The tape that wouldn’t play

Found an old reel-to-reel in the attic today—sixty-year-old, rusted spools, label faded to ghost. Played it on the old machine I kept for nostalgia. Nothing but static, then a whisper of a voice: 'This one’s for you, Pernille.' My own voice, from 1987. The song never aired. I’d forgotten I’d recorded it. Now I’m sitting here, staring at the crackle, wondering if the silence between notes is where the real music lives.