The Lighthouse of Brightshore

Free

Tessa listened, entranced by his story. She thought for a moment, her heart aching for the ghostly boy who had waited so long. "Maybe I can help you," she said. "What do you need to be free?"

Elias looked at her with a hopeful gleam in his shadowed eyes. "Take the flame," he said, gesturing to the silvery light. "Take it down to the shore and let it meet the waves. Only then can I be released."

Tessa hesitated, but something in her knew it was right. She reached out, and as her fingers touched the flame, it curled around her hand, cool like mist but bright as starlight. Carefully, she carried it down the staircase, her heart pounding with every step.

When she reached the shore, the fog parted slightly, and she could see the waves shimmering under the light. She walked to the water's edge and held the flame out toward the sea. Slowly, the light drifted from her hands and floated over the waves, dissolving into a burst of silver sparks.

As the light faded, Tessa heard a voice whisper in her ear—a gentle, grateful sound that was barely there. "Thank you," it said, and she felt a warmth in her chest, a gentle joy she couldn't explain.

The next morning, the people of Brightshore were surprised to see that the old lighthouse had collapsed overnight, as though it had finally surrendered to time and the elements. 

But Tessa kept the memory of Elias, the boy bound to a lighthouse's ghostly light, and she knew that somewhere, in the endless depths of the sea, he was free at last.

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS STORY! I WILL WRITE AGAIN SOON, SO LOOK FORWARD TO OTHER STORIES, AND COMENT IF YOU WANT A SEQUEL TO THIS ONE!