A Light In The Window - A Short Story

With all that goes on in the world, I’ve been feeling the need for peace, comfort, and quietness for my soul. The words, “Safe Haven” recently came to mind and I realized that God is our safe haven. He is our peace, and His light can be our hope in this dark world. So, I wrote this short story inspired by that. I hope you enjoy it. :)

Every night you walked the steep spiral staircase, wearing the same wool knit sweater, holding the same lantern in your right hand high. Not once did you stumble. Not once did you stop to catch your breath. You had one sole purpose in your mission, and nothing could keep you from accomplishing it.

As a little girl, I remember walking side by side with you, my short little legs struggling to keep up. When we finally arrived at the top, you would push open the wooden door and let me, huffing and puffing from the long trek, slip inside first. 

I begged you to let me help, but you said the fire was too dangerous for me, that I could get burned. So I sat, curled up against the glass wall of the small room. Sometimes, I worried the glass would break and I would fall far, far down. But mostly, I just watched you work. 

Slowly, carefully, you first scrubbed the windows, wiping away the soot from the smoke that often filled the room. You prepared the lanterns, evenly spaced around the perimeter, filling them with oil and lighting the wicks. And then you set your watchful gaze on the sea surrounding. 

I would fight to keep my eyes open, fearing I might miss out on something, but eventually sleep overtook me and I would be carried off to dreamland. When I awoke in the morning, I was always wrapped in a warm blanket, a shield from the chilly air. 

That was but a distant memory now. Tonight, I was as far away as I could get on my own, from the safety of our home. It was silly, the repetition of my escapades. I thought I had to find my own way. I thought I had be fully in control to be my own person. I thought I had to rely on my own strength. 

A storm raged outside. The morning had started out bright and sunny, and I’d been optimistic, as I’d made my escape, but as the day progressed the sky grew darker and darker. And now, the wind howled, making my skin crawl. Lightning flashed across the sky, and rain came pouring down in sheets. 

Waves, like a hungry sea beast, crashed over the sides of the small fishing boat, turning the deck slick under my feet. I clutched the railing as tightly as I could with hands already numb from the cold. The thought came as a feeling of terror more than a true thought. “Will I make it out alive tonight?” 

Ducking my head, I fought my way towards the door to the tiny cabin at the stern of the boat, only to be sent back three steps to my one foot forward. “If I make it inside, will it be enough?” 

Soon, shivers—from equal parts cold and fear—overtook me. I was flown across the deck, back and forth, barely catching the railing before being flung to the other side.

But then another light flashed, this one steady and warm, piercing down to somewhere deep in my heart. And this light never went out. “The lanterns,” I whispered, to a world too loud to be heard in, even if someone was there with me.

The storm didn’t seem quite as scary then, and I felt a strange strength building inside of me. The wind still howled, the waves still beat against the hull, but I stood my ground. Drawing on that sudden, strange strength, I fought one last time toward the wheel. I grabbed the helm, steering my way, by the light of your lanterns, toward home - My lighthouse. My safe haven. My home.