At the school beneath the great tree, Lena, Filip, and Zosia hear a strange sound from the music room and are drawn toward a mystery they do not yet understand.
Morning crept over the School under the Whispering Tree, spilling gold across the yard and the classroom windows. The old tree outside rustled softly, as if it knew a secret.
Lena, Filip, and Zosia arrived early, their school bags bouncing against their backs. First class was drawing, and they could hardly wait. Lena was already thinking about bright suns and crooked cats, Filip wanted to draw a pirate ship, and Zosia had promised to make the biggest rainbow anyone had ever seen.
They were hurrying past the music room when Lena stopped so suddenly that Filip nearly bumped into her.
"Did you hear that?" she whispered.
A faint sound floated through the door. Not singing. Not talking. Something lighter. It shimmered in the air like tiny bells tapping together.
Filip blinked. "Is somebody in there?"
"Maybe Mrs Basia is tuning the piano," Zosia said, but even she sounded unsure. Mrs Basia was never this early.
The three friends leaned closer. The corridor was empty. The music room door stood shut. Still, the strange little sound came again, soft and bright, as if it were hiding just on the other side.
Lena reached for the handle. The door gave a small creak.
From inside, the whispering sound changed at once, as if it had noticed them.
And then, very slowly, the door began to open wider on its own....