I Never Told You But…

Simone ran her hand over the polished wood and traced the carved images with her finger. “Wow, this is the neatest square box I ever saw. Whatever they shipped in this box was special, I bet.”

Trevor chuckled. “I never told you, but this belongs to Annie. It’s no ordinary box, my darling sister. Inside are parts that make music.” He struggled to lift the heavy front that folded over onto itself without crashing. “See, you can lift this piece, and then you can see the 85 white keys. Cool, huh?”

Simone’s eyes widened with excitement as her fingers tapped a couple of keys. “This is a piano. Almost like the one the famous Lonnie Lupnerder plays while wearing a duck costume. I like when we sing along with him, and Boss plays the air guitar.”

They both mimed the air guitar moves that Boss always did and laughed.

“Simone, Annie shipped this piano here after she moved in. Annie’s Uncle Dave played many instruments, including this one. He played in several Big Bands in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Annie tells us funny stories about his travels and the jazz music they shared with people all over the county. Dave was trained in many types of music to play in different bands.”

Simone daringly added a few more notes to the air. “Is that where Annie learned so much about music? She’s always saying that is so-and-so or that piece has roots in thus-and-such.”

“Annie learned a lot from him. He tried to teach her to play this piano, and she does some simple…