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The Music Box.
"Maddie, hun, are you gonna be ok?"
Maddie was staring into the void again, searching her heart for one sweet memory. All she could find was shattered moments. The pit in her stomach grew larger with every memory. She felt as if her heart had been beaten and torn and chewed and ripped too many times.
"Maddie?"
Katie pulled her out of the void. Her dear best friend and her little sister where the only true loves she had ever felt in her life. They were the things she clingged onto in life. Her heart sunk even more that no man had ever made her dreams come true without bashing them in the end. She looked into her concerned best friends eyes.
"Yeah, I'm just depressed."
"Please don't think about it hun. I know it's hard but the memories will only haunt you. We can go man hunting when I get back."
"We'd better!"
They hugged each other before she boarded the plane. It was taking Katie a million miles away from her and it only made her cry thinking of being all alone for the month. Her heart sunk further down, another sad moment.
"I'm gonna miss you so much. I wish you didn't have to go."
"It'll be ok. Right? We'll both survive. It's just a month and we'll call each other."
Even though Katie said the words her heart was weak and she could not hold back the tears. On any other month it would be fine. It was just a month, but not any month, it was December and they would not be able to exchange Christmas gifts or go to New Years parties like always. Katie's job was forcing her leave. It would be a lonely Christmas indeed, for both of them.
"I will call you as soon as I get in, alright?"
"Ok."
They both wiped their tears away but it didn't stop them from coming. Maddie was the stronger one of the two but still it she was lonely enough without a man to snuggle up with. Every year Maddie, Katie, and Alex, they all got to together Christmas Eve and spent the day together watching old movies and telling old tails. It made the holidays so warm and cheery to spend them with her dearest friends. Alex would've been at the airport with them but she lived far away and still had work to do.
The two held hands until Katie was too far away to hold on. Maddie watched the plane fly off as she wiped the last of her tears away. It surely was going to be a lonely Christmas.
"Alex, you have to come back for Christmas! It's not the same! If Katie isn't gonna be here I especially need you!"
"I can't. I wish I could but Todd and I are going to his parent's house that week. He always goes and this time he wants me to go with him."
"Fine, go to you're boyfriends."
"I'm sorry." Alex said in her innocent voice. Maddie was now going to be all alone for Christmas.
"I've got work to do, I'll call you later, k?"
"Alright, love ya hun."
"Love ya."
With a single click her hopes and faith had all vanished. No one to spend Christmas with. Full of sorrowfulness she just sat in her kitchen and stared at the pile of papers that needed to be filled.
"Screw it."
She forgot about her piles of work and went to her room. Turned on a little melancholy song and fell to the bed. She was so very tired but something got her up. Something in her conscious mind told her to get up and go through the drawers. Each drawer was full of papers and mementoes. As she reached the top drawer on her desk she found a note and a carefully wrapped box. The note read:
Dear Maddie,
I know I won't be here for Christmas. Since I'm too lazy to ship this I'm leaving this Christmas gift for you. Remember, I'm Just a Dream Away.
Love,
Kate
As she read the scribbled writing she had a dear longing for her friend. She wanted Katie to see the look on her face when she opened the neatly wrapped gift. She wanted to hug her. She wanted to just be with her. To fill her longing she pulled a piece of crumbled up paper and picked up the phone.
"Hello, may I please talk to Katharine Merrick in room C19."
Katie and Maddie talked on the phone for about three hours until they both decided they needed sleep. Katie had told Maddie to open the present whenever she wanted, she didn't have to wait for Christmas. The next night, full of loneliness and another longing for her dear friend, she opened the present. Carefully untying the bow and neatly folding the pretty silver paper she was left to a box. A lovely crimson velvet box covered in Japanese designs of dragons and flowers. Gently lifting off the top she found navy blue silk. As she pulled the silk away it revealed a lovely wooden box with carvings of two hands holding on tightly. The hands grasped to each other's as if it were the only love they had ever grasped. It reminded her of her lonely hand that couldn't grasp love. Examinating the box she made another discovery. She wound the little box up and it started playing a tune that made her heart ache. The tears dripped down pale cheeks of the desolate young woman. The tune was very familiar, one that had played in her dreams. On the back the wood was carved into words. It read:
Only the man of your dreams can hold the key to your heart.
She trembled as she heard the notes being so clearly played. The song undoubtly touched her so and she was so depressed she put on her coat and was out the door. She was too lazy to make a new pot of coffee so she went to buy one. "Once Upon A Dream" still played in her heart.
It felt good to put her crimson lips to something warm and smooth. The coffee felt soothing to her insides. She was stuck in her own world until she noticed the man sitting at the next table over. The darkness he seemed to carry had entranced her. Sitting with a hot mocha and large book she watched his every move. His hair looked like the coat of a treacherous wolf that could steal her heart away and gobble it whole. It was too late to head for cover. When he finally looked up to see her staring at him they locked eyes. She felt as if he had seen him before, like a dancing memory.
"Hello."
His voice was deep and echoed in her soul.
"Hi."
She smiled an innocent smile as he got up and sat at her table. Her heart felt like a racing cheetah that was hiding under numerous layers of trembling skin. The mystery that he carried around her had already captured her.
Everyday she spent time with Kyle, whether in the coffee shop or not. They called and talked for hours. Being alone for Christmas and the holidays they just spent time with each other. They told the reasons of their depression and yet they also had tickle fits and just laughed and laughed.
When Christmas rolled around they knew everything about each other. Maddie was finally happy. For once she had a man in her life. Still, she wasn't sure on what kind of relationship it was. They had cuddled and gave little kisses but did nothing more. He held her several times when she talked of her heartbreaking memories. This was not at all like Maddie. Being a very fast paced woman she has usually done more with a man she had feelings for than just snuggle in the first week. She was surprised to find this herself but found comfort in being so close to him.
They had made arrangements to go to her house for Christmas and his for New Years. She cleaned, she actually cleaned up her apartment real spick and span as her mother would have said. Washed all the floors, vacuumed the rugs, dusted the furniture, and scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom. Her bedroom had her best sheets, even though she wasn't sure if she wouldn't be the only to use them. Then, spending the majority of her holiday bonus, bought herself a new silk dress. Crimson red with slits on both sides and a low cut. A simple easy zipper in the back. Everything was important that night. After getting everything set up and losing her patience, he arrived.
"Merry Christmas Maddie!" He said as he hugged her tightly and handed her the present.
"Merry Christmas!" She was muffled by his shoulder.
"I hope you like your gift."
"We still have plenty of time for gifts. First dinner. Pasta!" Another love they had found within each other was pasta.
He sniffed in the sweet aroma of vegetarian spaghetti. They ate spaghetti and Italian bread. While eating spaghetti he mentioned something that both of them had never done.
"Wait a sec, I got an idea."
"What?" Maddie was curious as to what he was going to do, having no clue. He came back with one more plate of spaghetti.
"Here, lets eat out of this one."
"I don't get it."
"Lets just eat from this plate instead."
"Ok." They ate up from the same plate until they got to one strand. They slurped it in until they were lip to lip; they had taken the same noodle. He roughly bit his off and she was left to fall back to her chair.
"I've always wanted to do that! Was that what you were trying to do?" Maddie said while giggling. Underneath she was hiding that she really longed for more than lip-to-lip.
"Yeah." They gobbled up the rest of the pasta.
"You want to open presents?"
"Sure. Wait a sec." Maddie ran out of the kitchen to her room. His present lay carefully on her dresser next to the music box. She spent a whole day dedicated to find his present. Wrapping it delicately even though she knew he would just rip it open anyway. When she ran back to the living room he was already sitting on the floor waiting for her.
"Want music?"
"Your pick." She sat down next to him on the Asian rug. He clicked on some Christmas tunes.
"I love these old carols, my mom and I used to sing them. She loved to sing, I never inherited that talent from her."
"I can tell." She giggled chumfully at her little joke and he smiled himself knowing it was blaintly clear.
"Merry Christmas." She gave him the gift and kissed him lightly on the cheek. In a matter of two seconds the gift was visible and the wrapping paper was in shreds. He was in awe of the coffee mug that laid in his hands. It was all black except the words MORE CAFFIENE! in white and bold capitals. He laughed at his friend's attempt to make their obsession a joke.
"I saw it and thought of you. Do you like it?"
"I love it, its great."
"Now your turn." He said as he sat down and handed her a rose print bag. She rummaged through the thin paper placed in to hide his gift. At the bottom of the bag laid some imported coffee beans, she picked them up sniffed in the sweet aroma. Then she saw a glint in the bag, she emptied it out only to find a key. She slipped the key through her fingers examinating it. Old and cold, still classic.
"I know its kinda cheep and cheesy but I was at an antique store for my mothers gift and it caught my eye. I don't know why but I thought of you."
Maddie's eyes swelled up with tears as she remembered the music box in her room. Without saying a word she ran to her room. Kyle was suspicious and followed her to make sure she was all right. She grabbed the box and searched through it to find an opening. Sure enough there was one on the front side, a key opening, she took the classic key and turned the lock free. The top flipped open to a dark haired couple dancing to the song. Maddie was filled with tears. She turned it over to read the carving on the back again. Kyle read over her shoulder and realized what this all meant. They both searched themselves only to find the statement completely true. She turned around wrapped her arms around him and locked lips. She dived into his mouth. He pulled out a second.
"Maddie, I'm not sure we should." Knowing what would happen from both of the drives they had.
"Kyle, we both have been hurt but I can tell you I will never intentionally hurt you."
Seeing that she wasn't telling a lie he pulled her into another kiss. For the first time Maddie was not alone at night and knew she wasn't ever going to be for the rest of her life.
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