I Found A Cage In My Grandfather's Basement. He Keeps Something Inside It.

Section 1: A Tragic Beginning

Music, a universal language that transcends time. It measures the arbitrary units of relative strength that we call time. The future for one person is the past for another, and time, oh how capricious it can be. But let's not get carried away with philosophical musings just yet. Let's start with my beginning and see where it takes us.

Ten years ago, a drunk driver took the lives of my parents. He was driving on the wrong side of the road with a blood alcohol level of 0.22. At the age of 10, my twin sister May and I became orphans. Over the course of ten years, the pain has largely subsided, though it has never completely disappeared. There are still days when I miss my parents dearly – when I long for my mother's gentle kiss on my forehead in the morning or my father's laughter filling a room with joy.

May and I went to live with our grandfather, whom we affectionately called Papa, and for a while, life went on. He did his best to fill the void left by our parents, and though it wasn't perfect, we loved him for it.

Section 2: Life Goes On

May and I remained close as we grew up and attended the same state university. Life followed its usual course until this year when Papa was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer and was ripped away from our lives as well. The funeral was modest – just us, a few family friends, and his brother. We had very little family left outside of Papa's distant brother, Tom.

Tom lived nearby, but he and Papa didn't get along well, although neither May nor I knew why. It was even a surprise when he showed up at the funeral. He didn't say much and left quickly. May and I returned from our university to handle the aftermath of Papa's passing.

Section 3: Uncovering Family Secrets

As we sorted through Papa's belongings, we stumbled upon a hidden compartment in his study. Inside, we found a collection of old letters and photographs that revealed a side of Papa we never knew. It turns out that Tom was not just a distant relative but our father's estranged brother.

Curiosity piqued, we delved deeper into the letters and discovered a long-standing family feud between Papa and Tom. The reasons for