Танхим дахь жижиг хоолой

The town hall doors stand open to the warm July evening. The harbour lies flat and gold behind the rows of folding chairs. Nick is testing a borrowed microphone on the small wooden stage. Mimi will sing tonight, and the whole room is full of quiet joy.

Gran comes in early with her stick and sits near the front. “I am delighted,” she says. Sara feels a warm pride spreading through her chest, and she cannot sit still.

Behind the curtain Mimi holds her cloth rabbit and will not let go of Sara's hand. Mimi whispers that her voice will come out wrong. Sara kneels down beside her. Sara tells her that enthusiasm matters more than a perfect note. “Grandad's songs still inspire this town.”

The room goes quiet, and Mimi's small voice opens out over the rows of chairs. The old harbour song is suddenly moving. Gran is moved with everybody else.

Halfway through the song, Mimi's grey rabbit slides off the stool. She stops and laughs at it. The accident is amusing, and the whole hall laughs with her. Nick is not amused.

The last verse of the harbour song is about boats that never came home. Sara has always found that part depressing, and tonight it makes her feel miserable. Gran leans across to her. “Were you moved, or were you just sad?”

Mimi comes down the steps with her rabbit under one arm and her cheeks red. Gran looks satisfied, and even Nick looks impressed. He plays the recording back twice. Outside on the quay Mimi is still singing, and the rabbit is her whole audience.