From my beloved late husband, Timothy Balraj (note he did not work on any of these ideas after 2014):
The Bell: fantasy aimed at young adults, using Indian mythology, set in southern India
Part 1 (2-3 chapters): Setup
Introduce boy, priest
A couple of incidents describing life in the temple set a little way from a village
Explanation of bells in general, some discussion of gods
Plan for THE Bell to be taken to city of temples etc etc (probably Kambakonam)
Laughing god-idol described
Part 2: Violence at the Temple
Temple and its priest is attacked by two men, one a bad man from nearby village, the other a stranger; bells are grabbed by the local villager man; boy sees all this from a hiding place
The local villager bad man is killed by the stranger; stranger leaves with bells
Boy finds THE bell left behind
Priest is dying; touches the bell before dying, which was his last wish
Boy grabs the laughing god-idol, but he/it is inanimate
Boy does priest's funeral pyre, but has to escape into forest with the bell and laughing god when villagers start to arrive
Part 3: Boy's Journey Begins
Boy starts travels through forest down to big river Cauvery
Boy finds kitten
Boy encounters snake goddess
Scenes of getting to know kitten
Signs of life in laughing god-idol
Part 4: Boy Meets Others
Meets a girl; kitten instrumental in bringing girl into story
Meets a man somehow…
Sighting of the evil stranger, with soldiers
Part 5: continues…
Arrive at River Cauvery and start traveling down it
Develop characters of girl and man…
(eventually do what priest wanted for the bell? meanwhile fight off evil stranger and soldiers with help from the laughing god and the kitten?? perhaps other mythological figures met along way?? ?)
