Young Storykeeper Volume III

130 | STORYKEEPERS VOLUME III AGE NINE | 131
THE ALIEN LIGHTHOUSE
Ellie Conroy
Co Dublin
There once was a little boy by the name
of Chives. His parents always said he was
destined to be a butler. He hated the name.
It was just too silly. Now, Chives wanted to
live in a lighthouse. Why? I hear you asking…
nobody knew. Maybe it was the big light at
the top or the way it sat beside the seaside.
It was just a mystery.
One day, Chives’ parents got fed up
with him asking to go to the big lighthouse
on the edge of town and so they brought
him.
After seven years they finally brought
him!
He was over the moon when his parents
said: All right, pack a picnic. We are going to
the seaside!
“Please, please, please can we go to
the lighthouse, Mam?”
She sighed a long sigh and said, “Only
if you are on your best behaviour.”
This was a trick question; Chives was
always on his best behaviour. Minus that one
time he ran over his granny’s cat Pumpkin
in his toy jeep, but that is not important right
now. The only thing that mattered was the
lighthouse.
Chives was silent the whole car ride
because he was too excited to speak. When
they got there after what seemed like an
age, he bolted out of the car and to the
lighthouse. His parents did not protest but
just stood there watching. When Chives got
to the lighthouse, he opened the big, green,
fancy door and ran up the stairs. Little did he
know what awaited him at the top.
There was approximately threehundred-and
ninety-four stairs in the
lighthouse and when he finally got to the top,
he did not see any light or even a light switch.
Instead he saw a giant ball thingy and a little
lever. He had never seen a lighthouse light
before and expected it to look like a normal
light bulb.
Then Chives saw a shadow scurrying
around the so-called “lighthouse.” He
wondered if it was green with brown spots in
the shape of a carrot. Or brown with green
spots in the shape of a cat.
It must be an alien, he thought. Soon
Chives found himself running around the
lighthouse. He tripped on something, small
and for some reason furry. He got up and
looked down at the little thing and saw red
fur, a bushy tail and a nut enclosed in its little
hands.
“Wow, you must be the alien,” said
Chives, who has never seen a squirrel
before. Then he got a bit scared and picked
the “alien” up and threw him out of the
lighthouse window. His parents came in
and…
This story ends on a cliffhanger like the
squirrel, who is called Marvin, and is hanging
off a cliff.
1985
My dad worked as a temporary lighthouse
keeper on the Kish Lighthouse in Dublin.
My dad was seventeen years old when
he started. There were three lighthouse
keepers on the lighthouse. They had to buy
all their food in the supermarket before they
went on the helicopter from Howth. He was
away for 28 days at a time. My dad also
brought a fishing rod. The three lighthouse
keepers were on watches all day and night.
My dad fished and ate fish every day. He
also caught crabs and lobster in a lobster
pot. At dusk, the lantern was switched on.
There were engines that had to be switched
on and off. At dawn the lantern had to be
switched off.
The lighthouse used to shake in bad
weather. One night in August 1985, there
was a big storm in Dublin. My dad was on
watch from eight o’clock to twelve o’clock.
It was a beautiful, warm, still night and my
dad spent a lot of the evening watching the
fork lightning striking parts of Dublin and
Wicklow mountains. Some areas of Dublin
went black after the storm.
At midnight the principal keeper arrived
to take over the watch. He went outside to
look at the lightning show. Just then a bolt of
lightning struck the lighthouse and there was
a really loud bang. He looked really shocked
and his hair was sticking up. My dad started
laughing at his hair.
Sadly, the lighthouses were all
automated after this.
My great-grandad was a lighthouse
keeper after working on a minesweeper
trawler in Gallipoli in World War I. My grandad
John Harding also worked for the Irish Lights
as a captain of the lighthouse tenders.
Paddy Harding
Co Dublin
THE RESCUE AT
NEWPORT ISLAND
It all started when Steve, who was the
lighthouse keeper, saw the massive waves
crashing against the cliffs of Newport Island.
As the waves pummelled the shore, Steve
wondered if the lighthouse could take any
more. The rickety building shook with each
impact.
All at once, a towering rogue wave
smashed into the side of the lighthouse.
Steve was thrown against the brick wall.
He patted his head. It hurt but there was no
blood.
That was a close one, he thought.
But then he saw it - a long thin crack
was in the wall and he was filled with dread.
“Oh please, no,” he said out loud, even
though he was alone on the deserted island.
With every second, the crack became bigger.
He had to act fast. Steve ran to the kitchen
to get his phone. He dialled 999 and asked
for the coast guard.
A voice that was far calmer than him
asked, “RNLI - what is your emergency?”
Steve fumbled over his words.
“Lighthouse…collapsing… send help…
please hurry,” he said breathlessly.
“I have notified the Coast Guard, what
is your location?”
“Newport Island, off the coast of
Wexford,” Steve said.
BOOM!
A huge chunk of plaster fell next to
Steve’s legs and it muffled his reply. More
plaster continued to fall, then one fragment
hit him hard on the head.
That’s when Steve’s entire world went
black.
He woke up to the sound of whirring in
the water. Everything ached then he realised
he couldn’t move anything except his head.
He twisted and to his horror saw mounds of
brick now covered his body. And the whirring
sound kept getting louder and louder in his
head.
But then Steve heard voices. Someone
shouted, “The roof must have collapsed
while he was inside!”
Then another voice said, “Look, there
he is trapped under all that rubble.”
It was the Coast Guard!
He watched figures dressed in orange
approach him.
One said, “Get the winch! We’re going
to lift him out of there.”
Just before he blacked out, Steve
felt himself being lifted out from under the
rubble. The RNLI carried him towards a
lifeboat. Once they got to shore Steve was
rushed to A&E.
They brought him in to have surgery on
his back, lungs, ribs and legs. The doctors
worked tirelessly night and day to save his
life. Fortunately for Steve, the operation was
a success.
Two days later Steve woke up in
hospital.
He was alive and well and he owed it all
to the RNLI.
Liam Murphy
Co Wexford