The Great Bell

Go back!" And before he could react, another, "Too late!"
"Who are you?" Zach called. "Where am I and what do you warn me against?" Silence…"Show yourself and help me get out of here!" Still no one answered. He turned then and began running back the way he'd come. At least he knew where he'd come in! Better to stay close to that spot than keep getting farther and farther from it.
Where was the corner he'd just turned? He'd come much too far to have missed it. What crazy kind of hole was this? Zach stopped again.
Up ahead was a lessening of the gloom. Yes. As he moved forward the light became more visible. It must be bright sunlight ahead! Maybe he was back at the place he fell in after all. With a shout of relief, Zach ran the last few feet as the ground began to rise. He burst into a meadow brilliant with spring sunshine.
But it was not the park. It was nowhere near the park. And it certainly wasn't silent. Birds sang, a stream bubbled and a squirrel chattered noisily above him. Especially insistent were butterfly-like insects that buzzed around his head. He waved his arms to clear them away. Then he heard it again. "Go Back!" "Too late!"
The voices were coming from the insects! He looked more closely. They weren't butterflies. They were tiny people with wings. Wings? Tiny people? He must have taken a harder fall than he thought. But shaking his head and waving them away did not discourage the strange creatures. In fact, when they knew he had really seen them, they landed on his shoulder, head and arms. One even perched on his nose and looked into his eyes. Trying to bat them away was a waste of energy. They just bounced up and back, laughing.
"Who are you?" Zach demanded "And where is this place? How do I get back to where I came in?"
"Go back?" "Too late!" came the voices.
"Back and late! Are those the only words you know?" Zach brushed one from his eyebrow.
"What else would you like to know, Human?" Zach whirled around. Standing before him was an old, old man. He was dressed in blue robes over green leggings and leaned on a stout cane. His hair and beard were white, his eyes a bright green. Zach froze. This was definitely no one he'd seen before,