Is everything all right, Elisabeth?”
No, everything was not all right. It had not been all right since I became Der Erlkönig‘s bride, since he stole my sister away, since he gave me that flute in the marketplace, since before I could remember. It had not been all right since I locked my music away, both in my box and in my heart.
But I could not tell him so. “I‘m fine,” I said instead.