Free.

She turned to face the full-length mirror which stood blackened by the pre-dawn hours of the morning.  She avoided the weary gaze of her faded, green eyes as though there was something in her depths that she could not bear to face.  No one would ever hear this girl, this tragedy.  Long had the days passed since she had cared to share her thoughts with the things around her, for she was lost to the world.

She lifted a sickly, pale hand, her ghostly white gown barely moving, and touched a cheek that once bore colour and laughter.  A tear fell next to her hand – only one of countless before it.  No one could understand that which she mourned – her own, sorry soul.

The thick blackness around her began to fade as dawn approached where she stood.  The dusty but beautiful room around her began to lighten so she no longer stood out so distinctly from the darkness.  Behind her, the fading shadows uncovered an abandoned piano.  She could see it in the reflection of the mirror.  She could sense its presence around her.  Although she knew that it would be out of tune, she longed for it to reveal the emotions she couldn’t – and with something resembling passion in her heart she turned to face that which beckoned her.  It called to her every day, beginning with the dawn of the sun, but each day she resisted.

Her breath quickened as new thoughts came to her.  Too long had it been since she tasted sweet peace.  Too long she had waited in the shadows.  Too long had memories haunted her.  With the dawn of today, she decided to awaken her reverie and give in to the temptation that stood in the corner of the dusty old room.

She glided towards the piano, barely making a breeze, and sat behind it.  Tears streamed down her cheeks as she dared herself to stroke the keys that presented themselves so willingly.  She had waited an eternity for this day – for the punishment to cease, for the guilt to fade.

Life awakened her deathly fingers and through them, whatever hope she had left was released as she began to play a simple melody with her right hand.  A sigh left her lips representing all the relief in the world and she raised her left hand to join the right.

The more keys she pressed, the more resounding her outcry became.  As each note struck the darkness around her it weakened a little more, but this she did not notice, for her heart was now alight.  All the tortures of her past broke free and floated away from her into the dawn as the climax of her song approached.  Louder and faster it became, more and more perfect notes she pressed, her palms sweating, her heart thumping, her soul screaming – and it ended.

The final note carried with it the last shred of this girl’s lonely life.  No one would remember her, nor would they care of her existence.  No one would understand why that song took with it her life, nor why she decided to play it knowing it would mean her ultimate death.  As the last gulp of musty air left her lungs, her skeletal body struck the floor next to the piano that set her free, and her essence joined the beating heart of the world around her.