Stars Hollow, CT 1982
The first time he attempted to break the bells, he nearly got caught. He'd gotten all the way up to the bell tower in the church, and had tried to break the bells by hitting them with a hammer. Not only did this not work, it woke up nearly everyone in town, including the reverend, who lived in a small apartment attached to the church. Luke escaped by hiding under one of the pews.
The second time, he did get caught, on his way into the church. And not knowing who else to call, he called his dad to pick him up from the station. They drove home in complete silence, and Luke just knew that he was going to get the lecture of a lifetime. At least his father's lectures were short. Just loud.
William parked his old green truck outside the house. Neither one of them made a move get out. Finally, William turned to his son. "Do you wanna tell me why you broke into the church in the middle of the night?"
At first, Luke didn't say anything. But after sitting in silence for a good bit of time, he finally caved.
"I hate the damn bells."
"You broke into the church to break the bells?" William asked.
Luke nodded.
More silence. "Well?"
"Well what?"
"Did you?"
"No."
Another pause. "Why the hell not?"
Luke looked down at his shoes. "Couldn't figure out how."
William turned to look at his son. "So the person that broke into the church the other night and rang the bells, that was you?"
"Yeah." Luke mumbled.
William nodded slowly, and thought for a moment before answering. "You know, the library probably has books about bells."
Luke looked at his father in surprise. "You're not mad?"
William shrugged. "I'm not fond of the bells myself."
Then he got out of the truck, and walked up to the house, leaving Luke to his thoughts.
The bells were out of commission by the end of the week.