Young Storykeeper Volume III

50 | STORYKEEPERS VOLUME III AGE EIGHT | 51
THE LIGHTHOUSE OF DREAM STORIES
STUART AND ME
Aoife Bates
Co Dublin
Long ago, when the world was young, Cedric the seagull lived in a
lighthouse on a very high cliff, in a country not so far from here. The
lighthouse was painted the most dazzling shades of red and white, like a
sunburnt zebra. At night, its yellow and orange beacon light would shine
and flash on, off, on, off, for all the ships and mermaids to see. Cedric
was the lighthouse keeper and he loved his job.
Every morning he woke with a ruffle of feathers and a cackle, to wake
everyone nearby. Cedric would fly out to sea and say good morning to
the dolphins, whales and anyone who happened to be swimming nearby.
He would dive into the sea and return to the light house with two fish,
one for him and one for Skebanga, who was the wisest, oldest cat that
ever lived. She was the librarian in the lighthouse.
Cedric and Skebanga would eat their delicious fish breakfast and
chat about the wonderful world around them. To the east, the sun rose
to warm them. To the west, the moon always said goodnight. From the
north, sometimes, a cold wind would blow. And from the south came the
mermaids, bringing great tales and songs.
Now, this wasn’t just any old lighthouse. It was very special. For
within its thick stone walls were one thousand years of dream stories, all
captured in crystal jars on shelves. Round and round the stories would
go in a magic vacuum. Stories, of the ocean, of planets, Vikings, ancient
cities, unicorns, animals, princesses – the list was endless. All waiting to
be sent to children at nighttime.
Each evening, at sunset, the fairies sailed to the light station to
collect the jars. Cedric would fill a net with the dream stories and fly it to
their boat, the ILV Sprite.
But one night, a terrible storm came in from the north, bringing
snow and ice. The light could hardly be seen from the lantern. The
waves crashed against the rocks and walls, the wind howled, “Let me in.”
Skebanga raced to the top and tried to make the beacon shine brighter.
Cedric flew out to the sea and cackled in his loudest voice, to try to warn
the fairies. But it was too late. They couldn’t hear him. Their boat
crashed against the rocks, throwing them into the water.
Skebanga sprinted to the library, grabbed a dream story, gave it a
bit of extra ump, raced outside and tossed it down. Cedric got out of the
way as it smashed on the rocks. Magic released and suddenly the sea
was calm and the wind stopped.
Cedric grabbed a life buoy and threw it to the fairies. Then up he
flew - rope, lifebuoy, fairies clinging on until he reached Skebanga and
dropped them all to safety. From that day to now, seagulls, cats and
fairies are besties and a little magic shines the way.
We were without electricity for two days because of the storm. One calm
night I decided to walk by the lighthouse. The moon was bright. I saw
something in the water making bubbles - it was moving closer to me. I
was afraid.
I ran back into the house to rejoin my family but I kept thinking
about what I saw. It was bedtime, but I couldn’t sleep. There was still
something moving by the lighthouse. I decided to go out.
There it was, a seal. He introduced himself as Stuart. I was surprised
he could talk and I could understand him.
“I am very afraid of the sharks,” he said.
“There are sharks?” I replied, still surprised.
“Yes! They wanted to catch and eat me. Would you be able to tell
them to stop?”
I was afraid of sharks too. What was I supposed to do? I told Stuart
I will think about it and then excused myself home.
I went back to the lighthouse the next day, but Stuart wasn’t there,
so I waited. I got bored and decided to put my face in the water. Then
my brother came to get me. He tapped my back. In shock, I accidentally
fell into the water.
The water was freezing cold. I felt something grab me by the legs
and spin me around. I felt dizzy. I looked back at my legs and could see
a shark holding them by his teeth. I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t.
Somehow I could speak in the water so I asked him to let me go.
The shark replied, “No! I want to bring you to a party.”
I thought to myself that this could not be real, but I had no choice.
We arrived at a cave underwater and there were many others waiting for
us. There were different kinds of sharks; hammerhead, tiger shark and
even the great white shark. They were surprisingly friendly.
“Whose party is this?” I asked them.
“It’s your party. Isn’t it your birthday next week?” they grinned.
“Yes it is. But how did you know?” I replied.
“We know everything!” said the sharks. “You can make a wish as it
is your party.”
“Any wish?”
“Yes, anything you want.”
“My wish is that I want you to stop disturbing Stuart. He is a kind
seal and he is my friend,” I said.
The sharks did not like my wish. They turned very angry and started
to circle around me. The great white shark charged towards me and I
could see all of his three hundred teeth. I screamed and screamed until
I felt dizzy.
Then I felt my brother tapping my back. There was a storm outside.
I was in bed and it was all a dream.
James Ilyas Hussey
Co Cork