His fingertips grazed the edges of the cassettes, hundreds of them buried underneath dust and the embraces of the aging years. It had been three years since he had heard the melody of her voice coax his ears, tickling them with notes that silk water couldn’t compare with. “Why did you go looking for freedom, darling? Why?”

    Tears glistened in the dark room decorated with roses. She adored roses.

    He gently tore open the box, fumbling with the covers as his eyes laid upon a cassette that had been marked the next day with a light sharpie.

    Pressing the cassette into the music player, a symphony roared to life, thumping the wallpapers with its fingertips and swaying from one side of the room to another as her voice poured gently out of the play button.

    This is only for you, my love. For you. Play one each day, will you? For me. Before my soul vanishes from the air as well, you should know that I have trapped my voice in these cassettes for you to listen while she flies away to take a bite out of