Suggested Prompt -
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There is someone looking out the very top window.
What is his/her story?
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William had dreamed of this moment for years. Since serving in the Navy during the Second World War, lighthouses had held a special fascination for him. He saw the towers along shorelines from the water and wondered at the people who lived and worked in them. And, then last Christmas, his daughter, Anna, gave him a beautiful “coffee table book” on lighthouses. His imagination soared.
Taking his time and reading each entry in the book, William’s fingers had almost itched to grab up his car keys and head off for the nearest lighthouse. However, living in land-locked Utah, the trip to the West Coast – Oregon, to be exact – would be more than a short jaunt…and there was still Elaine to consider. As long as she clung so tenaciously to the slender thread of life, William’s life was also tied to their home in the Utah hills. He dared not dream too aggressively knowing that doing so might bring the force of God slamming down upon him for wishing that which was unthinkable.
God had other plans, however, and within the year, took Elaine back to Himself. William had long before decided he would liquidate their holdings upon Elaine’s death and give her portion to her heirs, then dissolve the trust and rewrite his own will to simplify things for Anna when he died. In the midst of Elaine’s last rites and dealing with her daughter and son, the lighthouse book lay forgotten on a dusty shelf in William’s small den. Six months it lay untouched, waiting patiently for William to rediscover its pages full of wonderful dream material.
On June 12th, Anna’s 50th birthday, William was searching for a different book Anna had given him several years before that she was now asking for to help her with a bit of research for a paper she was writing for her PhD in Biology. He found that book, then his hands reached for the lighthouse tome. Sitting in his most comfortable chair, he once again opened it and began dreaming again – this time in earnest. The phone rang.
“Dad? Did you find it?”
“Yup. Right where I thought it would be. Guess what else I found?”
“What?”
“That big book with all the pictures and information about lighthouses.”
“Oh, that’s a great book!”
“I’ll say. I’m startin’ to think about takin’ a trip out to Oregon. One of them lighthouses is particularly interesting. I’d like to see it for myself…before I’m too old or stove up to make the trip. Whadday think o’ that?”
“Can you make that drive by yourself?”
“I believe I’m up to it, yeah.”
“Well, then, go for it. You have a time in mind?”
“I was thinkin’ I might head out next week. Need to get a few things in order around here, but then there’s no reason I can’t take off.”
“Do it, Dad. Just call me from the road so I know you’re still in one piece. Okay?”
“I’d do that for sure. You don’t think I’m a crazy old man for wantin’ to do this?”
“Nah! Do it! Just stay in touch, is all I ask.”
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Now, looking out the window at the pounding surf far below, William could not believe his good fortune. Arriving at the small town of Pine Crest on the Oregon coast, he asked about the lighthouse and learned it was for sale. For sale! He visited the office that had it listed and found out the Coast Guard had decided to discontinue its use a couple years earlier and, after pulling out the critical operational components, put it on the market. Real estate was pretty depressed in this area of Oregon, however, and the lighthouse was a tough sell under good conditions. William asked to see it and was handed the keys and a map showing how to get there.
The walk up the circular stairs to the top had left him winded but he reckoned that making that trek every day would be good for him. And, the isolation was just what he was craving. He could feel himself drawing inward, wanting less and less interaction between himself and the rest of the world. His dream to live quietly beside the ocean was pulling him so strongly, he would not hesitate to write the check for the down payment when he returned the keys to the realtor.
Anna would come to visit him here between her teaching and travels. Anna’s son would bring his young wife and their newborn baby for Christmas here. He already knew just where the tree would go in the rustic living room of the small house beside the base of the tower. He could almost smell the savory turkey roasting in the oven of old stove in the small kitchen.
William saw himself, years from now, falling asleep in his bed in the tiny bedroom and not waking up, his Soul departing gently as the eternal waves continued to crash against the rocks below. It might take several days before Anna thought about calling him and even then she would not immediately be alarmed. William was known for his long hikes wherever he lived and here at the edge of the Pacific, walking along the surf would become his favorite pastime.
Maybe two or three days would pass before Anna’s level of concern rose sufficiently to call the local constabulary. By then, his corpse would already be starting its passage back to dust and cremation would be the final answer to that question. But, that was years down the road and in the meantime, William saw from another window, just the spot for his garden of tomatoes, potatoes, string beans, snap peas, and rhubarb.
by Lebhorcham
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