A girl and her piano

Madeline is 11 years old. She plays the piano. She has a pet cat.
She likes sitting on the porch when it rains, and she doesn't wear dresses.
Her Grandfather taught her how to play the piano. She misses him very much, and that's why she plays.
She misses her old cat too, but her new one's just as good. Almost.
Sometimes pets die, and you can replace them. Sometimes people die. Madeline doesn't think that that's fair, but it happens none the less.
When people die it's different from when pets die. A pet dies, and it's a very sad thing for a time. Eventually you get over it a little bit, it doesn't seem that bad.
But when a person dies...
-Madeline took a seat at her piano.-
...it's different. She was only 11 but she could see that it was different when a person dies.
She could see it most of all in her Mother. She was not the same. You couldn't see it all the time, but in little ways she was not the same. She seemed quieter.
Her Grandfather had been her Mother's Father. He had lived with them ever since Madeline could remember. He was always great fun to be around. He would tell stories, he would make you smile at anytime and he could play the piano. He used to tell Madeline that she was the single most beautiful girl in all the world! Her, and her mother too!

Madeline began to play. Her cat was on top of the piano, he purred along with the vibrations.
She played, and she listened to her notes. She listened closely, and could almost hear the notes her Grandfather played.
She could hear him saying to her: That's a good girl. Practice makes perfect. Just like he always used to.
In her mind's eye she could almost see her Grandfather's strong old hands playing the keys to her far right.
She remembered those hands most of all.
She kept playing, she realized her eyes were closed now. She played, and she heard her notes, and she heard her Grandfather's notes. She could hear them as clearly as she could see those skilled old hands when she closed her eyes.

All of a sudden, just like that, he was gone. She was alone in the room with her Grandfather's piano, her Grandfather's memory, and her cat.
Her notes sounded so, so lonely all by themselves.
She stopped playing. She felt silly for day dreaming like that. It seemed so real she almost wanted to believe it.
She heard footsteps outside the door. She looked up to see her Mother appear in the doorway. She wore a slightly concerned look on her face.
"Madeline, were you... were you just playing the piano?"
Madeline's brow furrowed. "Yes."
"Were you..." Her mother tried to form the question in her head, but she couldn't seem to. Almost like when you're trying to find the right words to write in a letter but all you see is the blank page.
Her mother shook her head, and smiled weakly. "Never mind, Maddie."
She turned to walk away, shot one last glance at her daughter, and said. "For a minute... I swore I could hear two people playing that piano."
She left. Turning away just in time to miss Madeline's eyes grow wide, and her face go white.