A Midnight Cue

Creeping down off the steps under the cover of night, I slipped straight beneath the dusty fringe of the big armchair! Out in the shadowy clearing sat an old brass wind-up music box on the low shelf. Perfect stagecraft! I stretched out my plastic cleaver, reaching from the dark to prod the little metal key. *Click-whirr-plink!* A high, tinny note burst out into the hush, and I snapped back into the shadow with a quiet cackle, admiring the grand eerie echo rolling through the dark room.