the room because she had too much to drink during truth or dare. I reminded myself that I needed to make sure she made it to the bedroom so I could go through my suitcase. Ian was helping me carry her up the stairs but he didn't seem in the mood to talk. If I had to guess I would say that Ian was mad at me. I had no clue what he was mad at me for but there was an anger clear to anyone watching him move. It took us a long while but we had made it to the frilly bedroom door that would lead to Valerie's room.

"Night, you'll have to take her from here", Ian clipped out tersely. I watched Ian stomping away from the bedroom confused by his aloof behavior. I understood Nixon's anger towards me but Ian had usually always showed me kindness. Now that I was alone I felt a sense of urgency to get into the bedroom. I pulled Valerie into the bedroom with a strength that seemed to come from nowhere. I laid Valerie onto her bed as I simultaneously held up her sheets so that she was tucked into the bed. I felt at ease as I listened to her snoring loudly in the bed lost in the dream world. 

I felt the weight of my luggage bearing down on me as I lugged it across the room rapidly. I hated the stupid zipper on this thing which appeared to be caught on some of the fabric that held the luggage together. I pulled until the fabric ripped open making the zipper fall off of the luggage. I felt like there was a ticking time bomb in my chest as I grabbed fistfuls of clothing from inside. I sat in a pile of my clothes with angst about the musical jewelry box. I guessed that the musical jewelry box had gotten tossed around in the luggage during that crazy car ride earlier. 

Finally I reached deep into the luggage to find the musical jewelry box weighing heavily in my hand. I felt like there was some answer waiting for me in the depth of this box. Now I needed to find just exactly what my mother meant as she said those words 'there's magic in this song'. Somehow my mother was sending me clues from beyond the grave but I wasn't sure what those clues would mean. I fiddled with the musical jewelry box trying to pry it open quickly. I had to stop because my fingers were shaking in anticipation.

I took deep breaths to calm myself down before I very lightly opened the musical jewelry box. I started to play that soft tune willing my brain to make sense of her message. 'Don't touch it until you're ready', my mother's voice was saying in my ear but it was a warning now.

It was then that I realized Valerie was no longer snoring in her bed. She was standing over me her eyes open with a giddy look in them as she watched the ballerina spinning. Her eyes appeared to be glowing in the dark as her long hair flowed ethereally around her body. She was awake but she wasn't responsive as she raised her hands to her sides to form a strange pose.

"Magic in the song. Beneath", Valerie muttered softly as her eyes stared into mine. The light in her eyes faded as she slumped back onto the bed peacefully. The whole ordeal made me rub my eyes to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I was close to something otherworldly I thought as the music continued to play softly. In the morning I would question the fact that Valerie had appeared to be exhibiting some sort of unknown power. But right now I needed to focus on ridding myself of this nagging emotion.

I looked at the ballerina dancer as she piled around in her frilly pink dress. The music started to frizz out as the song drew to its close. I felt like I should know what I was looking for but it was just an empty box. I felt dismay enter my soul as I realized the musical jewelry box probably meant nothing at all. I had romanticized some fantastical idea that i would find answers in front of me.

I felt so lost as the song ended but I wasn't any closer to finding answers. The tears of anger drenched my eyes as I thought about my mother alive. It was too painful to remember the past that i had locked away all these years. I chucked the musical jewelry box across the room ready to stop the foolish ideas that were haunting me. Surprisingly Valerie had not woken up from the loud noise the music jewelry box made as it hit the ground.

I spent the next few minutes sobbing my eyes out dramatically. I felt like all this time I thought something important was in that stupid musical jewelry box. My mothers words were just fairy tales that she spun at night to put me to bed. I went over to pick up the broken musical jewelry box in the trash. The ballerina's head was smashed with her body completely removed from the turntable she spun around.

I noticed something strange poking out from under the ballerina's turntable. I finagled the turntable so that the piece of folded paper that lay beneath was visible. I felt guilty for destroying the musical jewelry box that my mother used to leave me her last message. I held the paper in my hand unfolding the crevices to reveal a handwritten letter beneath. As I opened the letter a small necklace fell out to the ground. I would pick that necklace back up later but for now I focused on the letter.

I looked at my mother's curvy script tracing the lines as if trying to commit it to memory. I felt my hands getting sweatier with each word that I read. My tears stained the sheet of paper as I read the words over and over again.

'My Dearest Gabby. When you read this I will be dead. You need to be careful now that I'm gone Gabby. There will be monsters closer than you think. Blood will stain the moon again and it will be your turn to fight. In the forest in a place only you know there is the next secret. You must remember when the time comes but watch your back. Dark forces are all around you. I miss you already, Love mom' it read. She drew a heart next to her name on the page.

'You must remember' I thought to myself as the earth felt like it was cracking beneath me. Yes I must remember but i had no memory left. I checked my cell phone realizing it was already two in the morning. I needed to get rest, plus i still had an essay to write, then I could ask Valerie for help. All of this talk about monster, magic and legends seemed too unreal. I was an ordinary girl who had a normal life until my parents died. There was nothing special about that.

For now, I placed the musical jewelry box into a nearby garbage. The letter was put in the luggage with my clothes so as not to stand out. However the necklace which glimmered in the faint light of my cellphone. It was a necklace with the moon glowing within on its waxing gibbous phase. It was beautiful with the initials G.N. appearing as if it were carved into the stone long ago. I placed the necklace around my neck with its moon phase feeling a power sift through my body. I felt the hairs on my arms tingling as I followed in the fate of some unknown group before me. If I had known then, that the necklace would bring tragedy, maybe I would have never put it on.