The Lighthouse
First day at the beach, I finally arrived after driving for ten hours from my hometown - a large city, to my destination for my holidays, a small town by the sea. I rented a house that had a fantastic view on the ocean. After unloading my luggage in the house - it was easy as there was only one person worth of luggage, I took a stroll around in search for a bakery to buy a sandwich. It didn’t take make me long to walk to the city center where the activities of town were gathered - a church, a butcher house, a hair stylist, a bank and - finally, a bakery.
The baker himself welcomed me, the quiet man didn’t try to chitchat and told me good bye after handing my sandwich. That was for the better. I didn’t expect to be offered with that much choice from a bakery from such a small sized town. I chose a sandwich made of tuna, tomato and mozarella and headed to the beach to eat my sandwich there.
I sat on the beach just beneath my rented house and started eating my sandwich. The beach was rather small, on both end the land extended towards the sea, it was confortable and private. There were many people on the beach, most of them came for the day but seemed to enjoy their limited time at the beach to their fullest.
While stealthily peeking with envy at other groups of yougsters having fun and making noise, I finished eating my modest lunch and stood up, preparing myself for swimming. Despite there being a lot of people on the beach, very few were actually swimming in the sea. I knew why soon enough, the water was freezing cold. Without thinking, I dove into the water. While underwater, the world suddenly became very calm. All the noise children and others were making suddenly disappeared. As my head rose up to the surface, it all connected back.
I kept swimming for a few minutes and came back home, took a shower and changed my cloths for something that was more appropriate. I traded my t-shirt and swimsuit for a wool pant and a white shirt in linnen. I sat in the garden of the rented house while drinking a cup of coffee and listenning to programs that I had recorded on my device. While listening to the program, I started observing the environement around my house. In front of my garden, a path led to a cliff on top of whom stood a lighthouse. “I wonder if this lighthouse is still active. I guess I will get to see for myself tonight. I hope it won’t hinder my sleeping.”
The afternooon quickly passed by in a daze while staring at the people on the beach from my garden. There were all types of groups: groups of teenagers, celebrating the last days of summer, groups of young white collars on a weekend trip drinking whine and fancy stuff with so-called friends, groups of older people enjoying life after their kids have become independents. I felt nervous each time someone from a group I was staring at glared back at me. You never know how herds of people feel entitled to bully the lone sheeps. But never mind these people, the afternoon was coming to an end and it was time to have dinner. The wind was blowing gently and I turned around to head to the restaurant I saw in the city center. The restaurant seemed quite nice and the weather was rather fine until I found myself sitting between a table with the previous young successful poeple and a table with the group of older people.
The wind was blowing gently on the plaza as the afternoon was fading away. I was pretty confident in how elegant I was dressed on my way there, but sitting there all alone by myself, I got the awkward impresion that I might have been a little bit overdressed. I knew for sure that everyone around in this restaurant including the staff was thinking the same - people tend to focus on me all the time. In the group of young and dynamic people, one of the girls, who was wearing a white dress over a tanned and athletic body, was laughing and smiling. The sound of her laugh resonated from time to time all around the plaza, sometimes her bursts of joy were flattered by the fountain at the center of the plaza. I was captivated by this girl and all the atmosphere of this late summer dinner. I kept observing.
Suddenly, she started looking at me, still smiling. Maybe they are not that bad people after all. Then, she pointed her finger at me and told her friends something that didn’t seem like kind words. All four people turned around to look at the creep who was spoiling their dinner. “Well, I guess the menu looks ultra interesting let’s forget about other people and let’s find out which was the local dish that earned them a reputation on my mobile application. Sir, I want to order!” The end of the dinner was awful and I resented myself.
I am on my own - for a change, again in the garden of my rented house. I sat there and started listening to the program where I left until I fell asleep.
What time is it? It feels like it’s the middle of the night. Indeed it was dark and you could see countless stars over the cliff and the ocean. However what caught my attention was the massive black tower that covered part of the sky filled with stars. The lighthouse near my house was definitively out of service, but I wanted to see the view it could offer over the sea and the sky. So I followed the winding path to the lighthouse and went in.
The bottom of the tower was pitch black and humid. There were stairs in circle that allowed to climb up the lighthouse, but the center of the tower was empty, so you could see the top of the lighthouse by raising your head. As the lighthouse didn’t have a roof, the sparkling stars drew my curiousity even more.
I started climbing the stairs in circle carefully. Despite its proximity with the sea just down below, the inside of the tower was oddly quiet. Gradually I reached a level where the stairs weren’t as dark and raised my head to look at the top. That is when I saw a blue light, glitter from the moon and other countless stars, all reduced inside the small opening.
I couldn’t take my eyes off all the while climbing the lighthouse. Around the middle of the tower I paused for a moment and contemplated the dim blue light that brightened the stairs and the wall juste before me. If the girl wearing the white dress at the restaurant had been there with me, she would be standing at this exact place, slightly above me. The moonlight would delicatedly illuminate her white dress and her elegant tanned body, while she would be staring at the top of the lighthouse with her hands joined together at her chest. Then she would turn her head down to smile at me, not with a smile mocking me, but a smile that recognizes me for who I am.
An eternity flowed while I was living a waking dream, I resumed my ascent once again.
“This place is so quiet and the light is enough for me and her to exist. I wish time would stop and stay like this forever. Life has always been boring and forced upon me for as long as I can remember. Maybe this one time, I am able to be myself despite being all alone in this place.”
I did not leave this place.