Young Storykeeper Volume III

252 | STORYKEEPERS VOLUME III AGE TWELVE | 253
THE DARKHOUSE
“But I don’t want to go live next to that old
broken lighthouse!” Bertie raged. Bertie
was a nine-year-old boy with sandy hair and
a very good-looking face that always wore a
frown.
“Stop shouting! You know it gives your
mother headaches,” Bertie’s father said
sternly. The three of them were moving to
the country where Bertie’s father grew up.
“Lighthouses are so un-cool though,”
Bertie muttered.
“Bertie, come here! The baby’s kicking
again,” his mother called. Bertie went over
to his mother and put his hand gently on her
stomach. “I can feel her kicking, I think she’ll
be a footballer.”
The next day they arrived at their new
house in the country. It was white, with a red
door and a black roof. It reminded Bertie of
Snow White. Just around the corner from
their house there was an enormous red
and white lighthouse with large sharp rocks
surrounding it.
“This is exciting, don’t you think,
Bertie?” his mam said.
“Can I have this room?” Bertie asked.
“Yes, if you want,” answered his dad.
That evening, just after Bertie got into
bed, he heard shouting coming from the
lighthouse.
“I wonder what that is?” Bertie whispered
to himself. Once he heard his dad snoring,
he slipped out of bed and pulled on a jumper
over his pyjamas. He crept downstairs and
put on his shoes. He opened the door and
closed it behind him very quietly. He ran all
the way to the lighthouse and went in.
Bertie saw stairs leading to where the
shouting was coming from. He walked up
carefully and peeked in the doorway.
“What do you mean the light is broken?”
one man said.
The other said calmly, “The light is
broken, John, and there is nothing we can
do about it.”
“But there is a ship coming in!”
Bertie wondered if he could help. He
had read all his dad’s leaflets and books
about electricity. He hid in the room next
door until the men left hurriedly. He went
into the room with the big light and opened
the box at the back. There was lots of wires
and sockets. He plugged one thing out and
plugged another in its place. This was going
to take a while.
After about twenty minutes, nothing had
happened. Another ten minutes passed, and
now Bertie was just mad. So mad that he
kicked the light…but then it turned on! He
was so busy dancing for joy that he almost
missed the big ship passing. It was black
and white, and loaded with crates.
Bertie realised that he had just saved
everyone on that ship from the sharp rocks
surrounding the lighthouse. He knew than
that he had been wrong! Lighthouses were
definitely cool.
After his adventure, Bertie was very
tired, so he snuck back into bed. When he
woke next morning, he could her his parents
talking downstairs. His dad was holding a
newspaper. The headline read:
MYSTERIOUS PERSON FIXES LIGHT
AND SAVES SHIP!
Anna Synnott
Co Louth
DISCOVERY AT LOOP HEAD
LIGHTHOUSE
“Go to bed now!” Emma ordered. Liam had
just knocked over his glass of orange juice
onto the kitchen tablecloth.
“But I didn’t do anything,” Liam pleaded.
“NOW,” Emma pointed her finger to
Liam’s bedroom. Liam’s family was on
holiday in the Loop Head lighthouse keeper’s
cottage.
“My mum is so-o-o grumpy,” Liam
mumbled to himself.
Liam slouched on his bed. He tossed
and turned but could not get to sleep. He
got up and went to the bathroom. He looked
up at the clock in the hallway: eleven o’clock
at night. On his way back to bed, he saw
the picture of a shipwreck on rocks with the
lighthouse in the background. He shuddered
slightly and walked to his room.
“Ow!” Liam cried as he stumbled on a
loose wooden floorboard. He scrambled on
all fours to his bed. Something about the
floorboard made him curious, so tip toed
back to it.
“Holy moly,” Liam whispered, trying not
to wake the others. He pulled out an old copy
book. It was the diary of Henry Crowley, the
old lighthouse keeper. Liam started to read.
23 September 1872
Dear Diary,
Today is my birthday and I helped my
dad with the lighthouse. We climbed up
to the lantern room. Three years ago the
lighthouse changed to a flashing light. Dad
said when I grow up I will be the head of the
lighthouse. The picture in the hall is freaking
me out. I think it might be haunted.
4 June 1899
Dear Diary,
Today was my first day at the job and it
is tough but I am loving it. Light wind from
south west, two fishing boats on the horizon.
Carefully refilled lamps with oil before lighting
the wicks. I had a few visitors. The first was
Patrick Keane the postman and he delivered
the daily post. But that picture is still freaking
me out.
9 December 1911
Dear Diary,
Today the roof of the lighthouse broke
and Simon Brennan the carpenter came to
fix it. The seals on Howley’s rock suggest
there is a storm coming. I also had the
farmer John Fitzgibbon come to give me our
daily milk. I am sure that picture is haunted.
Liam heard footsteps. “It must be the ghosts
coming to get me,” he said to himself.
Liam was peeing his pants now
because he was so scared. His jaw was
trembling with fear. He hid under the duvet.
Then there was an ear piercing bang. Liam
started to cry. Then Emma, his sister Olivia
and his dad James all walked in and started
to laugh.
“It is not funny,” Liam whimpered.
“We all knew that you would be scared
of that picture so we played a trick on you,”
Olivia laughed.
“Then what was that bang,” Liam
sobbed.
“That was an over-blown balloon,”
James said.
Liam started to chuckle. That chuckle
turned into a laugh. That laugh turned into
howls of laughter.
Alex Ó Tuama
Co Dublin
LIGHTHOUSE ACROSTIC POEM
Lighting up the vast seas
Igniting the cool breeze
Guiding boats along the way
Helping sailors all day
Thanks a lot to all the lighthouses
Helpful and so bright
Overlooking all the sea
Useful as can be
Saving lives from the sea
Every night without a peep.
Freya Cunningham
Co Down