The Noontime Chime of Russet Manor
Once upon a time, in the quaint town of Elmsfield, Maine, the tranquil rhythm of life was like a harmonious mellifluous waltz. At the heart of this town was an alluring Victorian mansion known as 'Russet Manor,' a place that housed four generations and countless stories.
In 1940, a youth named William Samuel moved into the manor with his family. The manor, a symphony of ancient stones and charming flowers, well-preserved through the sands of time, was inherited by William's father, Edward Samuel. It featured an antique grandfather clock that echoed the rhythm of life throughout the mansion, and quite dramatically, it managed to chime even when it stopped.
One day, in the dusty corners of the attic, William found a dusty, ancient parchment that bore William’s birth-date, time, and a peculiar emblem of a clock. This Saint’s day, in 1942, as the clock struck 12:00 noon, William spontaneously vanished. The where and how of his disappearance were veiled in mystery. Following that, every year on Saint's Day, another Samuel was claimed by the mansion, only to disappear into thin air just as mysteriously.
Fast-forward to the present year, 1990, when the only Samuels left in Russet Manor were William’s nephew John, his wife Lisa, and their two children Katherine and Edward. Aware of the impending doom that awaited their family, they reached out to all shamans and parapsychologists for help, but to no avail.
John Samuel, a historian, found a clue in an old family heirloom that suggested an infamous witch of the 1940s, Morgana, cast a curse on an ancestor and that the curse could be undone using an amulet, the emblem of the missing clock embedded inside it. The amulet was lost in the annals of time.
One day, while playing in the manor’s park, Edward, the youngest, discovered an ancient monolith bearing the same emblem as the clock. With trepidation and boundless enthusiasm, the family dug around it and, to their surprise, found a steel box engulfed in mud. It contained the lost amulet.
Moments before the clock was ready to toll on Saint’s day, the family positioned themselves before the grandfather clock, the amulet in hand. As expected, a gust of air blew through the manor as the clock chimed, threatening to take Edward. Lisa held on to Edward tightly while John held the amulet against the clock. A blinding light surrounded them. When the light dissipated, all visible signs of struggle had quelled. To their astonishment, William and all the disappeared family members stood in the room, right as rain. The spirit of Morgana appeared, apologizing for the curse, and with a plea for forgiveness, she disappeared.
From then on, the clock in Russet Manor chimed at the stroke of noon, not as a harbinger of doom, but as a reminder of unity, courage, and the strength of the Samuel family in the face of darkness. To this day, generations have passed down the story of the mansion, the clock, and the curse, imparting lessons of love, reunion, and bravery to the family's youngest.
Nobody knows what became of Morgana's spirit. However, the story of Russett Manor remains a legend in Elmsfield, captivating its residents and every visitor it has continued to host. And through it all, the mansion stands tall, thrives, and chimes every noontime, marking the endurance and resilience of life itself.