Day 586

There is a birdcage in my grandmother's attic large enough to sit inside.
I never really thought much of it, she used to be an actress so I assumed it was an old prop.
It had all these scratches on the floor, possibly from whatever shows it had been in?
She never talked about it and I never asked until she passed away and I inherited it.

I inherited a lot of her more unusual things, mostly stage props but the occasional souvenir too.
We'd bonded over our fondness for the strange, you see.
Ever since I moved that cage into my own attic I've been hearing things.
Little snippets of conversations, laughter and a woman whispering my grandmother's name.

Lucille... Lucille... Lucille Anne Mayhews where are you? You're on in 5...
I decided to post a photo of it online to see what show it was from.
The main answer seems to be a one-time showing of a play called "Our Mother's Café".
My grandmother had the leading role of the café owner's daughter who ended up dying.

It was a horror and much like plays of the time, the violence happened off stage to save on effects.
Seems the bird cage was meant to hold someone's body, held up like a marionette.
According to the forum I found myself on, the play only showed once due to an accident.
The double for my grandmother ended up choking on the strings.

My grandmother was the one meant to be in that cage but she never showed up.
No wonder she never talked about it but still, why keep the damn thing?
Last night I talked to the whispering voice, told it Lucille Anne Mayhews was dead.
I haven't heard it call her since, now it applauds at 7:15 sharp, when the play was set to end.