The Birdcage, Gilly's Story

Gilly's inventions were subtle and artful. She didn't become an orphan or contract an unexplained illness. In fact, Gilly mostly didn't lie about herself at all. But it was easy, she discovered, to lie about her parents because when she really thought about it, she realized that she barely knew them. Of all the injustices of being a child, this might have been the greatest. All Gilly could hear from upstairs was the sound of the piano which Peter played every night.