Young Storykeeper Volume III

80 | STORYKEEPERS VOLUME III AGE NINE | 81
Joe Dowzard
Co Wicklow
A TALE FROM THE LIGHTHOUSE
DOG
On a stormy night in the middle of winter, I
woke up to hear the waves crashing against
the lighthouse walls. My master Brody was
busy running up and down the many steps
to keep the fire burning and the light shining
bright across the sea. The fire was nice and
warm and I felt like I was toasting all over.
As I stretched on my back with my four
paws in the air, I saw Brody running out the
door. It looked like there was something
happening, like an adventure outside. I
jumped up and ran after him, barking at him
to wait for me.
When we got to the rocks, I saw a big ship
out at sea. A shining light came from the
ship like a shooting star. My master always
seems to go to ships that do this.
My master put on a bright jacket and jumped
into his boat. I stayed at the rocks and kept
watch. It wasn’t long until my master came
back and he had more humans with him,
three big ones and a small one. I barked
excitedly to welcome them back on land.
My master brought them into our
lighthouse and we all sat around the fire.
The small human was very nice and fun. He
sat beside me at the fire as we dried off from
the storm.
My master gave everyone hot chocolate
and some biscuits. The little human gave
me some of his biscuit.
Being a dog in a lighthouse is so much
fun, especially when my master brings home
some new friends to sit around the fire on
stormy nights.
HERO COME HOME
I still couldn’t believe my luck. The last
twenty-four hours have been like a dream.
Yesterday I was a stray begging for scraps at
Murphy’s Café on Rathlin seafront and today
I’m waking up to a bowl of bacon in my new
owner Alex’s cosy kitchen.
So, on my way to Murphy’s yesterday,
two nasty looking characters were being
mean to this smaller boy. When he started
to cry I knew I had to do something. I’m only
a wee Jack Russell, but I’ve got the fiercest
bark so I growled at the bullies as loud as
any wolfhound and they scarpered.
The smaller boy stammered, “That was
brilliant! Thank you so much. I’m Alex, let’s
see what your name is….” He reached for
my neck. “You’ve no name tag? You must
be a stray. I think you’ve just earned yourself
a new home!”
Alex’s home was the weirdest looking
house I’d ever seen. It was more like a white
tower with a big light on the top.
“You ever seen a lighthouse before?”
asked Alex. We went up steep winding stairs
then entered a round kitchen where his mum
was making lunch. When she saw me she
shouted, “I hope you’re not expecting to
keep him? I’ve enough to do looking after
you and this lighthouse!”
Alex pleaded, “But Mum, he just saved
me from those bully boys Derek and Jim. I’ll
look after him - even pick up his poo!”
His mum broke into a smile “Okay, you
win!”
Alex excitedly hugged me. “YES! You
can stay!”
That afternoon, while Alex and I were
playing fetch, I smelt something yummy. I
followed the scent behind a bush and found a
delicious chicken drumstick. While I greedily
tucked in, a sack was thrown over my head
and, as I was whisked away, I heard Alex
shout, “Hero, Hero!”
That must be my new name.
When I woke up, I heard muffled
voices. I recognised two of them – Derek
and Jim! They told the man, “It bit me! This
mutt needs put down!”
I’d never bitten anyone, although
I would have liked to right then. The man
replied, “I’ll make sure we get this mongrel
to the pound in Ballycastle.” Then I heard
boat engines start up.
When I thought the coast was clear, I
poked my head out of the sack to find that
it was now dark. “Oh no! How will I ever get
back to Alex if I can’t see where I am?”
Suddenly I saw a strong beam of light
in the distance – the lighthouse! Luckily for
me, Jack Russell terriers are great swimmers
so I jumped overboard and headed in the
direction of the light.
After what seemed like hours the white
tower came into view. “Home!”
Max Kerr
Co Derry
THE SEAL BY THE LIGHTHOUSE
My name is Freddie. I am a seal. I live very
close to a beautiful lighthouse with my mum
and my dad and my two brothers, Flipper
and Floppy.
I am the youngest and so I play nearly
all the time. My favourite game is called
bopping, where I bop my head up and down
in and out of the water. My brothers often
laugh at me and think I am still a baby seal
but I know I am a lot more clever than they
are. I am the one who goes to the lighthouse
each day and I get to hang out with the
keeper, Captain Hike. He brings me treats
and we are best friends.
I watch and can see right across
the ocean and see when boats are there.
Sometimes Captain Hike gives me small
fish and I take them back to my family and
pretend that I caught them.
One day there was a huge alarm - you
could hear it for miles. A diver had discovered
an old shipwreck and he had got his leg
stuck on his way back. I heard Captain Hike
on the phone in the lighthouse. He was very
nervous and tried to contact an ambulance. I
swam out to the wreck.
I couldn’t see anything but then all of a
sudden the light from the lighthouse spread
across the sea and I saw the diver. I tried to
save him but he seemed to be
very scared of me so I decided
to go away and try to go around
the other way to move things but
then at the other side I saw my
two brothers Flipper and Floppy
swimming over to me. They had
heard the alarm too.
We did some tricks for the
injured diver to try to keep him
awake but he was not doing too
well. I knew that Captain Hike
would be trying really hard to
save him. Eventually I heard a
helicopter and I knew that the
captain had got help. We jumped
up really high so the pilot could
see us. Captain Hike had told
him that there might be some
seals around the shipwreck.
The pilot and his crew helped
him out and we celebrated. We
even had pizza delivered that
night to the lighthouse as it was
a special occasion!
Jess Lalor
Co Cork
LIGHTHOUSE
Light shines over the ocean
I love lighthouses!
Great lighthouses help sailors
Higher than a tree
The lighthouses are very tall
Here for the sailors
Open for me
Useful for sailors in the night
Smooth walls of brick
Electric life!
Eva Sheridan
Co Sligo