Young Storykeeper Volume III

156 | STORYKEEPERS VOLUME III AGE TEN | 157
ROGER AND THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER
Once there was a stray dog called Roger
who lived right beside the sea. Roger was a
dog who always wanted to go somewhere,
he was very enthusiastic about everything
and he was always swimming in the sea.
Swimming was Roger’s favourite thing to do
but he did wish he had an owner who would
swim with him and throw sticks in the water
for him.
One day Roger went down for his
morning paddle. The sky was cloudy and
it was a bit windy. The waves were getting
bigger, but Roger wasn’t scared and he
raced in to the sea, barking at the waves.
Suddenly a huge wave came over the top of
him and he started tumbling over and over
under the water. Water went up his nose and
made him choke.
Then Roger hit a rock and it knocked
him out. He was floating for a while until he
got washed up onto a small beach with a
lighthouse. When he woke up, Roger was
very cold and his head had a lot of blood
on it so he climbed into the lighthouse to
warm up. After about an hour, he felt warm
enough so he went outside and tried to swim
back to shore. The current was too strong
so he went back into the lighthouse. Roger
was very worried about what was going
to happen next but he was so tired he fell
asleep.
When Roger woke up he had a blanket
over him and there was an old man, the
lighthouse keeper, sitting in the room looking
at him. The old man pushed a bowl of food
towards Roger.
The old man said, “You look like my
old dog Pepper, who died a few months
ago. Oh, how much I miss Pepper! I loved
throwing sticks into the water for her. She
would swim as far as I threw them. She
loved the water.”
Roger stood up and started barking. He
ran outside and the old man followed him.
Roger picked up a stick and ran up to the old
man, carrying it in his mouth. He dropped it
at the old man’s feet and barked.
The old man smiled. “Would you like
me to throw this for you?”
He picked up the stick and threw it
into the sea. Roger chased after the stick,
splashing through the sea, and brought it
back to the old man who was smiling.
Roger and the old man spent the whole
afternoon playing. “I don’t know where you
came from,” said the old man to Roger, “but
it gets very lonely looking after the lighthouse
by myself. So if you would like to stay here
with me, I will throw sticks for you every day.”
So Roger stayed and he and the
lighthouse keeper lived happily ever after.
Charlotte Goor
Co Wicklow
LIGHTHOUSE LARRY
There once was an old man living in a
lighthouse. His name was “Lighthouse
Larry.”
Larry was very lonely in the lighthouse.
Ships never came by. Larry was sixty-five
years old. He usually wore a black t-shirt
with blue jeans and he had a beard.
One day when Larry was looking out of
the big window of the lighthouse, he saw a
ship coming and got very excited. Sadly the
ship did not stop. Larry realised that the light
was turned off and the ship crashed into the
rocks below.
Larry went to see if there were any
survivors, but there was only one. It was a
man. Larry took him inside and he stayed
there to heal. The man’s name was Harry.
When Harry healed, the two men became
good friends. Larry gave Harry clothes to
wear. The two men collected all the scrap
wood from the ship that had crashed and
for twenty five years the two men got their
food by fishing and spent their days playing
chess. They liked chess.
When it was time for Harry to go home,
Larry was ninety years old. He repaired
Harry’s ship and Harry sailed back home to
Ireland.
As soon as Harry docked in Ireland,
Larry sat in the lighthouse with happiness in
his heart.
He uttered the words “I have made a
good friend” and peacefully passed away.
Oisín White
Co Dublin
TROUBLE AT THE LIGHTHOUSE
My name is Jayden and this is a story about
my time as a lighthouse keeper at Fannad
Head lighthouse. I was lighthouse keeper
there from 1979 to 1996.
In the winter of 1984, a major
international boat race took place around
Europe and the route passed by Fannad
Head Lighthouse. Lighthouse keepers
along the planned race route were informed
that it was very important to keep their lights
at full strength as the boats were equipped
with basic navigation systems. As the racers
neared Fannad Head, poor weather was
forecast for the area that night.
As I lit the lighthouse that evening, the
light began to flicker and suddenly went out.
The lead boats were due to arrive within the
next two hours and would need the light to
safely guide them past the dangerous cliffs
which dominate the Fannad coastline. I
began to panic as the spare parts needed to
fix the light could not be found. As time was
running out, I noticed my friends Mark, Colin,
Jake and Zach were up the coast, waiting to
cheer on the boats as they passed.
I called out to them that I needed help.
They ran down to the foot of the lighthouse
and we began to make a plan. Mark went to
the local village to get a drum of petrol and
Jake called to all the local villagers to gather
as much firewood as possible. Colin and
Zach drove along the coast to see where
the lead boats were. Very soon local people
started to arrive with trailer loads of firewood,
turf and straw bales.
We decided to build massive bonfires
on the two most northerly points of Fannad
Head. Jake and I took charge of one bonfire
and Zach and Colin the other. When the
bonfires were built, Mark arrived with the
petrol and we lit both bonfires. As the weather
was windy, the bonfires quickly lit and within
ten minutes they were both burning brightly
high into the night sky.
The first boats soon followed and they
safely navigated the dangerous coastline
to more open seas. We kept the bonfires
burning throughout the night until all boats
had passed by. A major disaster had been
stopped from occurring by the help of my
friends and local community. I could never
thank them enough, but a few pints in the
local pub was a good start. Soon after this
all lighthouse lights were automated and
the role of the lighthouse keeper was less
important.
I was the last lighthouse keeper on
Fannad Head.
Jayden Reilly
Co Cavan