Lorelei "Lori" Prescott lives a happy life as a child until her mother is killed in a tornado when she was 10. Seven years later, everything changes: her widowed father is remarried, and she finds herself with a new stepmother, stepbrother, and step...
That Friday, everyone was ready for the violin recital. Esteban, Milo, and Richard were in tuxedos, and Lori was in a beautiful green dress. Soon enough, the performance started. Once Milo started playing "I See the Light", Lori played and sang the lyrics on her violin—but she barely went through the first verse when she sniffed out an ugly odor. In fact, everyone could smell it.
"¡Caramba! What is that horrible odor?" Esteban blanched.
Before anyone knew it, a skunk appeared on the stage. As scared as everyone was, they didn't want to scream, or they'd scare the skunk and get him to spray. Lori, Esteban, Milo, and Richard carefully got down from the stage, and Lori got her violin case. Everyone carefully escaped the building just as the skunk let out a nasty odor. They were all out in the parking lot, but the smell was so strong that they could barely smell it from afar.
"What's a skunk doing in the school?" Lori asked.
"I wish I knew, but we're lucky we escaped getting skunked," Esteban sighed.
"Speaking of which, the auditorium was skunked," Francisco pointed out.
Muffy was displeased with what had happened...and for one reason. "I can't believe it," she pouted. "I try to embarrass Lori by putting a skunk in the auditorium, so she would scream and scare it into spraying her—but she was smart enough to stay calm and quiet, so she could escape!" She didn't realize that everyone had heard her.
"Wait, you smuggled the skunk into the school?" Nicholas glared.
Muffy saw that everyone was looking at her, and they were all angry, especially Lori.
"I can explain," Muffy said nervously.
"Oh, you will," Nancy scolded her.
The next morning, news hit that the school would be closed for a week because that's how long it would take for the stench to come out. In the meantime, Muffy was grounded for the stunt she pulled. Nicholas was walking past Muffy's room, and when he saw her, he glared and shook his head.
"What?" Muffy asked, trying to defend herself.
"You should be ashamed of yourself, Muffy," Nicholas scolded her. "You damaged the school by bringing in a skunk and getting it to spray."
"But it's not my fault—Lori shouldn't have stolen my spotlight in the first place," Muffy claimed. "So her mom looks like Ariel—what's the big deal? I'm not going to play second fiddle to her bratty daughter."
"Oh, so Lori is to blame for this?" Nicholas glared. "Listen, Muffy, I know why you ruined her violin recital in the first place."
"Because she doesn't belong here?" Muffy smirked.
"No, because everyone likes her more than you," Nicholas snapped. "After you did last night, so do I!"
Muffy was hurt by those words. "You don't mean that," she gasped.
"Yes, I do," Nicholas insisted. He left Muffy's room, leaving her devastated.
Meanwhile, in Lori's room, she was with Esteban, who was helping her cope with what had happened. Lori was showing him the possessions she treasured very much.
"Your mother's music box is beyond beautiful, Lori," Esteban smiled.
"Thank you, Esteban," Lori grinned. "Look at this one." She showed him another music box—this looked like the one from The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning.
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"This looks like the one from that Little Mermaid movie where we see Ariel's mother," Esteban remarked.
"Yes, Queen Athena's fate was like my momma's," Lori declared. "When we saw that movie, Daddy made this for me. Whenever I miss her, watching this movie helps heal my aching heart." She opened the music box, and it played that beautiful song from the movie—and she couldn't help but sing.
Wait, I remember that
How I know that song
I remember sitting in the moonlight and that feeling
What's that feeling?
I remember
Yes, how I know that song
Though it's been so long
I remember happiness without a floor or ceiling
What's that feeling?
I remember
Dorothy and Esteban loved the way Lori sang.
Oh, I remember her
And how we were
I remember wanting what the evening would be bringing
I remember singing under the bright blue endless sky
Waves try to measure
The days that we treasure
And I remember, I remember music
And I'm never going back to the silent law they wrote
I will sing in every tempo
Every last chromatic note
For I, I remember her
I remember music
And I remember love!
Love!
Lori's voice rang out through the house, and Bryan and Nancy were right by the door.
"She takes after her mother," Bryan smiled.
But when Dorothy saw Nancy, she thought of Muffy and hissed at her.
"It's okay, Dorothy—Nancy won't hurt me," Lori said. She turned to her stepmother and said, "Sorry, Nancy."
"Don't worry, dear," Nancy said.
"Goodness, Lori, just when I think your voice can't get any prettier, it does," Esteban smiled.
Nobody knew that Muffy was listening to the conversation, and she was jealous at everyone for thinking Lori was beautiful.
"I know what you mean," Bryan said. "She's the prettiest girl I've ever seen."
"Her voice is like 1000 violins," Esteban smiled.
Muffy's heart sank as she heard the compliments, and she ran back into her room crying.
"Do you want to go out with me to the local pizza parlor?" Esteban offered.
"I'd love to," Lori smiled. "I just hope they'll let cats in there."
"This parlor has a special wing for pets," Esteban smiled. "After that, we can go down to Prescott's Music."
"Okay," Lori smiled back. She picked up her violin case. "Come on, Dorothy."
