There was a faint smell of violets on the wind, as the sun crept downward, disappearing behind forest depths. Night insects began to croon to each other. Moonlight slipped through pines, casting strange shadows upon the lawn. Inside her modest home, Esther slung old clothes on the bed, along with various hats and worn out shoes. She knew her purple shirt with the rhinestone accents was in that closet somewhere. Tonight, she was going to put it on, and go out and have some fun!
A country music band was playing at a tavern downtown and Esther was in the mood to go dancing. A full moon rose, blazing it’s way through fading rainclouds, giving the night sky an ominous look. A wild sort of energy made her restless and impulsive. She got a large trash bag and started shoving stuff into it. “It’s time to clean this closet out anyways or I’ll never be able to find anything," she thought. By this time, she was only halfway to the back of her closet!
“Here’s that pocketbook I’ve been hunting for a year now. And those boots have been in here so long, they’re pure moldy!” she mused as she put them in the trash bag.
A couple of dresses that no longer fit went in next, followed by three photographs of an ex-boyfriend she could no longer stand. “Why in the heck I kept those is a pure mystery!” she mumbled to herself, wondering what was going to turn up next.
Then she found it - the banjo. Dust was so thick on the instrument, it looked as if it had grown hair. She gingerly removed it and set it out on the porch, hoping the breeze might blow some of that dust off of it. Then, she hauled the bag of throwaway clothing and other miscellaneous items out to the back of her pickup truck, to be hauled off to the dump in the morning. Having done that, she took the banjo back inside and got a dust rag to clean it off. It had been at least a decade since she had seen or played the old instrument. It felt good in her hands and when she wiped off the strings, they made a pleasant, happy sound.
Next, she began to tune it, realizing it was already in tune. “How strange!” she thought, for it had remained untouched and forgotten in the innards of the closet for many years. She took it back out to the porch, inhaling deeply of the fragrant breeze. A shower of moonlight engulfed her and made the strings of the banjo shine tantalizingly. There was magic in the air.
She began to play, remembering songs of long ago.
Her fingers were quite stiff, stumbling at times over the frets. Gradually, however, the tunes took shape, notes ringing through pines and azaleas. A curious opossum moved closer, along with a neighborhood cat, a brown rabbit, and a young hoot owl.
Before she knew it, it was well after midnight and she began to get sleepy. To her surprise, when she got up and looked around, her furred and feathered audience took off back to the trees from whence they had come. And when she got inside, instead of returning the banjo to the closet, she left it propped up on the sofa where she could see it.
Perhaps it was just her imagination, but it seemed to glow and pulsate with new life.
Back in her bedroom, she went to close the closet door and realized her purple shirt with the rhinestones was right there on a hanger in front of her. “I’ve been sitting on the porch all night with that banjo and forgot to go dancing!” she murmured as she drifted off to sleep. Meanwhile, the moon disappeared beyond the horizon once again, leaving behind it a little touch of magic in the world.
