"Please play a piece of the piano for me" - written on top of the musical box
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I remember when I was 13 years old, when I first started my life away from home (away la sangat bile sekolah less than 1 km je dr rumah and I can even see my house’s rooftop from my classroom) – tp still boarding school eh, and can only balik rumah once in a fortnight.
Anyway, on one weekend when we were allowed to balik bermalam for the first or 2nd time after the orientation week, I went to a photo shop with my mom to take a picture of me – passport size for all those uncountable forms that should be filled in. It was a small shop in Tmn Bukit Maluri (it’s still there), and other than picture frames and photo albums, they sold musical boxes as well – with different designs and melodies.
While my mom was paying for my passport size photos, I took a look at those musical boxes and heard each of their melodies and I was very captivated by a piano-shape musical box and its melodies – which had also been played by a piano. The price was around RM30-40 which for me that time, was quite expensive to be given to a 13 yr old girl whom might not take a good care of it.
I asked my mom for the musical box, and she said, it was expensive and she did not have enough money that time. I was a bit disappointed, but there was nothing I can do as I had no money myself. If I’m not mistaken, that was on Saturday, so on the next day, my parents sent me back to the hostel.
The following weekend, my mom came to visit me in hostel. And like the usual happy ending stories, - she bought me the musical box. I can’t remember exactly what happened that day, but I remember, I waited for my mom to come, then she gave me a box. I was very happy as I opened the box knowing that it was the piano inside it and played it a few times before I kept it back in its box.
And since then, I took it with me everywhere (not everywhere as in I put it in my bag or in my pocket everywhere I went but to new places like when I entered matriculation and first degree). And now, after more than 11 years, it still stands tall (short is more like it) in front of me on my study desk here in Scotland.
I love the musical box so much, and I love my mom even more (infinity times more than I love the musical box…huhu).