Eliza stood before the abandoned lighthouse, its once-pristine white paint now peeling and stained by years of neglect. The salty breeze whipped her hair as memories crashed over her like waves.
“It’s smaller than I remember,” she murmured.
Her brother Sam squeezed her shoulder. “Everything looks different through a child’s eyes.”
Eliza nodded, unable to shake the dissonance between her rosy childhood recollections and the reality before her. The lighthouse had been their summer haven, a place of adventure and laughter. Now it stood as a stark reminder of all she had lost.
They made their way inside, dodging debris and inhaling musty air. Eliza’s heart raced as they climbed the spiral staircase. At the top, the panoramic view of the churning ocean took her breath away.
“Remember how we used to pretend to be lighthouse keepers?” Sam asked, a wistful smile playing on his lips.
“Yeah,” Eliza replied softly. “We thought we were saving ships from certain doom.”
As she gazed out at the horizon, a memory flickered to life – not of childhood games, but of a stormy night years later. The image of her father’s fishing boat struggling against monstrous waves made her stomach lurch.
“Eliza?” Sam’s voice sounded distant. “You okay?”
She blinked, realizing she had been gripping the railing so tightly her knuckles had turned white. “I’m fine,” she lied.
But she wasn’t fine. Coming back here was supposed to bring closure, not open old wounds. Eliza had spent years running from the guilt and pain, drowning her sorrows in whatever would numb her mind. Now, face-to-face with her past, she felt the facade crumbling.
“I should have done more,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I should have saved him.”
Sam wrapped her in a tight embrace. “It wasn’t your fault, Liz. You couldn’t have known the storm would be that bad.”
Eliza sobbed into her brother’s shoulder, finally letting out years of pent-up anguish. As her tears subsided, she felt a weight lifting. The lighthouse stood as a silent witness to her grief and, perhaps now, to the beginning of her healing.
“Thank you for bringing me here,” she said, wiping her eyes.
Sam smiled gently. “Ready to head back?”
Eliza took one last look at the vast ocean. “Not yet,” she replied. “I think I’d like to stay a little longer.”
As the sun began to set, bathing the lighthouse in golden light, Eliza felt a flicker of hope. The path forward wouldn’t be easy, but for the first time in years, she was ready to face it.
