The Glass Bell

Snow was falling on the housetops and the green trees were now white with snow crystals. Bella looked out of the window of her small house. Her mum had promised to take her to the shops. Christmas was coming and Bella thought she might see Santa in his grotto. “Come on then, Bella, get your boots on and your thick red coat. I’ll take you into the centre of town.”
“Can we go to that special shop that’s just opened in Spark Street ?”
“Of course, Bella. We’ll go anywhere you want to go.”
Bella finished putting on her stripey scarf and gloves and they were off. It was a short walk into town, past the duck pond and the butchers and the post office, and then along the windy street where all the houses looked as if they were falling down. It was still snowing and Bella brushed off the snowflakes as they fell, from her bright red coat.

Santa had his grotto beneath the Christmas tree on the high street. “Can we go straight to Spark Street ?” asked Bella. “Okay,” said her mum. Spark Street was full of decorations, and now, at four o’clock, the lights were on, making the whole street an illuminated fairytale. The shop Bella wanted to see glowed in the dark. It was a magic shop, full of charms and figures of witches riding on broomsticks, elves sat on tree stumps and fairies sat by flowers. In the window were many things, but a crystal glass bell and a magical glittering cloak dominated the window. The glass bell had a ruby rose at the base of its handle and was mounted on a purple satin box with silver stars and yellow crescent moons on it. Printed in large letters behind the bell it said, RING ME AND I WILL DO MY MAGIC, THE MAGIC OF THE ROSE.

Bella thought that she must have it, a magical bell and a beautiful glittering cloak. The cloak was wonderful, sparkling with glass beads and spangles.
“Can I have them, Mummy? Do we have enough?”
“Of course, Bella. It will be my special treat as it’s Christmas.”
Inside the shop, a woman in a flowing violet gown came to assist them. It seemed she had an assistant too, a tiny dwarf in black shiny pants and a green hat.
“Hello,” said the dwarf, “what magic can we sell you today?”
“I want the crystal glass bell and the glitter cloak please,” said Bella.
“A wise choice,” said the dwarf. The woman in the shop looked very approving too.
“Wrap them up, Pee Wee,” said the woman.
“Certainly, Diendra,” said the dwarf.
“This is a most special cloak,” said Diendra, “ it will take you to a most wonderful place.”
“And the bell,” said Pee Wee, “will help you too.”

Bella’s mother thought these are strange people, but I suppose they are selling magic, and it is magic Bella is wanting to buy. Bella couldn’t wait to get home, but first they must stop off at Santa’s grotto. He gave Bella another present but she was sure it would be nothing like the magical gifts from Diendra and Pee Wee. The two of them were getting cold, so they put on a bit of speed as they trudged home through the snow. When they got back home, Snowdrop Gardens where they lived, was covered in a white blanket. In some of the windows were many coloured flashing lights; red and violet, yellow and emerald. They sparkled like living jewels in the blackness of the early night.

Bella went up to her bedroom in the roof of the house. It was a dormer bungalow, with a window looking out onto the street. Bella took the cloak out of its box and wrapped herself in it. She then opened the box with the glass bell in it. The clapper on the bell was a crystal heart. It tinkled when she moved it, a fairy tinkling like stardust and magic and Cinderella tales. As Bella stood in the dormer window of leaded glass panes she could see a whirling mist of glitter snow. And then a magic fairy materialised before her very eyes. She was dressed all in pink with rosebuds attached to her gown.“I heard the bell,” she said. Bella had opened her window and was leaning out to the fairy.
“I am the fairy of the bell, and I am called Rosebud. Do you have a special wish ? I can take you anywhere in my magic sleigh, as long as you wear the glitter cloak.”
Bella thought long and hard, and then said, “Can I go to fairyland? I want to see the crystal palaces of fairies and elves.”
“Of course,” said the fairy of the bell. “My land is made from magic. Rose petals fall from the sky and everywhere are jewel houses and crystal glass palaces.”

Soon Bella was flying through the air in the fairy’s flying sleigh. The bell fairy held onto Bella so tight that she could not possibly fall from the sleigh. They travelled over the rooftops, over fields and farms and rivers and forests, and then they ascended higher and ever higher until Bella saw an ivory and gold gateway. In big bold letters it said FAIRYWORLD. It was a world in the sky. It had gold pavements and emerald and ruby houses and beautiful flowers that climbed up to the crimson and purple heavens.

“Is this what you wanted to see, Bella?” asked the fairy.
“Yes,” said Bella.
“Come on in to my house, Bella.”
The walls were of crystal and there was a large sapphire table and topaz chairs. And there, by a roaring fire, was Diendra and Pee Wee.
“So, you have come to our world,” said Pee Wee. “It is a magical world and you are privileged to come here.”
Diendra smiled at Bella who was one of the few mortals to see Fairyworld.
“This was your wish,” said Diendra, “ but tomorrow it will all be over. You have had a vision of splendour denied to most mortals. When you go back to Snowdrop Gardens we must take the cloak and the glass bell from you. You cannot come here again.”
“But that seems unfair,” said Bella, “my mother bought them from you.”
“You bought magic and magic does not last, Bella. You have had a most wonderful trip. Can’t you see it would be greedy to expect more.”
“Greedy ?” said Bella, “I think you are cheats. You are going to take the cloak and the bell back and they are mine.”
“You paid for this, Bella. We took the veil from your eyes and let you see the magic. There aren’t many mortals can say that.”
Bella stamped her feet in a rage. They were going to take away the cloak and the bell.
“We can always leave you here,” said Pee Wee. “We will go back to Spark Street. You can stay here.”
“No,” said Bella panicking inside, “that’s unfair. I want my mum and dad and my pet hamster, Sybil.

The magic folk thought about this little problem. Bella did have a point: her mother had paid for the magic items.
“Well let’s compromise,” said Diendra at last. “You can go back home and you can keep the glass bell, but its magic will be severely restricted. It will only work if you are in extreme difficulty.”
“That seems fair,” said Bella, anxious to keep her gift.
So, after a feast at the table of Diendra and Pee Wee and the fairy, Bella got ready to go back home. Flying over the rooftops she passed Santa in his sleigh, and then she recognised the town where she lived, the big clock tower and the old bridge over the Greenbottle river. Then she saw the houses of Snowdrop Gardens and in a twinkling of an eye the sleigh pulled up at her house.

Bella climbed out of the sleigh and crawled through the dormer window. Rosebud the fairy, took the glitter cloak from her but left her with the glass bell. “Remember,” said Rosebud, “only use the bell if you are in extreme difficulty.”
“Certainly,” said Bella, amazed at her experiences. She lay down on her quilty bed and soon was drifting off to sleep. That night she dreamed many things - how like a dream had the time in Fairyworld been. Reality and fantasy were merging into one, so much so that when Bella woke up she didn’t know if she had just been dreaming it all. But in the morning she saw the rose petals on her carpet that had fallen from Rosebud’s dress. It was no dream.

At breakfast Bella said to her mum, “Can we go to that shop in Spark Street again, Mum?”
“Why Bella,” her mother said. “I bought you the bell and cloak, haven’t they brought you magic ?”
“I want to see Pee Wee again and Diendra.”
“Okay then, but I don’t think we will be buying anything.”
No, Bella thought to herself, they only take it back.

Bella put on her boots and her thick red coat and, with her mother tagging along, they approached Spark Street. All the illuminations had gone and the street was in blackness. Where the magic shop had been was simply an empty window with a ‘For Sale’ sign in it.
So, thought Bella, magic does not last. They told me that. How long will it be, she secretly thought to herself, before I am in extreme difficulty? I wonder, thought Bella. I wonder.