The Lambs and the Bell Below the Hill

At dusk the Lambs heard a bell beneath the hill.

Not beyond it. Beneath.

It called each Lamb by the name its mother used, then promised a fold without wolves, weather, or shepherds. Only the chosen flock might enter. Only the chosen flock would understand.

The first Lamb found a narrow door under the roots.

[the bell rang once]

The second followed because the first had not returned to warn him.

[the bell rang twice]

By midnight, one Lamb remained. Around the door lay many hoofprints pointing inward. None pointed out.

“Come,” said the bell in her own voice. “They are waiting.”

The Lamb looked back toward the ordinary fold, where the gate stood open and no one called her chosen.

The hill opened its mouth.

[the bell rang]

[the bell rang]

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