A Girl in the Belfry

Submitted by Brenda:

Robert took me out to dinner.  He was a little quiet, but seemed to have a lot of interesting experiences to share.  He had traveled around Africa and Europe, and (according to him) saved a France-based charity from going bankrupt by literally going door to door for them to ask for funds.

He was back home in the states to finish up his undergrad degree and worked part-time at a local church.  It was the oldest church in the area, and was really beautiful.  He asked me if, after dinner, I wanted to go and see it, since he had a key.  It sounded fun and kind of daring.

I don't know how many of you have been in churches at night, but I think they can sometimes be creepy in the daytime.  Seeing it at night was really freaky, but in a good way.  We walked up the aisles, around the pews, up to the altar, and up to the balcony.  Robert was coming out of his shell a little bit and was cracking jokes.  He seemed to be feeling more comfortable with me, and I with him.

He then asked me if I wanted to see the bell tower.  Ooh yes.  He led me up there and we caught the view, which was beautiful.  He excused himself for a moment and climbed down the ladder, then closed and locked the door behind him, locking me inside.

"Uh... Robert?" I called after him.

He made a fake evil laugh and said, "I'm just kidding.  Here..."

The sound of fiddling with the door.  It didn't open.  I called his name again.  "Robert?"

I heard him mutter, "Shit!  God damn it... oh fuck..."

I looked up, hoping to not be struck by lightning, then looked down and asked, "What's the problem?" even though I had a sneaking suspicion as to what it was.

He said, "I thought that this was a master key to everything.  It won't open this door."

I called down, "Well, you're going to have to find some way to open it.  I'm not staying up here all night."

Silence.  Then, "Any way you can climb onto the roof from there?  I can open a window and pull you in."

I was incredulous.  "Are you crazy?  Climb down from the steeple?"

"That's what I would do."

"What you would do is irrelevant!  You would also lock me in here!"

He groaned.  "It wasn't on purpose!"

"Just get me out!"

"Fine, but I'm not breaking this door down.  I don't want to get in trouble."

I told him, "You're already in trouble.  If you don't get this door open in five minutes, then I'm calling my parents, and you'll like that even less!"

He didn't manage to open it, so I ended up calling my father, who met Robert downstairs and managed to jimmy the door open.

As we all went downstairs together, Robert actually said, "I told her not to go in there, but she..."

I wheeled on him and yelled, "You locked me in there!  And now you're lying about it?  I never want to see you again!"  And I didn't.


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Happy Easter, one and all.