The Silver Music Box

In a cozy house on a quiet street, young Sam treasures a silver music box that once belonged to Grandma. Its lid is decorated with a tiny painted rose, and turning the little key makes tiny dancers spin and bow on a mirror floor while tinkly music fills the room. Wearing a mustard-yellow jumper, blue overalls and a small silver locket, Sam winds the box every day and whispers to the dancers as if they were dear friends.

One morning the key turns but nothing happens, and the dancers stand frozen in silence. Sam tries again and again, then carries the cold, still box to the clockmaker's shop at the end of the street. There, a kind old man in round brass spectacles sets it on his workbench, shows Sam the tiny stuck gear inside and hands over a small brush. Under his guidance, Sam learns how the spring works and how the dancers are connected to it. This gentle tale by Yavuz DEMİRKIRAN can be read on Online Masal.