Young Storykeeper Volume III

160 | STORYKEEPERS VOLUME III AGE TEN | 161
THE ROCKABILL LIGHTHOUSE
AMY THE LIGHTHOUSE
A long time ago, there once lived a boy
called Jonathan. When he was only three
years old, his parents moved to Little Island
and his dad became a lighthouse keeper.
The lighthouse had been built and
named after Jonathan’s great-grandfather
Bill, who had tragically died in the sea and
who used to adore his little great-grandson.
Bill loved adventure and he also believed
in mermaids. He had told stories to Jonathan
ever since he was a baby. Unfortunately,
Jonathan could not remember many of them,
but the one about the beautiful creature
stuck in his mind forever.
Bill had always been called strange by
the nearby villagers as no one believed his
stories. Until one stormy day, Bill wanted to
prove them wrong, so he went to the sea
to find the mermaid. He never came back,
his body was never found - only his old little
boat that washed up onto the beach at the
nearest village. It was heartbreaking news
to all the family and the community. At the
end of the day, they all loved the old odd
man and they all felt somehow guilty after
the incident.
Jonathan was still too young to
understand what happened to his great
grandad, but he had believed him, in all his
stories and great adventure and he wanted
to experience the same. One day, Jonathan
would be a grown man and he wanted to
prove to every person in this world that his
great-granddad was not a liar.
One winter day, Jonathan, his mum
and his dad were just about to sail to his
grandmother, as it was a village day that day
with loads of fun and treats awaiting the little
boy.
As they were just about to leave, they
heard some loud sounds near the lighthouse.
They were pirates! They bombed the back
of the lighthouse and almost destroyed it.
His parents tried to escape, but with no
luck as they got caught. Luckily, Jonathan
managed to hide under the boat. He sadly
witnessed his parents being taken away by
the pirates. He still was looking at the sea,
until the enemies’ ship disappeared beyond
the horizon.
The little boy suddenly felt hopeless and
lonely, so he started to cry. Jonathan was a
brave boy, though, and he remembered his
father’s life lessons to survive. Jonathan
planned to leave Rockabill Lighthouse and to
sail a little boat to the village. He like felt he
could do it, despite the very unsettled sea.
He started his not-so-easy journey by
saying little farewell to lighthouse and he
made a promise to come back one day and
to restore all the work his great-granddad
did. Jonathan also promised in his head to
find his parents.
As he approached the village, a big
storm started, and there was no way he could
make it to the harbour. The sky and the sea
were so dark that Jonathan could barely see
the direction to the land. The wind was so
strong that it was very hard to stay on the
boat and the force of the waves flipped over
the boat, together with Jonathan.
In a split second, Jonathan started to
drown. A picture of his great-granddad
appeared right in front of him. When he
opened his eyes under the water, he saw
a beautiful creature holding him in her
arms. He found himself above the water
now, breathing again. “Mermaid,” Jonathan
repeated in his head. “Bill was right…”
It was still dark and stormy and the
sudden light from the lighthouse lightened
up the way for the little boy to get to the
village safely.
“Thank you, Bill!” said Jonathan out
loud, turning his head towards his Rockabill
homeland. “I will be back very soon, I
promise…”
Elizabeth Pavlyuk
Co Dublin
June 15th 1987
Hi, I’m Amy the lighthouse. Today a new
man is coming to work in me. Look, here he
is! What is he doing? He’s just sitting there
with his coffee and the newspaper! I’ll have
to tell him that’s not what he’s getting paid
for. Here goes nothing!
“Em, excuse me, I don’t think that’s
what you’re getting paid for.”
“Who said that?”
“Me, the lighthouse.”
“Lighthouses don’t talk!”
“Well, I do!”
“Oh, and I’m a talking boat now, am I?”
I thought that was a little bit offensive
because I have a friend who is a talking boat!
After that conversation, he left. I thought
he had left for good which made me sad
because I thought we could have become
good friends.
June 16th 1987
I didn’t sleep well last night. I was too worried
about the new man not returning. Although
it was a beautiful morning, with all the birds
chirping and the reflection of the sun on the
water was so beautiful, I wasn’t in the mood
to enjoy it.
What’s that? Do I hear someone
coming up the stairs? Could it be him?
It is him! What’s he doing back here? I
thought he had left.
“Hi!”
“So, it is true that you are a talking
lighthouse?”
Something in his voice made him sound
down.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t sound fine.”
“I already told you, I’m FINE!”
“No need to be so narky. Do you want
to be friends?”
“No! How do you think my parents
would react if I told them I was friends with
a lighthouse?”
“Right, I forgot that humans don’t know
that lighthouses can talk.”
Sometimes I do wonder myself what
it would be like if a human knew about me
being alive.
“What’s your name?”
“Bill, what’s yours?”
“Amy.”
It was nice that I know his name. He
left again, but I knew he was going to come
back tomorrow.
June 17th 1987
This morning was also a nice day. I saw Bill
down at the harbor. He was buying a boat.
After that he came up to me.
“I see you bought a boat.”
“Yeah, do you like it?”
“It’s nice, but why did you buy a boat?”
“It’s quicker to sail here than to drive.”
“There are some rocks that most sailors
don’t see to the east so make sure to not
sail from that angle.”
His phone made a weird noise. He
looked at it and said that he had to go.
June 18th 1987:
This morning was foggy. I kept an eye out
for Bill. To my horror, I saw him sailing from
the East!
I was yelling “STOP, TURN AROUND!”
but he wasn’t listening. It started to rain and
the visibility was terrible. There was only one
thing I could do, so I shone my light down
right on top of the treacherous rocks so that
he could see them. He quickly noticed them
and swerved.
Bill told everybody in the town that a
lighthouse called Amy saved him.
Many years later…
And still today people are telling this story
over and over again.
Emily Marrow
Co Dublin