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			The little boy was gazing at the starlit sky through the window. It was the Christmas night, and he seemed to expect something to happen ... The little boy was alone in this room where he lived for ages ! He was born with a serious disease and since he arrived on earth, he spent a long time in this hospital. His mother died when he was young, his father had so much business to do to make things go round, and to take care of all his children. So he didn't have much time to pass in the hospital near his poor son. Once again, the little boy was facing solitude, but the loneliness of a Christmas night was harder for him. He felt like crying, but refrained, and he got up to the window to contemplate the stars shining in the night. He was dreaming peacefully among the stars, when he realized suddenly that he was hearing an unusual sound. Far from him, some bells were tolling, it seemed that somewhere in the sky, somewhere amongst the stars, a friary was making its bells toll. When the bells toll, they are announcing something. When the bells toll, they are giving something. When the bells toll, they are meaning something. And when the bells toll during a Christmas night, they are ... The heavenly sound of the bells filled his heart with joy. He stayed a long time near the window, till the bells music faded away. Then he returned to his bed and dropped off. But as soon as he arrived in the land of Nod, he heard again the bells tolling all around him. And the bells seemed to want to give him a message. When the sun made his eyes open to the Christmas day, the joy was still living in his heart. The bells had ceased. But silence is golden. Since this night, the little boy was changed. He never felt pain again because of his disease. Granted, not the slightest improvement could have been noticed in his body, nonetheless his mind was transformed. He had understood that his life could be as pretty as everybody's one, if he could transcend his pain. In fact, he realized that with the bells, he wasn't alone, he realized that the bells would be tolling for him as much as he would need, he realized that solitude doesn't exist for someone who communes with the universe. And though his disease accompanied him during his whole life and deprived him of his family, he never felt alone any more. For the bells were always near him to toll for him as soon as he needed them. And you know, when the bells toll ...
		24/12/08 Isabelle Coquinot