The Lighthouse At Bloody Point

Enjoy this free chapter from The Lighthouse At Bloody Point.

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Chapter 1- Coming Home

It was not yet a dark and stormy night, but the storm was definitely coming. Clouds hung low over Bloody Point Lighthouse as the helicopter hovered over it, sending spray sheeting off the sides of the lighthouse. I dangled from a rope as the crewman carefully winched me down to my new home away from home. Gear was already piled up atop the helipad- cases of food and bags of water, and two large drums of gasoline, as well as one large suitcase that held mostly books. I had come prepared.

I landed gently on my feet, staggering slightly in the downdraft of the helicopter. I moved carefully towards the center of the helipad. The edges were terrifyingly close. A strong wind was blowing already, ruffling my hair and pushing me, as hard as it possibly could, towards the netting that hung off the side of the lighthouse. If I fell I would probably get caught, but I didn’t fancy taking that chance.

I unclipped the rope attached to my orange survival suit and waved up at the crewman. He waved back and a few moments later the helicopter lifted off and away, the clatter of its rotors fading as it disappeared back over the little town. I was alone in the lighthouse where I would be spending the next 10 days.

Bloody Point was automated, but there was a stormy week ahead, and the bosses wanted someone to be on hand just in case something went wrong during the bad weather. That’s where I came in. I was an engineering student on summer break, looking for a quiet place to write. They needed someone to watch the green lights and call them if any turned red. I figured I could handle that and manage some writing at the same time.

Just what I was going to write wasn’t clear yet. I’d written plenty of short stories, even seen a couple published in the science fiction magazines, but I’d always wanted to try to tackle a novel. A lighthouse had seemed like the perfect place to get one started, and so I had answered the ad, and three weeks later I was off on my first assignment.

Well, they’d promised me there wasn’t too much work to do, but when I first landed there was a good bit. I started with the gasoline, working the big barrels over towards the port in the center of the helipad. It was a large funnel, covered by a big screw cap that looked like an oversized version of one you would find on a car. I connected the fuel pump to the valve on the barrel, pumped it manually a few times, and then waited while gravity did the rest. I wasn’t accidentally pumping gas into my water supply, was I? I checked the cap. It said GAS in bright yellow letters. Well that was alright then.

While I waited for the tanks to fill I crawled to the edge of the lighthouse and took a peek at what was down below. The lighthouse stuck out to sea, sitting on a little rocky outcropping, surrounded by small little waves that lapped the rocks below. There was a man down there, sitting on a rock and fishing in the water, a little bucket beside him. I called down to him, but he couldn’t hear me. He just kept fishing, and eventually I crawled backwards away from the edge and got back to my feet.

It took an hour to get both barrels of gas in there, and then it was time for the water. Same process, different portal. That took another half hour. By now the clouds were getting dark and menacing, and thunder was already starting to rumble.

The storm of the century, they were calling it. The forecast called for a week of hard rain, and looking at the gathering clouds I could believe it. They were thick and dark and somehow green, rolling in from the sea. The sun was still shining, going down on the other side and casting golden light over the little town of Bloody Point on its hill next to the lighthouse. 

Below me the waves were gentle, almost still. The whole world seemed to be holding its breath. Just wait until that sun goes down, the clouds promised. You just wait.

Well, Bloody Point Lighthouse had been standing for a hundred years. If this was the storm of the century, it had still probably seen its like before. But I had seen the water marks on the tower on the way in. Though the lighthouse stood a hundred feet tall, the water stains on its side reached about halfway up. 

To tell you the truth, I was excited for the storm. It promised to be fun.

I finished topping up the water and headed down through one of the hatches on the side of the helipad. They had warned me to leave a hatch open- otherwise they might be blocked up by deliveries, leaving me trapped inside. I did so, lowering my suitcase of books through the gap first and then following it down. I would come back for my net of canned food.

The top level of the lighthouse was of course given over to the light itself, a giant circular array of halogen bulbs. There was a comfy armchair, a small round table, and the rest was telemetry, little switches and levers and a ton of glowing green lights. I looked for red and didn’t see anything. Great. Easy job so far.

The bedroom was beneath the lantern room, four little beds tucked into alcoves that curved around the side of the room. I deposited the suitcase in the center of the room and checked the different alcoves to try to find the best one. Three of them were tall enough to sit up in, although the curvature of the beds might make sleeping a bit of an exercise. They had windows looking out the sides, so I selected a bed with a view of the beach and the sea. I kicked off my shoes- hiking boots, I had been haunted by visions of myself slipping on the stairs and tumbling a hundred feet down to the basement- and sat down on the bed. It was cozy and comfy, covered with a thick blue quilt and a rather firm mattress. It only had one pillow, so I robbed another bed of its pillow and made myself a nice seat. This seemed like it would be a nice spot to spend my days.

Books squared away (well, dumped in the middle of the room, but there was nobody around to complain), I headed back up to retrieve my cans of food. I looked out the lantern room’s window as I headed up. The clouds were rolling in like an avalanche, chasing the setting sun across the sky. It was a marvelous sight, but it set a fire under me as well. I envisioned myself up on the helipad, lashed with rain and wind, struggling to get the rest of my goods inside. It wouldn’t do to dawdle.

The wind was still powerful up top, and I staggered as I came up the stairs. The edge loomed, a hundred feet of open air down to the rocks below. My blood was pounding in my throat as I pushed through the howling wind to the net containing all my food for the week. I was very glad to get back below decks.

The kitchen was below the bedroom, another round room with counters along the edges and another comfy armchair in the center facing a television on the wall. There was no stove, and no fridge, just a microwave. 

I opened the net and started distributing the food across the counters. There were cans of peas, cans of corn, cans of beans, cans of olives, cans of tuna, cans of spam, 2 of each. There were also 2 12 packs of Maruchan instant soups- I had requested spicy and beef, and I had gotten them. A feast fit for the king of the tower.

Food squared away, I went down to check on the generator, the last part of the lighthouse. It was currently off, as the power cells were already fully charged by the solar panels that ringed the edge of the lantern room. It would turn on soon- we were not expecting much sunlight in the week to come. 

The only other thing in the room was a door. I cracked it open and was treated to the sight of a fifty foot drop, a little chain rope ladder dangling down to the rocks below. I wouldn’t be going out that way if I could help it.

Tour over.

I headed back to the kitchen and grabbed a can of olives. I drained them into the little sink, then headed back up the stairs and picked up a pen and notepad from my suitcase. I took them with me up to the lantern room. Food, writing gear- I was ready for my first watch.

The lantern was still off when I arrived. I settled down into the armchair and glanced at the wall of telemetry. Everything was still green. 

I fiddled with my pen, staring out the window. It was getting dark now, and fast. The wind was beginning to pick up, whistling as it blew past the giant windows. I doodled a little in the margins of my letter paper, swords and rocks and a lighthouse. 

The light clicked on. With a whirring noise it began revolving slowly, sending a beam of light shooting out the window into the darkness beyond. The beam swept across the sea, illuminated waves that looked choppier than they had when I first got here. The storm wasn’t here yet, but the sea was getting ready for it. The beam swept across the empty beach, then across the town, highlighting a dozen little houses clustered around the tiny church. Then back out to sea it went, round and round. Its many lightbulbs hummed gently. I felt at peace with the world.

This was the life, wasn’t it? It was a dream come true. Alone in a lighthouse, with everything provided for me. A chance to work on the great American novel. Now I just had to come up with something worth writing…

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