Chirin's Bell

The Story

A wise woman once philosophized: "Are people born wicked? Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?" Either way, they had a childhood, they had a father and they had a mother like so many do.

But why does wickedness happen?

Well, then. Let's go back to a long time ago, in a ranch far from the nearest shore to Red Rose Island, where the snow was gently falling. It was a very peaceful little ranch in a very peaceful place. In this ranch, there lived a flock of sheep, who treated each other like family and a shepherd to guide over them.

One cold winter day in January, he was there in the sheepfold to witness the birth of a new lamb. It was white and cute like a ball of wool. The shepherd thought it was so special that he had to give this new lamb a very special gift.

"Let's put this golden bell on you so that you will never be lost."

When the little lamb heard the bell's ringing for the first time, he was in love with it, and thus, the gift was accepted. He would wear it for every single day of his life, for the cord that held the bell around his neck was made of elastic material that the shepherd had spent most of his savings on.

In spring time, the sound of the bell swayed with the wind against the grassy meadow and the grazing sheep and so, the baby's name became Chirin. Every day, he would discover something new to add to his knowledge of life, like a little green frog that he found at the bottom of a silver bucket. Curiously, he lurched his head all the way in and the bucket was now attached to his head. But it wasn't completely stuck even after he lifted his head and upper body up while sitting on his haunches. His front legs had somehow managed to take the bucket off without effort and when he could see again, he could see that little frog dangling off of his nose...then falling off. With the little frog now camouflaged by the grass, Chirin found it difficult to look for it again and he decided to go back home when the time had come.

A few days later at the stroke of midday, he heard the wind of a howling sound that caused his blood to freeze. He could feel it striking a blow so hard that it went into his soul and as his fright increased, it had given him the strength to run.

"Daddy! Daddy!" he called to one of the rams nearby.

The ram with the horns as gold as the bell of his son met Chirin with a positive smile.

"What's is that howling noise? What does it mean?" the little lamb chirped.

His father spoke to him in a wise, yet playful tone."That's Wor saying, 'I'm going to eat you!' Beware the wolf named Wor, my son, for he feasts on the tender meat of us sheep."

Chirin didn't understand what his father said. Why would a wolf eat something like a sheep? Clover leaves are much better, and delicious.

Or so he thought...

One night...when a half crescent moon turned red in the evening sky...

Wor flew like the wind as he climbed down the mountain toward the ranch where Chirin lived.

First, he took out the guard dog, ripping out his throat before he had a chance to shout "Wor is coming!"

Some of the sheep woke up just in time to see him enter the barn and the first two sheep he had picked for his dinner, suffered from having their necks broken by his powerful maw. But the scene grew bloodier by the minute as the rest of the sheep felt their lungs, their horns, their legs and their hearts ripped open by the sharp fangs of Wor the wolf. It wasn't just the rams, but the ewes and the lambs too. Blood stained the walls and floor, the sobs turned into screams and not a single sheep was spared in this desperate struggle for life and death that took place in the darkness.It was a bloody catastrophe...