Alfred woke up the next morning and sunlight was beaming everywhere in the room. He walked out of bed and into the hall, where he stared at the decorations once more. With little hesitation, he ripped them down and tore them up. He shoved the bits and pieces off the hall tables, shattering glass. He stopped when he came across a set of wood-carved soldiers. He studied and ran his finger over the figurine.

Next thing he knew, he was outside chopping and carving wood. He wasn't very good at carving objects, so he mostly started out carving spears, then arrows, then shapes, then animals, then people, then faces.

Faces he saw only for a split second while working at the docks. Faces of his coworkers that he had grown familiar with in the recent months. Faces he had never seen but felt an obligation to carve. Every time he looked into the eyes of his carving, he didn't see wood, he saw humanity.

The decorations on the hall tables that he had broke were replaced with his carvings. He could feel the life surging through the once empty hallways. He felt life when he woke up to sunshine across the walls of his bedroom. He felt life when he talked to his friends at the docks. He felt life when he met knew people from any walk of life. Life was a bell and only now that it was cracked could he hear its sweet chime.