The March of The Bells

Every night at midnight, the purple clouds came out to dance with the blushing sky. Like the strike of a match, the sky lit up brilliantly with violet—Her most cherished color. Of course, it was Ginger Lee's favorite time of day—especially in Lindsonton during the March of The Bells. The bells on her shoes would tap through the blue herb garden leading to the mossy stairs of the Brown House. The moon glowed yellow as it was full today and she let the light guide her. The smell of damp wood fueled her journey up the stairs until she reached the golden knob of the Brown Door. She knocked, and the door opened quietly. No questions asked—never at midnight during the March!

"Miss Ginger Lee for Renton, please." The warm March wind blew a kiss on her cheek and the bells rang from the treetops.

"Hello, my friend! Enjoy your midnight stroll?" Renton the rat shouted from under a pink pear tree.

"Oh, yes! It was very pleasant," she grinned, her freckly nose scrunched up. "The moon is so yellow today, isn't it?"

"Ah yes! And the sky, so purple. A lovely match indeed."

Ginger knelt down to lift Renton closer to her. He was wearing his white nightcap. His slippers jingled with his own set of bells.

"I've missed you so much, Renton!" She kissed his little brown nose. "How has it been in the Brown House? How is Misses Brown?"

"Oh, dear! I have missed your company. I sure was hoping you would come by. Misses Brown has been singing all day. Sweeping the floors with hay as she always is. Tidy as ever that rat."

Ginger Lee laughs and laughs and sets Renton on a mushroom cap. She only gets to visit Renton when the planets align as they do during the March of The Bells. Although she prefers the cooler weather of the Orangeen, you can't use your bells during the Orangeen. Sure, you can skate the hills of ice and bake strawberry pies and toss cookies in sugar berries but you simply cannot use your bells.

Renton sits on the cap and takes out his harmonica. He plays the song of the Lillies and over the way Misses Brown sings the words in between passes of the broom: Lillies fall to sleep when the moon is bright and pink. And although we soon will weep, we know the secret to keep. Close to our chest, we hold the lillies to rest until the sun comes up over Lindsonton.

"I wish every day we could have our midnight meetings like this. Why can't we wear our bells every month? Every day? No matter the moon, I wish to see you, Renton."

"Oh, little Ginger Lee. If we could wear our bells every day, and as swell as it does sound, the magic would be gone."

"We would wear it out?"

"Not like that. You see, the purple clouds you love so much wouldn't look the same. The air wouldn't smell so sweet. Your bells would feel like any ordinary pair of slippers. And I would eventually be as any other friend of yours. You wouldn't come as often, and even Misses Brown wouldn't sing so much."

"I see. I would not see the magic."

"Exactly. But for the next few midnights, we can be the bestest of friends and play hide and seek like we always do! And hopefully, yes, hopefully, you will never get bored of me!"

"Will you be alive forever, Renton?"

"I am a rat. I can live for a long time but not at long as a girl."

"A long time sounds really nice," she yawns. The time is running out and her slippers are losing their jingle.

"It's time to sleep!" Misses Brown puts her broom to rest and starts humming a lullaby.

"Sweet dreams, my mice friends."

"I'm a rat!"

"Oh, yes. Sorry, Renton" She pats him on the head with her pinky.

Ginger Lee makes her way back down and across the blue herb garden. Her shoes lose their bells as she climbs back into her bed. She thinks about what Renton said. "I don't want to lose the magic. I really don't. I just want to be a girl forever who has a best mouse, I mean rat, friend." She closes her big green eyes and falls asleep into the land of the ordinary.