There Was a Bell

There was a bell.

It cried out a silent lullaby as the ship, mighty yet small, returned to the port to release people back into their lives of familiarity and love. The ships all smiled as they watched them rejoice in their reunions. Somewhere, a clothes thrower and her little lady both embraced a voyager, and around the corner a teenager ran to discover his Labrador retriever who immediately stopped prancing in the mud and tackled his boy with dirty hugs and slobbery kisses, and down the road the baker’s daughter watched the teenager and you could almost see as her heart tipped and tripped and fell right into his. Little did she know, he was in love with her too.

The night came after this joyful reunion. The baker’s daughter sat at the top of a rock wall beside the pier, staring down into the ocean water that was several meters below, throwing rocks in and noting where its splashes rippled. A few paces behind, hiding in the bushes, was the teenager. She was thinking of him, and he was thinking of her.

The teenager wanted ever so badly to be hers. He wanted to know her name, and he planned to ask her now that he was home. Before his journey he had never found the courage to do it, but his expedition had given him what he needed.

The baker’s daughter wanted to be his. She imagined what it would be like to cradled in those warm arms for hours at a time. It would be her favorite place in the entire universe, if only she could work up the will to talk to him. But she knew she could not ever do that, and when she had seen him earlier that day, she realized that a life without him was not worth living. And that’s why she had come here to jump.

He thought about what he was going to say moments from now. Well -- he knew what he was going to say, but he practiced it again and again, just in case. However, he shifted his weight while crouching there, and his footstep was heard, and she glanced around. At first, she saw no one, but she knew she was not alone. “Who’s there?” she demanded into the darkness. This was his opportunity. He took a deep breath and stepped into the moonlight.

The baker’s daughter’s heart sank irritably. She was supposed to be able to do this on her own terms at her own time. And now he was here and he was going to try to talk her out of it.

“Why are you here?” she spat.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he returned.

She paused, considering it, then continued, “Please leave me alone. I just want to be alone.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” He took a step towards her and smiled hopefully.

“Please just leave me alone.”

She peered over the edge of the rocks where she was sitting and continued to watch the waves. He just watched her, feeling doubtful for mere but a moment.

“C’mon. Let’s go down to the pier. I want to show you something.” He extended his arm out to her, inviting her to take it. “It’ll be fun; I promise.” She looked up at him for a long time, questioning if he was being serious or just trying to make her feel worse than she already did. But he never dropped his hands and his smile just grew. She glanced back down at the water, and its enticing beckoning still pleaded for her to jump, pleaded for her to end it now before he humiliated her and worsened everything. She closed her eyes, trying to ignore its call, and she held her breath, and she reached up and took his hand.

They wandered down towards the dock, hand in hand still. He talked the whole way down, explaining his parents’ love story. When they got there, he stopped by one of the posts on the pier and gestured toward a rusty, old bell that just sat there - one she had never noticed before.

“Look here,” he said, pointing toward engravings on the outside facing away from the pier.

“Initials,” she said as she realized what it was.

“Yes. S and K.”

She giggled underneath her breath, finding safety in holding his hand, and she squeezed it tighter. At any moment, she knew it was going to happen. He was going to throw her hand to the side and laugh and tell how it was all just a joke. But he never did.

“Here,” he said, half to himself, half to her, and he pulled out a pen. He began to scratch away at the outside of the bell facing them, carving into it his own initial.

“T,” the baker’s daughter noted aloud, eyeing him curiously.

“Tyson,” he responded softly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze, then he waited, returning her look of curiosity with his own.

Her cheeks lit up a bright pink and she giggled. Was he really writing their initials beside each other on a bell? “B.”

He continued to wait though. That was not good enough. He wanted to know her name.

“Bell,” she continued, and his grin literally lit up his entire face.

Bell. Her name was Bell.

Then he chuckled, “Hey, just like this bell.”

She returned his chuckle with more of a nervous laugh, and he looked at her again. “Nice to meet you, Bell.” Then he returned to his carving and engraved her initial onto the bell.

From up on the rocks, a man watched. His arms were crossed, and he was obviously unhappy with this blissful meeting. He let it continue for a little while, but eventually, he made his way down onto the pier.

“Hey,” he called out to them, and they both jumped, startled. It was the voyager. Tyson immediately dropped her hand, and she bit her lip and looked down. She had lost her safety net. He had let her go.

“Father,” Tyson said, his eyes dropping as well. “Father, I can explain--”

“Get yourself home this very moment!” He was not going to have it with his son. He was fuming.

Tyson glanced at Bell apologetically, then turned away and up toward the pathway that led him home.

Tyson’s father turned his eyes on Bell. He decided it was best to just get straight to the point. “My boy is engaged to be married.”

Her heart sank. She knew it. She knew he was too good to be true.

His father continued, “And we can’t have him causing trouble with you in that case, now can we?”

“What are you suggesting?” she managed to squeak, and he smiled at her.

“Don’t struggle, and this won’t hurt a bit.”

She swallowed and managed a reply, “I won’t.”

Tyson dreamed of her that night. His heart yearned for the warmth of her fingertips again. He did not want to go through with the arranged marriage. He wanted to marry Bell.

The next morning Tyson’s dreams came to an abrupt halt as he was awoken by his father. “Tyson!” He shook Tyson’s bed as he spoke. “I was walking by the pier this morning... You have to come see!”

As they made their way toward the dock, he noticed a crowd of people surrounding it, and some of the women nearby screamed and hid their faces. Mothers kept their children from coming close. What was going on? He had never felt so terrified in all his life. Nothing on his expedition could have scared him more than this moment did.

When they got there, Tyson shoved his way to the front of the crowd, his mind racing while his heart raced faster. He feared for what could possibly be going on, but he already knew the answer.

There was a Bell.