Shining Hope

A short story about a Lighthouse for this month’s short story post. I hope you enjoy the tale.

No one in the small town on the Oregon coast thought much about the Lighthouse. The boats passing could always rely on its faithful, shining light, which shone out on cold December nights and summer evenings in August; its light always searched for the lost and found in the ocean.
The lighthouse stood there staring patiently at the excited tourists during those hot August afternoons as they took pictures of it, climbed up its stairs, and talked loudly. It had seen many Teenagers sneak up the hillside to hang out with their friends at midnight. It had been threatened and damaged by angry teenagers looking for an outlet to attack with its angry words written across its smooth white slides.
It had overheard the sad cries of a woman looking into the wide blue green, wondering where her husband had gone.

She was praying and crying that he would come back home unharmed to her. It had overheard the angry words between enemies on the cliff. The lighthouse had stood coldly watching, not moved by any emotion.
It had watched a ship blow up and kill a ship full of men who would never return to their lonely wives. It had seen ships of riches proudly pass its shores and speed their way through the cold ocean to lucky owners’ prosperity awaiting.
It had seen its fair share of proposals on the cliff, and happy couples enthusiastically promised their lives to each other. The wedding was set on a picturesque cliffside, and the lighthouse stood proudly for the wedding photos of the happy couple waiting to share their lives forever.
The lighthouse had also seen the death of one faithful public servant who fell hard on the earth after a powerful heart attack. He had also seen the ambulance take him away and the mourning employees gather to watch the man being carried away to never return.
The lighthouse had seen people live around it without being moved one bit. It knew the town better than anyone around it. It is the oldest building around it, and I had the privilege of overlooking the town and watching the shores for decades. In those decades, it had not been unfaithful to the citizens of the town or the strangers who searched for its help on the dark, scary nights around its shores.
The lighthouse stood tall with wide outstretched arms of light guiding the people home.
It liked how its shiny white sides gleamed in the daylight and glow of the moonlight. It was an elegant, timeless figure of a lighthouse that would never go out of style. Beautiful light shone into the vast, open ocean in front of it.