Skyedive - Chapter 36, Time Loops

In today’s episode we read the chapter 36 – Time Loops -  in which Farfalla devises a plan to preserve what little time she had with Marius, no matter the cost.

This week's podcast partner is Something, Rather Than Nothing: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/something-rather-than-nothing/id1473313040

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The Skylark Bell is brought to you by: Phaeton Starling Publishing and Things with Wings Productions.

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

Things with Wings Productions presents: Chapter 36 of The Skylark Bell, Skyedive. I am your host, Melissa Oliveri.  

In last week’s episode Farfalla made a failed attempt to reconnect with Marius.

In today’s episode we read the chapter 36 – Time Loops -  in which Farfalla devises a plan to preserve what little time she had with Marius, no matter the cost.

Today’s podcast partner is Something, Rather Than Nothing. Host Ken Volante does a phenomenal job of bringing art philosophy to the forefront and finding unique perspectives through his roster of guests. You can find an interview with me on the Something Rather Than Nothing podcast on my website, just check the link in the shownotes. 

Now, it’s time to settle in… grab a blanket, and a warm drink… and let’s get started.

After Marius disappeared, I stood in the same spot for ages. 

I couldn’t believe what I’d done in a moment of blind rage. I wasn’t even sure exactly where I’d sent him. Eventually my legs grew tired and gave out from under me. I crumpled to the ground like a rag doll, and lay there, scratching at the forest floor with my fingernails, asking the earth why it must be this way. She didn’t provide an answer, but I think I may have felt her shrug. Even the earth doesn’t know …or doesn’t care.

What was it all for then, gaining this power, these abilities? Talking to trees, controlling the behaviour of animals, hypnotizing people with my voice so they do my bidding, being able to transform objects so they appear as other objects, moving through time and space… what was it all for if I am only to end up alone again and again?

I am tired of the vanishings. I am tired of heartbreak. I am tired of being hurt and angry. I just want love, and joy, and hope. I miss hope most of all. With half of me trapped inside a tree, there is no end in sight to this misery, no hope of ever returning to my real life. No hope of ever holding those I love most in my arms. All I have left are the joyful memories of my youth. My time with Marius, my time with Elisabeth. 

The memory of those times is what I must focus on.

I don’t know how much time I spent there, my face pressed against the soil and fallen leaves, but at one point a thought entered my mind. I started thinking about the bell. The night the bell was granted its powers was the night the entire druid tribe was massacred, the bell was in my hands when I awoke on the beach in 1700s Scotland and found myself centuries away from my beloved Elisabeth, the bell was in my hands when I was thrown off the cliff and went even farther back in time, the bell was in the window at Meadow Lane when Marius disappeared during the terrible winter of 1925… and just now, smashing the bell to the ground sent Marius… I don’t even know where! 

But every time it’s the bell, the bell, the bell! 

~~~~~~

Farfalla sits up and wipes the tears from her eyes with the back of her soiled hand. She wipes her palms on her dress and picks up the Skylark Bell. She stares at it for a long time, analyzing. The more she thinks about it, the more she realises the bell is to blame for all her troubles.

Farfalla tucks the bell back into her pocket and expertly navigates her way through the forest. She reaches the fields, turns, and marches decisively toward the cliff. The tall grass sways on either side of her as she forges a path through the field, her eyes staring straight ahead. Once she steps out of the grass, she feels the wind lift off the ocean and whip her hair up. Farfalla begins to run. She races full speed on the slick dewy grass straight toward the edge of the cliff without hesitation. She stops at the very last moment, her toes practically hanging off the edge, and abruptly swings her arm back as far as it will go. She heaves a deep breath, and with all her might, she channels her heartbreak and devastation into the bell as she catapults it above her head and over the edge of the cliff. The sun reflects off its silver metallic surface as it spins through the void as if in slow motion, cutting through the air on its way down. Farfalla watches its descent with a strange mix of satisfaction, disdain, fear, and uncertainty. She should never have created that cursed object in the first place, even if it means she and Marius would have never met! The bell has caused too much heartache for too many people. She watches as the bell hits the sea, breaking through the surface of the water with a violence she didn’t expect. Farfalla feels a strange sensation, like a ripple in the air surrounding her and in the ground beneath her feet. The sensation is vaguely familiar, and she digs through her mind to recall where and when she felt this way before, but the memory is too distant to resurface, and she can feel a dizzying darkness closing in.

What Farfalla fails to realise, is that the bell hitting the water both closes and opens her time loop. It sends her younger self flying off the boat and into the sea, causing her to wake on the beach in 1700s Pòcaid. From there she is eventually thrown off the cliff, where that bell is lost until Shelta finds it and gives it to Marius. In the meantime, Farfalla creates the original Skylark Bell at the druid encampment where she eventually finds half of herself locked inside a tree while the other half throws the bell off the cliff. At this point the loop repeats itself.

~~~~~~

An ocean away and trapped in her own time loop, Magpie has come to a realisation. As the story repeats itself, remnants of previous iterations, and even pieces of Farfalla’s time loop, are present in her mind in the form of memories. At first, they are vague, almost like a dream or psychic vision, but as she lives through the cycle over and over, they become more and more concrete until finally she can recall her entire life before having lived it. At long last, Magpie is now fully aware of the time loop, and she has a plan to close it once and for all.

Magpie’s sneakers scrape against the gravel road as she races toward town. Today is the day. Tomorrow morning, she and Lucas will go to The Early Bird where Mrs. Kestrel will inform them that Farfalla passed away the night before. That’s tonight. 

Magpie woke up this morning with the memory of the woman, the real Farfalla, appearing in her room just before she took her last breath. She remembers Farfalla burning the letter Old Magpie had written to try and stop her younger self and Lucas from going to Scotland. She then recalls grabbing Farfalla’s arm and using Farfalla as a conduit to time travel a few paces into the future to try and warn her younger self by scribbling I. Am. Not. Farfalla. on the back of a sketch. She remembers failing. She remembers dying. But today will be different...

The dust settles behind her as Magpie turns the corner toward Farfalla’s little house with the blackberry bushes and bird feeders. This is her first time coming here... again. Luckily, she knows her way around. Despite being a teenager, she’s lived here for decades, multiple times. Magpie walks up the steps with an air confidence she’s not entirely sure she feels on the inside and lets herself in the house.

Thank you so much for listening.  Join me next week for Chapter 37 – Here’s the Plan – in which Farfalla and Magpie finally come face-to-face.

The Skylark Bell is brought to you by Phaeton Starling Publishing and features original music by Cannelle. If you are enjoying this story, please consider leaving a rating or a review, they are both greatly appreciated. You can also support my work by subscribing to Patreon or Ko-Fi, where you get early access to episodes as well as MP3 downloads of the music, artwork, behind the scenes videos and more! You can also find The Skylark Bell exclusive merch on my website, www.theskylarkbell.com. Just check the show notes for all necessary links.

Once again, thank you for listening – I’m Melissa Oliveri, writer, host and producer of The Skylark Bell Podcast. 

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