Chapter 2 - The Shadow

The Hollow Bell — A serialized memoir, published chapter by chapter

< previous · next

table of contents

I was standing outside the hospital. Glass walls.  Concrete patio. Green hedge.  A picnic table nearby.  The dark canopy of the tree looming overhead.

My mom had just told me my dad died.I don’t remember the exact words—just the way they hit.

I remember the silence more than anything.The sound of nothing while everything inside collapsed.

Then she turned, and was gone—through the door.  My little sister in tow.  The sky reflected off the glass.And I was left outside.Alone.

Tears streamed down my face.  I wasn’t sobbing.  I was just… gone.Scared.  Confused.  Silent.

That was the moment it opened—a kind of chasm.I wouldn’t have called it that then, of course.  I didn’t have the language.  Just a body that knew it had been severed from something it couldn’t name.

When you’re four years old and the ground drops away, what do you do?

You stop looking. You pretend it isn’t there. You go quiet. You turn away.

That’s where the seeking began.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please share them in the comments below — your voice adds to the conversation and helps other readers discover The Hollow Bell.