A music box with sixteen beats around the drum and eight brass teeth on the comb. Press the pins in, turn the key, and lean in close.
“Play this one when the house is too quiet.
Play it again when it isn’t quiet enough.”
made in the back room, winter, with a borrowed file and too much tea
Each turn of the key is one trip around the drum. As the spring runs down the box starts to slow, the way real ones do, and the last few notes take their time.