The Bone Chimes- Friday Flash

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THE BONE CHIMES

By Melissa L. Webb

Momma always told me if I hear wind chimes on a windless day, be prepared. Company’s coming.

Now, she didn’t mean your neighbor’s on her way to borrow a cup of sugar. She meant the kind of company that has no business living in our world. The kind of company that could be deadly. There was only one thing that could ring the chimes on a day with no breeze. The Lost Ones.

Those were what had scared Momma the most. The creatures and spirits roaming the world, lost to Darkness. They could sneak upon you before you even knew they were there. They’d devour your soul and turn you into one of them; forced to walk the Earth, forever lost from the Light.

“That’s why we hang the chimes, Ricky,” Momma would say. “We hang them as a warning. They can’t get in if we know they’re coming. We can protect ourselves if we’re aware. That’s why we hang them.”

The Bone Chimes. That’s what Momma called them when they rang for no reason. When they played their eerie music in still air, it was a warning that ran bone deep.

That’s why I’m here now, shotgun lying across my lap. I’m ready. That music has drawn me out on my porch. I will wait here, in the stifling heat of the calm evening. My Momma has taught me well, God rest her soul. The Lost Ones will not claim my family. Not now. Not ever.

I sip my glass of iced tea as I sit here, staring out along the horizon and listening to the Bone Chimes.