Grand Ponde, ME, 1897

    Roxanne allowed herself to sleep to in. She was still a little sleepy when she sat down at her dresser.  Yawning, she looked in the mirror and started brushing her long auburn hair. It was the same routine she performed everyday of her life, but today something was different.  She could feel it.  She began to hear a faint tune playing softly in the background. It sounded like a music box. She couldn't make out the song, but its melody was haunting. Where was it coming from? No one else was in the house. Howard had long since gone to work.
    How he loved to lavish his bride with little gifts whenever he could afford it.  She tenderly patted her bulging stomach, smiling at the thought of her favorite gift from Howard, their baby. He even insisted she take it easy during her pregnancy while he was away for long hours working in the lumber camp. Yes, Howard had indeed spoiled her. Roxanne smiled at the thought and turned her attention back to the mirror, thinking perhaps she hadn't fully awakened yet and that the melody was most likely a remainder of a dream.  But when she glanced into the mirror again, she was stunned to see someone else's face staring back at her. Startled by the strange vision, Roxanne dropped her brush and jumped out of the seat.  She backed away from the dresser in disbelief.  She held her gaze on the mirror but the image vanished as quickly as it had come.
    What was wrong? Was her pregnancy causing her to hallucinate? The face she saw, only for a moment, was that of a young woman about Roxanne's age. She was blonde, her face pale. She looked back at Roxanne with tear stained. Roxanne couldn't get the girl's sad looking face out of her mind.
    Deciding she wasn't fully awake yet, she went down to the pantry and boiled some water for tea. Just as the water came to a boil she thought she heard someone call her name, but no one was there. Roxanne removed the pot from the fire, poured the water into the teapot and returned the pot to the stove. When she turned around she saw the girl again.  This time she appeared more lifelike, a tear rolling down her face.  She reached out her hand to Roxanne, offering her a music box.  The same unsettling tune filled the air.
    Before Roxanne could react a knock came at the front door, interrupting them.  The girl disappeared at once.
    Oddly, Roxanne's hands were not shaking, nor was her heart pounding, but a feeling of dread was beginning to sweep through her. She knew something was wrong.
    Whoever was at the door knocked again, this time with more urgency. Roxanne took a deep breath and went to the door.
    A man in a brown faded flannel shirt and tan overalls stood before her.  
  "Excuse me, mam, are you Mrs. Devenault?"
   She nodded.
   "I regret to have to tell you this Mrs. Devenault, but your husband, Howard was killed this morning in an accident."
    Roxanne's knees buckled. The man caught her and walked her to the sofa and sat her down.
    "I am so sorry. His last words were that he loved you, and he wanted to give you this," he said handing her the music box. It was the same one the girl had tried to give her just moments ago.   He opened it.  It played the eerie little tune. "Guess he bought it in a shop downtown. One of the other loggers recognized it. It once belonged to a worker in another camp, who had given it to his wife - just before he died."  
    Roxanne held the music box. Her hands were shaking now as she broke out into a cold sweat.  "Oh," was all she could manage to say through numbing lips. 
    The music filled the room while a tear rolled down her cheek.