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The Story:
The bell tower chimed for its midday fill of admiration from the busy streets below. Everyone stopped in their tracks to gaze at it, as was their custom. But the tower was rarely the subject of their murmurs.
Wild rumors about the ringer circulated the city, growing more sensational every year.
“You can’t go up there, Lyren! There’s no ladder!”
“I don’t need a ladder.”
He pulled the hood of his shirt over his head.
“Lyren, no! You don’t know what’s up there! They say it’s a horrible creature, capable of…”
“Exactly. No one really knows. That doesn’t make you curious?”
“No. It makes me cautious!”
Giving his friend a smirk, he jumped onto a building’s side and scaled it. He pulled himself onto the roof and looked down at his friend.
“I don’t have the patience for caution.”
He began running across the rooftop. Right at the end, he leapt from the edge, his arms outstretched through the cool air. His hands landed their grip on the windows to the tower.
Lifting himself up to the windowsill, he hopped through a narrow opening and landed in the darkness on the inside.
The outline of the slumbering bells loomed above him. It’s true what they’ve said. He saw no evidence of a way to access the tower.
The silhouette of a human form was lurking in the shadows.
“Why do you disturb my tower?”
“Are you the ringer?”
“I am the one who asks those below to remember time.”
“Helping us stay on time is a noble goal, to be sure, but I’d like to know…”
The silhouette moved closer, and Lyren realized that a translucent shadow was all there was to the form. The low whispery voice interrupted him.
“No, Lyren. I don’t remind you of what time it is. I remind you of what time is left.”
“Are you saying you’re warning us every day?”
“It seems only fair to do so.”
The mystery of the tower was leading to more questions than answers. Still, one question stood out and begged to be answered.
“Warning us of what?”
“Of me, of course.”
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