The morning light crept into the room through the single window, the cricket's chorus slowly giving way to the call of songbirds. The giant slept still, dreaming now of wine barrels stacked in perfect pyramids. The sun rose over the hilltop, reflecting off the pine floor and filling the room with a golden light. The giant rolled over and gathered the quilt over his face. He was awakened by the sound of the bell.
The thing was starting to get on his nerves. What was it tolling for? Bells in his town rang for a reason, the noon bell told the villagers when to stop their toils and eat lunch. The five bells rang out to call them to their pints in the local pub. Sometimes it would toll for a bit to mourn a fallen villager or to celebrate a wedding, but only for a bit and then silence. This stupid bell just endlessly rang from dawn to dusk! It's long low drone would shake the house off it's foundation if it were allowed to go on like this indefinitely.
The giant sat up in bed in anger. Then he remembered the pain in his back. It was still there, but dull enough now to not send him straight down. Encouraged by this new development, he gingerly swung his legs over the side of the bed. With what seemed a great deal of effort for such a simple act, he stood up.
If you've ever been confined to your bed due to an accident, you probably know what a great relief it is to get up and move about. It sounds maudlin, but you don't really appreciate little things until they are not available to you. If you can't move about freely, my heart goes out to you. Our giant friend, having had some time to ponder the gravity of things of this nature, thanked the stars above for the fact that he apparently had not suffered a permanently debilitating injury and did what anyone of any size would probably do in this situation. He grabbed his coat off the hook on the door, put it on and opened the door.
A long hallway stretched in both directions as far as he could see. There were doors like the door to his room spaced evenly down the hall, all closed. To his right, the sound of the bell was a bit clearer. He was torn between the desire to leave the whole place behind him and take his chances with the dog, or finding the giants that must certainly live here and inviting them to the feast. Either way the ringing of this confounded bell was driving him half nuts and he resolved that any decision he made would be made under undue pressure and possibly later regretted. The bell had to stop. He turned right and headed down the hallway towards the sound.
The floors were well made of pine and did not squeak as he slowly made his way down the hall. He crept past closed door after closed door as the bell grew louder. There were no markings on any of the doors and he didn't want to risk opening of them to discover what lay within. Maybe there were other victims of the dog recovering, maybe there were towns folk, busy preparing food for a feast he was not aware of. He really didn't want to take the time to explore the mysteries before the bell was silenced. Then he could think a little more clearly and respond to any new challenges with which he might be presented. After creeping past what seemed like a hundred doors, he finally stopped before the last door on the right. There was a simple sign upon the door. Affixed to the door were brass letters forming two words, Bell Tower.
