Elderly Stranger Gives Poor Girl Old Piano, Parents Scold Her until She Finds a Casket Inside – Story of the Day

Adele's parents were furious with her for bringing home an old piano gifted to her by an unknown older woman. Her dad decided to sell it to the thrift store, but one day, she found a mysterious wooden box jammed inside the piano and froze after opening it.

12-year-old Adele was the eldest of five children to poor parents. Her dad, John Woods, worked as a carpenter after switching several jobs, while her mom, Lily, ran the household.

Being the eldest, Adele was given more liberty than her younger brothers. But that also meant she had to help with minor chores when needed, just because she was the older child.

Adele never had a rosy childhood growing up, and she often wished she lived a beautiful life like her friends. Her parents struggled to make ends meet, so she felt lucky they sent her to school.

One day, on her way home, Adele slowed down after hearing strange sounds from the corner of the street…

"Wow! It's lovely!" she mumbled as she marched closer to a small art school that taught children and aspiring musicians. Adele peeped through the glass window, staring at young adults playing different instruments.

One particular tune caught her attention while the corner echoed with different melodies. It came from a deeper end in the concert hall. She struggled to peep in and saw that it was the piano. For some reason, her eyes gushed with tears.

"IT'S BEAUTIFUL!" she whispered. She wished she could just walk in there and play the instrument, but she needed to be a music student, and her parents couldn't afford to send her there.

Adele returned home with a heavy heart and couldn't wait to pass by the music school again. She drew piano keys on the wall near her bed and tapped them like she was playing them for real. Her parents were hurt seeing her do this but ignored it because she was wishing for something beyond their means.

The following afternoon, after class, Adele silently crept to the spot she had stood the previous day and pressed her ears to the window. But she was upset because every other instrument was being played there except for the piano.

Saddened, she walked away, but she heard a beautiful tune on the piano she'd never heard before as she crossed the street. Curious, she followed the melodious breeze and soon reached the doorstep of an old house.

Adele grew impatient and wanted to find out who was playing it. The door was open, so she invited herself into the house. "Anyone there? Hello…Is anybody in there?" she shouted.

The melody stopped instantly, as though it was remote-controlled. Adele stood in the living room, which smelled of old wooden furniture and rosewood oil. She decided to leave, but a voice from behind called out. She froze in fear and turned back.

An older woman stood there smiling. Her wrinkled skin and grey hair flaunted her aged beauty. "Come here, sweetheart! How may I help you?" she asked Adele.

The girl was scared, but she approached the woman and introduced herself after seeing her warm smile. "I'm Adele, and I was walking by your house when I heard someone playing the piano…It's beautiful!" she said.

The woman stared at Adele, and then she took her to a small parlor extending from the living room. The girl was stunned when the woman steered her to an old classical piano at the corner. Adele was curious and asked the woman who played it so sweetly…

"Mrs. Lorraine Cooper played this piano a while ago, sweetheart!" the woman replied. Adele wanted to meet the pianist and asked her if she could take her. Just then, Mrs. Cooper sat on the stool and began playing.

"I AM LORRAINE COOPER!" she told Adele, who stood there in surprise because even at this age, the woman could seamlessly run her fingers on the piano keys and play the notes with mind-blowing perfection.

Soon, the girl was immersed in the different classic melodies Mrs. Cooper played that afternoon. At one point, she began to cry, and the older woman stopped playing. "What is it, my child? Why are you upset?" she asked.

Adele hugged Mrs. Cooper and revealed her passion for music. "I would do anything for a piano like this, but it would take my parents their lifetime to bring one home," Adele sobbed.

Mrs. Cooper patted the girl on her shoulder and told her that an old friend had gifted the instrument to her several decades ago. "Old age demands more of me, and I'll be leaving this house to live with my son… but I'd be more than happy to give this piano to you... on one condition," the elderly woman told Adele.

The girl was stunned and couldn't believe her ears when Mrs. Cooper told her she was giving away the treasured piano to her. She jumped in joy, but the older woman chimed in and explained the condition.

"I'll let you have it only if you promise me to keep it no matter what," she asserted. "No matter how many decades from now, even if I'm gone with the sands of time, you should keep it safely, will you?"

Adele cried in delight and promised Mrs. Cooper. "I PROMISE! I PROMISE! TRUST ME, GRANDMA. I WILL DO ANYTHING FOR IT," she exclaimed.

A few days later, Adele's parents were shocked to see movers outside their house. "What is going on, and why are they bringing a piano inside?" John questioned. "Adele, what's going on???"

The girl narrated her meeting with the older woman and her promise. But her parents were furious. Moreover, they were not ready to accept a gift from a stranger. They scolded Adele and demanded she return the piano, but they stopped talking to her after she constantly refused.

"Do as you wish, and if you don't want to listen to us, don't expect us to do anything for you," John yelled at poor Adele.

For the next several days, the girl's house echoed with different melodic tunes. Although Adele didn't know how to play the piano perfectly, she had a good start. One day, half of the keys from the middle section stopped playing. They were jammed, and Adele brought a repairman home to fix it.

"I'M NOT GIVING A PENNY TO FIX THAT RUBBISH!" John yelled. He was furious and wanted to get rid of the instrument. "I'll discard it at the thrift store."

Adele was crushed, but she hoped it would be fixed. Just then, the repairman opened the piano's wooden cover and found a box beneath it. Adele was stunned and realized that a small wooden casket had jammed the keys. The instrument was fixed, but something about the box baffled Adele...

She tried opening it, but it was locked. Then she opened the piano's lid again and looked deep inside to see if there was something like a key for the box. She found a tiny pointy object jammed between the piano keys and carefully pulled it out.

"Good gracious! I found the key!" Adele exclaimed. She opened the wooden chest and was stunned after seeing a stone-encrusted brooch. It looked precious and rare. Beneath the ornament lay a note, reading: "THIS PIANO BRINGS LUCK TO ITS KEEPER, AND NOW IT SHALL IMMERSE YOU IN RICHES UNTIL YOU KEEP YOUR PROMISE!

Adele froze in shock. She showed what she found to her parents, and they were stunned too. They began dreaming of how their lives would change overnight. But Adele immediately put the brooch back into the box and locked it up. Then she hurried to the older woman's house to return it…

"HOUSE FOR SALE?" she muttered in shock when she saw the sign outside Mrs. Cooper's home. She inquired with the neighbors and found out that Mrs. Cooper had already moved to her son's house in a different country. There were no traces of her whereabouts, and she'd kept her contacts highly private.

Adele returned home and reflected on Mrs. Cooper's words and the note she found. She realized that luck favored her and would continue as long as she kept the piano in her house.

She allowed her parents to pawn the brooch, and to their surprise, it fetched them over a million dollars, changing their lives for good in such a short time. They refurbished their house, stacked abundant groceries, and John even started his own woodworks business.

Several months later, the family saved enough money and retrieved the brooch. Adele put it back into the wooden chest and locked it in her almirah. Although John had more than enough money to buy several new pianos, he didn't because he realized that the one in his house was more than just a musical instrument!

What can we learn from this story?

• Don't judge something by its outward appearance because it can be precious on the inside. John said he would discard the old piano after Adele hired a repairman to fix it. But he was stunned after she found the brooch worth millions in a hidden casket in the piano's interiors.
• Follow your dreams because you may never know when luck might favor you. Despite her family's struggles, Adele harbored a passion for music and accepted the piano the older woman gave her. In the end, her love for music gave her the happy life she dreamed of.

Click here to read another story about how an older man with trembling hands shocked his caretaker by playing the piano in his room.

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