The lighthouse keeper’s body washes ashore, face
frozen in a scream, as the tide retreats three
miles inland. The mayor orders the harbor sealed,
but the water returns at dawn, carrying
saltslicked driftwood and a single boot.
A fisherman vanishes during a storm, his boat
found adrift with no sign of him. The mayor
visits the site, where the sea has left a ring
of black sand, and finds a carved whalebone
pendant buried in the mud. It bears the same
symbol as the lighthouse’s original blueprint.
The town council votes to abandon the shore, but
the mayor refuses. He commissions a new
lighthouse, using materials from the old one,
and hires a retired sailor to help. The sailor
warns of the “Hollow Tides,” a phenomenon that
pulls ships into the ocean’s belly, leaving only
echoes behind.
During construction, workers report hearing
voices in the wind. The mayor dismisses them,
but the lighthouse’s beam flickers erratically.
A child disappears while playing near the shore,
and her footprints lead straight into the surf.
The mayor searches the area, finding a hidden
cove where the water is still and silver,
reflecting a sky that does not exist.
He dives into the cove, swimming through a
tunnel of light. Inside, he sees the ghostly
form of the vanished crew, their faces hollow,
their hands grasping at the air. A voice speaks
without words: You are not meant to see this. He
surfaces, gasping, and finds the lighthouse
destroyed, the town silent.
The mayor returns to the council, but no one
remembers the lighthouse. The sea has reshaped
the coast, and the town now sits on a cliff
overlooking a vast, empty expanse. He is alone,
the last survivor of a story that never happened.
