Weekend Short Stories: a Lighthouse Story

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Saturday, November 16, 2024

Lighthouse video by James Taylor below.

Hello, everyone.  How do so many hours escape, leaving so many things undone?  This time I’m taking a shortcut by rerunning a story.  I wrote it in 2022 for Dan Antion‘s Thursday Doors writing challenge.  Another reason why I chose to share it is that John Malone recently commented about my fondness for writing stories inspired by songs. That encouraged me to share some of the song-stories I’ve done in the past.

My song-spiration for this story was a not particularly well-known song from James Taylor.  My story is a little… moody, and very short.  I hope you enjoy it.

Flashing on and Fading Away

Selline Selline at Pixabay
Selline Selline at Pixabay

With each wave that crashed against the rocks, Calliope wondered if he was well.  Every seabird’s cry sounded like his name.  The salt air held the taste of her tears.  When the fog rolled in, it stifled all her senses, just as his entrance once seemed to force the air from the room.  His presence left her breathless.

Yet he was half a world away, on a ship that sailed the sea.  By that time, it was likely off the coast of Africa.

“He’s just a man… but I wish I were there,” Calliope murmured from her place at the lighthouse window where she watched the sea.

When she met him, he was a survivor of a shipwreck, cast against the rocks below, by the deep and rolling sea.  However, his journey wasn’t finished.  A refugee, he said he wasn’t far enough away yet.  He must keep going.

Calliope hoped he could lose it all — give up that foolish quest, stay and fall for her.  The words he whispered in breathless moments hinted that he might.

“Ah Calliope, couldn’t we shine?” he once murmured against her ear, his breath warm on her neck as he moved her blonde hair.  “Let’s roll all of these golden moments into one.  We’ll shine like the sun for one more summer day.  Then we’ll go up there, to the top of the tower and shine like the lighthouse for one last summer night.”

One last night, his words gave her pause, and she knew he would not stay, though she still denied it to herself.

Pixabay
Pixabay

“My golden girl… you look so lost and lonely.  Don’t make me sad in our last moments.  Give me that smile,” he cajoled.  “Signal every night, and when I see it, I’ll come.  Flashing on quick but short.  Then flashing long and fading away.  I’ll know it’s you.”

“How can you see my light if you’re halfway around the world?” she asked.

She had barely suppressed the derision in her voice, but she needn’t have worried.  He didn’t even notice that she spoke.

Hope surged that he would ask her to follow him.  Looking at his eyes, she knew he wouldn’t.  His mind had already lost all thought of her.

I could follow you… and lose my mind, she wanted to yell and make him listen.

Summer waned.  The seabirds still seemed to call his name.  Calliope stared at the waves and the ships that sailed the sea.  Every night through June, July, and August she climbed the stairs and caused the light to make the signal, just in case he should change his mind and come back.  She had flashed the light on quick but short, and then flashed long and let it fade away.  Flashing on, flashing, then fading away.

“But I’m a lonely lighthouse.  Not a ship out in the night.  He came halfway around the world to see this light — and stay away from me,” she said.

As she moved to once again perform that nightly ritual, a hot tear streaked her cheek.  She stopped.  Abruptly, Calliope was disgusted with herself and angry.

“I want to be a world away from here,” she told the waves below.  “This is my last summer night here.”

Bright with resolve, her eyes shone like the lighthouse.

The next evening, Calliope passed the keys to a new lighthouse keeper. 

Teagan via Night Cafe
Teagan via Night Cafe

“I won’t go in the same direction that he did.  I won’t even travel by ship,” she declared to herself.

As she headed toward the train station, behind her the light flashed on, and then faded away into the distance.  She never looked back.

The end.

♦♦♦

And the moral of the story…

This story seems more appropriate now than when I wrote it two years ago. Most people would have expected Calliope to wait forever and die tragically.

Today I heard someone say words that would have been a great help to me throughout my life — my life after I was finally able to cut the ties and escape a lifetime of abuse.  How many times had people and coworkers exclaimed to me “But it’s your family!” as if none of the abuse mattered? Frankly, I lost count.

Then I watched a Yale trained psychologist, whose statements had reportedly “sparked outrage” when she told listeners that it was okay to separate yourself from people whose beliefs were harmful to you — even family.  Finally, someone understood! It’s okay to break away from what is harmful, even when we’re expected to stay. It’s okay to separate ourselves from people who are harmful to us, no matter how “close” they have been, even family.  Anyone who thinks you should stay with or associate with your abusers… well, that person has blood on their hands.

♦♦♦

Thanks for visiting with me.   I hope you’ll stop and leave a friendly comment. Hugs!

♦♦♦

Of course there’s the obligatory shameless self-promotion. I despair of saying “A Peril in the Vines is coming soon…”  It was supposed to be a Halloween story but I’ll be lucky if I finish it for Christmas.  Even so here are the links for the rest of the series called A Medium’s Peril.

Coming Soon

A Medium’s Peril (series)

Universal Purchase Links

Full Series in one link:  relinks.me/B0CG2SXX24

A Peril in Ectoplasm

Kindle:  relinks.me/B0BJ9N1GBX

Paperback:  relinks.me/B0BJBXGJ7L

A Peril in the Bayou

Kindle:  relinks.me/B0CKGRJS8F

Paperback:  relinks.me/B0CKHFYMLJ

♦♦♦

This is a work of fiction.  Characters, names, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2022 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved. 

No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

All images are either the property of the author or provided by free sources, unless stated otherwise.

 

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72 thoughts on “Weekend Short Stories: a Lighthouse Story”

    1. Hi, David. I haven’t read her story. I should look into it. Oh, you are far too kind about the picture. Truthfully, and author photo (gravatar, or anything else I might allow in print or online) is purely marketing. They’re my head on a normal sized body that has only one chin! I feel false doing that, but at the same time it’s no different from people who use photos that are 10 to 20 years old (sometimes more). Plus, big publishers used to hire models for author photos. There’s no way I would share my real photo. But thank you anyway — that is good feedback for my “marketing.” Big hugs.

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  4. I’m glad that Calliope didn’t spend a lifetime moping around for him. Your afterword was very impactful. We only have one life and we should cut out anyone who have proven time and again that they are too toxic.

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    1. Welcome, Shweta. Thanks for this feedback. I agree with what you said. From another point of view, it’s also bad for the toxic person when we let them stay — because we enable them — and it can not be good for them to be toxic. I appreciate you reading and commenting. Hugs.

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  9. I adore this short story. It really, and unfortunately, is appropriate for many to hear.

    And we need/best not look back at Sodom and Gomorrah.

    A teenager, I left my entire family when I ran far away, to a different city. One of the best life decisions I ever made.

    Thank you for this fab short tale, Teagan! HUGS

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    1. Thanks very much, Resa. And kudos to you for knowing what you had to do at an early age — and taking care of yourself that way. People pass judgement, but seldom see the “big picture” before doing so. Wishing you a brilliant new week. Hugs winging back to you.

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  10. What a jewel of a story! and that is a really young James Taylor! His father was the Dean of the med school where I spent my career but before I got there. The building I worked in is called Taylor Hall and I got to see the entire Taylor family when they came for the dedication!

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  13. A sadness in her longing. Then strength in her resolve to move onward. You make powerful points in the section after the story. Indeed the “romantic” way would’ve been for the character to wait until the end of her days. But she had the moxie to choose different. An optimist ending 🌞

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  15. I love the short story whenever I think about Calliopes, the lines in the song “Blinded By The Light” by Bruce Springsteen come to mind:

    “With this very unpleasing sneezing and wheezing
    The calliope crashed to the ground”

    I’m sure you are familiar with it. Perhaps Manford Mann’s version.

    It’s been a long time since I listened to James Taylor. Good to hear. No one makes music like that these days.

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    1. I agree about James Taylor’s music, Tim. I loved the unpretentious feeling of the recordings from him, Carol King and some others. And thanks for the song reminder — I love that one. The fast lyrics are fun to sing (once you learn them). I never caught the word “unpleasing” and wondered what it actually was. I’m not sure whether I’ve heard Springsteen’s cut of it, but with his lyrics to Born to Run, why of course he’d have to sing about a fast little deuce coupe cutting loose, a runner in the night. Oh heaven help me, there’s another story kicking in my head now. (eye roll) Hugs.

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  17. A lovely short story with a hopeful ending. How do you come up with these characters and situations? I know once you cultivate the skill it comes naturally, but do you come up with an outline first and then fill in the stories, or just go with the flow, Teagan.

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    1. Many thanks for your kind words (and question), Sharukh. Those are two different issues for me. Characters or situations, and plot or story). So there are two distinct answers.
      Sometimes I have a full outline for a story or novel. Other times I’m a full-on “pantser” (from the saying “fly by the seat of your pants” — meaning to “wing it”, act spontaneously, or in the case of writing, to be utterly unplanned). Mostly, I do a bit of both.

      *Characters* (and usually situations too) I don’t plan. They pop into my head (with their basic situation) fully formed. Sometimes that is influenced/inspired by something I’ve seen or heard (picture, song, all sorts of things), but the character appears in my head mostly complete. Sometimes I intentionally decide on/add odd things, like a habit, a gesture, or a favorite item of clothing, etc., to make them seem more alive (if a character doesn’t come as complete as I’d like). I don’t know what other people do regarding that… I hope all of that made sense.
      I hope you enjoyed the bank holiday for Guru Nanak Jayanti. Hugs to you and Sarah.

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  20. What a wonderful story, Teagan. I love lighthouses. I think someone has added one to the Thursday Doors challenge every year. This is such a good use of the location. This story fills me with sadness but leaves me with a bit of joy. The instant between walking away from something and walking toward something flips sadness to hope. Calliope will be fine. I’m sure of that.

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  23. A wonderful and atmospheric short story, Teagan. I felt for Calliope and cheered when she finally left … and went her own way! You have a gift for evoking a sense of place and reaching into the heart of your characters.

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    1. That is high praise, John — thank you. I remember that title, but never saw the film. Back then I watched fantasy and sci-fi movies, or adventures. LOL, now, I look for things that are “cozy” without yelling or loud noises (they can kill each other all they want, as long as they do it quietly!). As you can imagine, I don’t find many choices. 😀 Thanks for reading and commenting. Hugs.

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