Nano NovEmber: Day 2 - Evening Toll

This is day 2 of Nano NovEmber. See day 1 on what this is all about.

Prompt: The church bells sound…off. What happened?

It was just before dusk, and through the cool evening air the bells of the church started chiming, a slow yet urgent peel, demanding the attention of those within earshot.

Being a church in the centre of a small village, the population is used to the sound of the church bells. Sunday mass, a wedding or a funeral (they’ve been quite a few of those recently), even at midday, when a single chime will sound, as if marking a sense of vigilance. Always something to be expected during the daytime.

But not before the night.

Truth is, while those living may not have expected this, the town was prepared. For years, maybe centuries, every generation would impart on the next the warning of the “evening toll”. If heard, they were to return home, bolt the doors, shelter in place, and prepare for a long night. It has never happened before, and those who speak of it hoped it never will.

It’s happening now.