By Zoe S. - 2024
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‘Tis the truth and nothing more:
My final bell tolls distantly, yet booms—
Loud enough that it cannot be ignored.
Never silenced, yet never fully embraced.
This "final" bell has been ringing for eternity—
It chimes all the way to a count of 15, then halts...
The bell-ringer yearns for the 16th ring,
Wants his worldly purpose to conclude...
Wants his ‘shift’ to be over...
But his hubris controls the mallet, and his ego weakens his arms.
Maybe I am the bell-ringer?
Maybe I don’t want the bell to stop ringing?
Maybe the absence of the bell would upset people?
Maybe the passersby would be confused if they didn’t hear the ring?
Maybe they would weep without the bell—
Unable to hear its bellowing melody?
Maybe a worse chime would take its place...
No! That cannot happen.
The bell cannot be replaced...
The bell-ringer cannot be replaced!
I cannot be replaced.
This bell is... perfect.
The bell-ringer has importance!
The bell-ringer is PERFECT.
I am the bell-ringer...
I am... perfect.
The bell must stay...
The bell will ring another day,
The bell-ringer will suffer,
All so that he—no, I—won’t be replaced…
One day, it’ll dawn on him that he isn’t needed...
That people don’t care about the person inside the tower...
They just like the music...
The people could care less about the passion he puts into hitting the bell.
In the end,
He’ll throw himself out of the tower before the 16th ring,
Leaving his job complete, yet incomplete...
Just because he wants someone to notice him.
Too bad for him... all that he... all that I—
Will ever be known as...
Is the bell-ringer who couldn’t hit the final note.
The man who got what he wanted,
Not how he wanted it.