A warning, this story discusses suicide.

This week we’re bringing you a story from the Rumble Strip podcast, called Finn and the Bell.

Finn Rooney ended his own life on January 3, 2020, in the afternoon after school. No one predicted it. There were no signs. All that can be said for sure is that there was a flash of high emotion that comes with youth, and there was a gun nearby, and bullets.

This isn’t just a story about suicide. It’s about a boy called Finn who loved to fish and play baseball and write poetry and embroider, and what happens to a small Vermont community as it staggers forward after an unspeakable tragedy.

This story was produced by Erica Heilman, who makes Rumble Strip. Special thanks to Finn’s mother, Tara Reese, and to the people of Hardwick, Vermont who spoke with Erica for the story.