Young Storykeeper Volume III

148 | STORYKEEPERS VOLUME III AGE TEN | 149
THE LIGHTHOUSE AT SHORE
One stormy night in the silent city, everyone was asleep. The waves
were overlapping each other. The path along the seafront was flooded
in rainwater. The drain was swallowing water in bucket loads. The beach
was no longer sandy and soft - it was now all sludgy and squelchy. Every
light was extinguished except for the flickering streetlamps. Everyone in
the town had struggled to get to sleep but had finally drifted off. In each
window nothing but pitch darkness was to be seen.
Far off into the distance there were a few rows of houses and they
too were suffering the storm.
In one house a little girl called Lillian White was gazing out into the
dreadful storm. She could not take her eyes off a lighthouse. Mr and Mrs
White were snoring in the bedroom across the hall. Lillian’s brother Zac
was snoring like an elephant! Next door her younger twin sisters Suzan
and Cora were blowing bubbles in their sleep.
Lillian had always wanted to go into that lighthouse and explore.
Before she went to bed, she asked her parents what was in the lighthouse
and they said a captain’s spirit was in there and his name was Barry
Seaman. Lillian decided that one day she would have to explore it for real
and talk to the spirit and see what it was like.
“What would you like for your breakfast, dear?” asked Mum.
“Cereal,” replied Lillian.
It was made in two minutes and
she ate it in two. When Lillian went
up to her room, Suzan and Cora
came down yawning as wide as their
little mouths would stretch.
“Where are you going?” asked
Suzan and Cora at the same time.
“To my room,” said Lillian. “Am I
not allowed?”
She got dressed and ready,
and rushed out and went into the
drenched street. She went to the
harbour to see if she could possibly
hire a boat. But when Lillian was
told there was no need, she was
surprised and looked and… the
lighthouse was on the shore!
She caught a glimpse of her
brother Zac and said, “Got to go!”
“What are you doing down
here?” asked Zac, sounding surprised.
“Just checking out some of the boats,” she lied.
“Since when were you interested in boats?” he asked, sounding
confused.
“None of your business,” Lillian said rudely.
She ran back to the house with her annoying brother. When Lillian got
back into the house, she was very annoyed that her brother was getting in
her way of discovering Barry Seaman’s spirit.
One evening after the storm, the family had everyone over for a roast.
The table was covered in roasted dishes in oily trays and saucers. Lillian’s
mind kept thinking and buzzing about the lighthouse.
“Would the spirit get angry and put a spell on the land?” Lillian thought.
“Would it drift into any house and start possessing people and make
them do horrible things?”
Until she goes into the lighthouse…
To be continued…
Ellie Watson
Co Dublin