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Lily was folding laundry when she found it: a bright green sock, unlike any other sock she had ever seen. It was striped with yellow and had a small embroidered smiley face on the toe. She was missing a sock, so she slipped it on her left foot, and pulled the matching blue one onto her right foot. As soon as her foot was inside the green sock, she felt a strange, happy vibration. Then, it started to hum.

Not a loud hum, but a gentle, cheerful little tune, a bit like a bicycle bell mixed with a happy bird’s song. Lily’s right foot, encased in the boring blue sock, was perfectly silent. Her left foot, however, was having a concert.

“Huh,” Lily said, wiggling her toes. The hum got a little louder. She walked across the room, and the sock started to sing a little faster, a jaunty, skipping tune. Her dog, Barkley, who was snoozing on the rug, lifted his head and wagged his tail furiously. He seemed to love the music.

Lily tried to get the sock to sing something else. She tried to make it sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” but the sock only knew one song: its own happy, little ditty. She tried to make it sing a sad song, but the sock just sang the same happy tune, a little slower this time, as if to say, “Even when you’re sad, I’m here to cheer you up!”

The next day at school, Lily wore her usual shoes, but inside her left shoe was the singing sock. As she walked to the bus, her foot sang its little song, and she couldn’t help but smile. It was like she had a secret, happy soundtrack playing just for her.

She wore the singing sock whenever she needed a little boost, a little dose of secret joy. It didn’t make her an amazing singer, and it didn’t grant wishes, but it made her left foot happy, and that was more than enough.