Young Storykeeper Volume III

226 | STORYKEEPERS VOLUME III AGE ELEVEN | 227
LUCY AT THE LIGHTHOUSE
My name is Lucy and I’m a collie dog. I
live at Luna Lighthouse, overlooking the
Atlantic Ocean. I live here with my Master
Leo - at least that’s what I call him, after the
Taoiseach.
My job is to keep keep watch every day,
keep a good eye on the goings-on and do the
rescuing, of course. Every day is different as
the weather changes all the time. The sea
can be calm and blue one minute and rough
and black the next …like my fur! The waves
constantly crash and spray over the rocks …
crash, crash, crash go the waves.
My favourite time of the day is when
I’ve finished my rounds and I can lie at the
top of the lighthouse watching the beam
reach across the dark ocean, teasing the
stars up above.
But it is not always so easy. Yesterday,
for example, was very busy. After my usual
checks and sniffs around the lighthouse I
was having my elevenses, a chewy biscuit,
and listening to the waves crashing. Crash,
crash, crash go the waves …. when I heard
a bang, and then a WHOOSH sound. I
jumped up and ran down the 400 steps to
the base of the lighthouse. I could hear Leo
coming behind me, puffing and panting…
he’s not so fit!
At the bottom we couldn’t see anything,
or smell anything for that matter (I do like to
sniff out adventure!). We looked carefully at
the sea swell but nothing, then out of the
corner of my eye I see a pile of feathers. It
was a bald-headed eagle, who looked very
worse for wear. It seemed he head stunned
himself after flying into one of the windows
at the lower part of the lighthouse. We
looked closer and we could see his big red
eyes rolling around, He was scared, he was
injured. Crash, crash, crash go the waves…
Leo got closer now he had regained his
breath and saw one of his wings was broken
so he raced, or maybe walked a little faster
than usual, back up to the steps to send an
SOS to the mainland for help.
I wait by the eagle until another big bird
arrived, actually a helicopter, to take him to
safety and to get his wing fixed up.
After all the excitement we went back
up to the lighthouse for a little rest. It’s a
good job I’m here to keep everyone alert.
I laid down and had a big sleep with
the afternoon sun streaming through the
window. Crash , crash, crash go the waves
…I am dreaming of chasing cats across the
sea…Crash, crash, crash go the waves…
Sadhbh Flanagan
Co Dublin
UP DOWN UP DOWN
Once, there was a buoy that bobbed in the
water in Cork. He loved his beautiful view of
a beach where children play on holiday, the
fields of green and a majestic lighthouse in
the distance. For a while he was content.
Soon, however he grew restless. He wanted
to see more of the world! He was sure
that there were even more beautiful sights
somewhere. He wished more than anything
that he could fly away.
Soon, as luck would have it, there was a
huge storm on the sea. He was bobbing, up
and down, up and down. Suddenly he was
wrenched from the sea! He travelled fast
through the sea on a wave. He crashed into
a big object and fell asleep. Once he awoke,
he was very scared. He could see a huge
object above him. Suddenly he realised. It
was the lighthouse. He hadn’t gone very far.
Still, maybe that was good. From here, he
couldn’t see the holiday cottage or beach.
All he could see was water.
He missed his home. He desperately
wanted to go back. Day after day, he bobbed
up and down. Maybe he should never have
been at his old home. He had never helped
anybody or made anyone happy. Even when
he was home, he had just watched the
children play.
After a few more days of bobbing up
and down, up and down, he saw something
floating in the water. It didn’t look like an
animal or a person or even seaweed. It was
clear, and had handles, it was stretchy and
felt strange. It didn’t look very nice. Suddenly
he realised! The clear water around him was
full of them! As well as that, there was lots
of different types of rubbish. He knew he
had to do something. As he looked, he knew
what to do! Carefully, he drifted around the
water as far as he could reach. First he
bobbed through the plastic bags, then used
them to pick up a lot more rubbish.
The plastic was heavy for him though,
and just when he felt like he would sink, a
boat came by.
“Look!” shouted a man on board,
“We have nothing to pick up, this buoy has
collected it!”
His friend looked doubtful. “How?”
asked his friend.
“I’m not sure, but this buoy has saved
lots of animals’ lives!” The little buoy was
delighted. He had saved the animals!
“I think he belongs somewhere else,
like over there!” said the first man. The men
picked him up and brought him to his home.
As the went in the other direction, they
thought that it was almost like the buoy was
waving. Up, down, up, down.
Elizabeth Reilly
Co Dublin
THE MAN WHO GAVE HIS LIGHT
Long ago, in a little village next to the sea,
there was a lighthouse. An old man tended
to the lighthouse. Nobody really knew him
and even the older people thought they
remembered him being old when they
were children. The villagers took it upon
themselves to mind him, in return for him
minding their fishermen.
As this was quite long ago, fish was
their only income and one of their only
sources of food. This is why the fishermen
were out fishing on that very fateful day of
the storm.
The fishermen had just rowed out their
boat through the rain as a thick fog rolled in.
As soon as they had cast out their nets,
they knew they had made a mistake. It was
far too stormy to be out fishing. There was
also a current pushing them away from the
harbour and straight towards the rocks. Even
if they could fight off the strong current, the
fog was so thick that they couldn’t even see
their own hands in front of their faces, never
mind getting back to shore.
Just when all hope seemed lost, a
bright light shone out from ahead of them. It
was the lighthouse!
The men jumped up with excitement,
before sinking back down again like stones.
The lighthouse light was great, if they could
only somehow find a way to fight the current
that was so strongly pushing them towards
the rocks.
They were just a metre away from being
smashed against the jagged rocks, when
one of the fishermen noticed something
different about the lighthouse’s light. It
looked… solid…somehow. The man tried to
put his hand through the light, but found that
he couldn’t. It was rock solid.
The fisherman quickly called the other
fishermen and one by one they stumbled up
onto the light as their boat smashed against
the rocks behind them.
They slowly made their way to the top
and finally each of them climbed onto the
lighthouse balcony. They found the balcony
door open and stepped inside.
The old man, looking completely
exhausted, was sitting on his chair inside.
“Ah, good! It worked,” he said, looking up.
With that, before the fishermen could
do anything, he faded away into a golden
mist and floated away do join the light he
loved so much.
Hazel Gillen
Co Wicklow