--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But it’s bells at twenty-seven thousand…" description: "\"“But it’s bells at twenty-seven thousand feet as the plane breaks into the clear again, as its motion steadies again; it is bells; it is the bell as Be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/stephen-king-13_bells_but-it-s-bells-at-twenty-seven-thousand_9732.jpg" --- # But it’s bells at twenty-seven thousand feet as the plane… ![“But it’s bells at twenty-seven thousand feet as the plane breaks into the clear again, as its motion steadies again; it is bells; it is the bell as Ben Hanscom sleeps; and as he sleeps the wall between past and present disappears completely and he tumbles backward through years like a man falling…” quote by Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/stephen-king-13_bells_but-it-s-bells-at-twenty-seven-thousand_9732.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/stephen-king-13_bells_but-it-s-bells-at-twenty-seven-thousand_9732.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/stephen-king-13_bells_but-it-s-bells-at-twenty-seven-thousand_9732.jpg) > ““But it’s bells at twenty-seven thousand feet as the plane breaks into the clear again, as its motion steadies again; it is bells; it is the bell as Ben Hanscom sleeps; and as he sleeps the wall between past and present disappears completely and he tumbles backward through years like a man falling down a deep well – Wells’s Time Traveller, perhaps, falling with a broken iron rung in one hand, down and down into the land of the Morlocks, where machines pound on and on in the tunnels of the night. It’s 1981, 1977, 1969; and suddenly he is here, here in June of 1958; bright summerlight is everywhere and behind sleeping eyelids Ben Hanscom’s pupils contract at the command of his dreaming brain, which sees not the darkness which lies over western Illinois but the bright sunlight of a June day in Derry, Maine, twenty-seven years ago. Bells. The bell. School. School is. School is 2 out! The sound of the bell went burring up and down the halls of Derry School, a big brick building which stood on Jackson Street, and at its sound the children in Ben Hanscom’s fifth-grade classroom raised a spontaneous cheer – and Mrs Douglas, usually the strictest of teachers, made no effort to quell them. Perhaps she knew it would have been impossible. ‘Children!”” [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A surreal blend of time travel and childhood memory, using the school bell as a portal that collapses past and present, evoking the fluidity of nostalgia and the haunting echo of formative moments. **In simple terms:** Nostalgia and temporal dislocation Key Takeaway Memory can be triggered by sensory cues Themes nostalgia time travel memory school horror identity Mood melancholic reflective eerie Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - recalling childhood during a reunion - experiencing déjà vu in a familiar place - reflecting on how past events shape present self Key Concepts sensory trigger temporal collapse psychic resonance Practical Applications - creative writing exploring nonlinear narratives - psychotherapy using sensory cues to access repressed memories Questions to Reflect On - What sensory experiences most vividly summon past memories? - How does the blending of timelines affect our sense of self? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bells/) [Past and present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-and-present/) ## Related quotes > [“But now there were ten bells. 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I'm going to send you up where the air is rare and the view is much more than fair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/climb-aboard-jonesy-i-m-going-to-send-you-up-where-the-air-is-rare/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) [Explore all 3,589 Stephen King quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) ## More Bells quotes > [You’re crazy,” said her best friend, Angela, as the bell rang to signal five minutes before the first class on the first day back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-rees-brennan/you-re-crazy-said-her-best-friend-angela-as-the-bell-rang-to-signal/) [Sarah Rees Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-rees-brennan/) > [Your name is a golden bell hung in my heart. I would break my body to pieces to call you once by your name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-s-beagle/your-name-is-a-golden-bell-hung-in-my-heart-i-would-break-my-body-to/) [Peter S. 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Chiron's collection!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/hercules-used-noise-brass-bells-he-scared-them-away-with-the-most/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [Above the clouds I lift my wing To hear the bells of Heaven ring; Some of their music, though my fights be wild, To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/above-the-clouds-i-lift-my-wing-to-hear-the-bells-of-heaven-ring-some/) [Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/) > [You run the football for toughness. You run the ball to tell your opponent that you're as tough as they are. 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It’s 1981, 1977, 1969; and suddenly he is here, here in June of 1958; bright summerlight is everywhere and behind sleeping eyelids Ben Hanscom’s pupils contract at the command of his dreaming brain, which sees not the darkness which lies over western Illinois but the bright sunlight of a June day in Derry, Maine, twenty-seven years ago. Bells. The bell. School. School is. School is 2 out! The sound of the bell went burring up and down the halls of Derry School, a big brick building which stood on Jackson Street, and at its sound the children in Ben Hanscom’s fifth-grade classroom raised a spontaneous cheer – and Mrs Douglas, usually the strictest of teachers, made no effort to quell them. 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