The Legend of the Ghost Bells

An early snow was falling upon the sleepy mountain village of Rancho Nuevo, and the Conejo family was soundly sleeping. Bernie Conejo, pulled the blanket up over his face and slowly turned over. He did not want to wake up, because he had endured another sleepless night of hearing strange noises coming from the nearby hill.

The sounds Bernie had heard the past two nights sounded like bells, along with cries of deep anguish from someone in great distress. Perhaps, it was the ghost grandfather whispered about late at night that he was hearing, or maybe even the mortal enemy of all Conejos, the mean old fox

Bernie had heard his grandfather speak in hushed tones about ghosts before. However, since Bernie was the youngest he wasn’t allowed to hear the scary stories his grandfather told the rest of the family. So one night Bernie pretended to be sound asleep in his room, and instead listened by the doorway and he heard the story about his grandfather’s escape from the jaws of the mean old fox.

Bernie despite his young age was not scared by stories of mean old foxes, or even ghosts for that matter, and he decided one night that he would go out into the darkness to confront this ghost who dared to disturb his sleep. At midnight when everyone in the Conejo family was fast asleep and dreaming about carrots, lettuce, and other delicious vegetables, Bernie decided that he would quietly sneak out.

Ding-dong, ding-dong, exactly at twelve o’clock midnight the church bells in the nearby town rang out. It seemed like they were calling out to Bernie. The cold wind was huffing and puffing, as he made his way up from the comfort of the burrow to the frigid and hostile world outside. The whirling snow made everything look spooky as it covered the landscape in a glistening ghostly white blanket.

Trees cast terrible shadows in the moonlight; they looked like messengers of doom in a bare and forbidding world, with their branches ready to grab anyone that dared to draw near to them. The once humble country church now looked like a giant white castle in a fairytale, with its cap of snow and ice, as Bernie slowly made his way up the hill.

 He had only gone as far as the big barn, where Pepe Owl lived, when he heard the fearsome noise again. The same noise which had caused him to lose sleep over several nights in a row. Faraway at first, then closer, and closer, the noise struck fear into Bernie’s heart. Could it be the mean old fox? He imagined the fox carrying him off in his powerful jaws. Bernie, almost turned back then, but he knew in his heart that he just had to solve the mystery. He pressed on in the falling snow amidst the horrible wailing coming from the top of the hill.

Then, he saw it. Just fifty yards away from him was the mean old fox. Bernie thought about his family, sleeping safely within the burrow. Now all Bernie could do was wait it out and hope that the fox did not, discover him. So he lay down beside a large log. From afar he saw the fox sniffing the wind, and then the fox turned straight towards him!

Bernie began shaking uncontrollably he could almost feel the sharp fangs of the fox upon his soft small body. He looked up again and saw that the fox was coming straight at him. When the fox was less than twenty feet away, tears began to fill Bernie’s eyes as he imagined himself becoming a ghost like the ones in the ghost stories his grandfather told. Bernie looked up once more, only to see the fox right in front of him with an evil, hungry glint, in his eyes.

Suddenly, from the top of the hill came the sound of bells. The fox glanced warily up the hill, as sounds of anguish, mixed with bells covered the landscape. Never before, had Bernie or even the mean old fox heard such terrible sounds. Then almost at once, at the top of the hill appeared the ghost. White as snow and much larger than the fox, “It’s the Ghost!” shouted Bernie. It was such a horrible sight, that even the fox became filled with terror.

The ghost was now coming down the hill very fast. The fox took one last look up the hill and took off running! Bernie was now shaking all over at the thought of what was about to befall him. Faster and faster, the ghost came down the hill until he was almost on top of Bernie. Bernie trembled, and covered up his eyes in fear.

Then there was a loud thud as the ghost hit the log in front of Bernie, so hard that it moved. When Bernie uncovered his eyes he expected to see the fearsome phantom, but instead all he saw was a kitten, all tangled up in a long string with bells on it. The kitten was within a very large snowball that had broken up when it hit the log. “Hey, you’re no fearsome ghost!” said Bernie. “Of course not.” said the kitten. “My name is Paquito!  A few nights ago I got all tangled up in a long string with bells on it, and I’ve been trying to get it off ever since!”

“I will help you Paquito.” said Bernie. “We Conejos are famous for our sharp teeth!” So Bernie helped Paquito remove the string with all the noisy little bells on it. They became good friends after that, because Bernie could finally get a good night’s sleep. As to what happened to the string with the bells on it? Well, Bernie and Paquito decided to hang it up in a nearby tree, so that whenever the wind blew, the bells would ring out and the mean old fox would think the phantom of The Ghost Bells was coming. In this way, all the little animals in the nearby woods would be safe. Now, grandpa Conejo has another story to tell. One about a brave little bunny named Bernie and a kitten named Paquito, which is known as, The Legend of The Ghost Bells.

Copyright 2016 Frank Solis All Rights Reserved