Chapter 9
1020 Words
Ruby didn't know whether to feel happy about seeing her mother's ghost or feel scared about it.
The sound persisted, now louder. She continued to trace the sound until she found herself at Stanley's door.
She knocked on his door, but no response was coming from him. Then she knocked the second time, now hearing crying sounds.
"Is he crying?" she muttered in confusion. She couldn't assume anymore. She pushed the door open, but found Stanley on the floor, struggling to get a hold of himself while holding the object which the music was coming from.
She squinted her eyes to get a good look at the object because it was dark. Her eyes widened at the sight of the object. It was a music box, one that looked exactly like hers.
She paused to comprehend the situation, her mouth wide open in utter shock and confusion. She rushed towards him and grabbed the music box. She inspected it to be sure.
She was right!
"Whose music box is this? Where did you get it?" she asked in haste, her voice trembling.
"I said where did you get this?!" she asked again, now yelling, and totally ignoring his situation.
Stanley didn't give a response, or rather, he couldn't. He was too busy dealing with the emotional trauma the music box had caused him.
Ruby was running out of patience. She stamped her feet on the ground, clenching her fist in anger, but deep down, she knew she had to wait for him to pull himself together to get any information at all from him.
The pain of comforting him when she had fire burning under her own dress made her grit her teeth.
She squatted at his level and patted him on his back gently, but tears didn't stop rolling down his cheeks, with the slow sound of music still playing from the music box.
Her eyeballs were now filled with hot tears as well. She grabbed a book quickly from his bedside table to fan the tears away, but all of her attempts proved futile. The tears still rolled down.
Stanley, who had his head bent because of the shame of Ruby seeing him cry, quickly looked up in surprise when he heard a sniff.
"Could she be crying also?" he thought.
He moved his head towards her and squinted his eyes to have a closer look at her face.
Their eyes met.
Ruby didn't look away this time. They stared at each other intently.
They were dangerously close!
She was no longer in control of her body. She reached out her hand to his face to clean his tears.
He suddenly held her hand against his face, still staring hard, and lost in his admiration for her, the music box perhaps causing him to get lost in his emotions.
Ruby could feel her heart pound in her chest like a drum as excitement surged through her.
"Has he fallen for me already?" she thought.
"What are you doing, young lady?" he asked quietly after getting a grip of himself.
Ruby was jolted out of her daydream. She quickly tried to organize herself, but it was too late. She had already done the deed. She had crossed the line.
Stanley reached out to turn off the music from the music box.
"What is it about this darn box making everyone cry?" he asked in frustration and annoyance.
"Good," Ruby said sharply, already recovering from the earlier embarrassment.
"I wanted to ask you too, and now is a good time to do that. First, where did you get this music box? And why does it look exactly like mine?" she asked.
"It's mine, why?" Stanley asked, raising his shoulders in a shrug.
"For you? How did you get it?" she asked further.
"I don't know, I can't remember the story behind it," he replied with a shrug.
"What do you mean you can't remember the story behind it? Can you listen to yourself?" Ruby asked, almost yelling.
"I'm confused as well. My father told me it was part of my belongings that were packed at the orphanage when I was adopted," he explained.
"Orphanage? Adopted?" Ruby asked in shock.
"Yes, I was adopted like you. I'm not the real child of the Edwards family, so quit the pity act, you're not the only one going through stuff," he said rudely.
Ruby's feeling of shock was now turning into anger, but she dared not show it. She still had one more question. Her curiosity trumps her anger.
"Did you lose your memory at some point?" she asked.
Stanley paused, as if searching his brain. He looked at Ruby in the realization that it could be true, because only that could explain the gaps in his memory.
He tried recalling the bits and pieces of his memory that he regained after his recent accident, but was still unable to put them together.
"Do you remember now?" Ruby, who had been waiting patiently for his response, asked when she couldn't wait any longer.
"I don't." Stanley said, scratching his head in frustration after trying several attempts to remember, but couldn't.
"You don't have to remember. Just give the music box to me in place of my own, since you don't need it," Ruby said rather nonchalantly.
"Why do you want it? It's an old box anyway, so it doesn't carry much value."
"You wouldn't understand," Ruby said with a deep sigh.
"What won't I understand?" he asked curiously.
"I wasn't just a music box. There's a story behind it," she said gently, with a sad look wearing all over her face.
"I wasn't holding onto it because of its monetary value, but the memory it carried, but now it's gone forever," she added.
Stanley turned his face away, guilt eating him up. His phone rang, and that paved the way for an excuse to leave the conversation.
Ruby made to leave, sadness and tiredness taking all over her. She pushed the door knob.
"I've gotten the criminal who hacked into her phone," a voice came
She turned back suddenly, her mouth wide open.
- Writer
