Ted Corbin had given up his vigil of stargazing, the clouds had choked the patch of sky he’d been watching, and the few stars that remained were being veiled by the slowly advancing storm front.
He sipped his coffee and stood - Breaker jumped and retreated, wagging his tail again. ‘No, boy,’ Ted warned, ‘I already fed you, now get back inside an’ let’s not have so much of it!’ Breaker blinked and whined, and then turned, tentatively stepping back towards the door and into the lighthouse.
Ted sighed, and tipped the remainder of his drink over the railings, watching the wind whip the drops away as they fell. A flash in his periphery distracted him, and he looked out to sea. Thunder lazily rolled in the air, and another flare of lightning whisked the dark clouds with blossoms of pink and yellow.
As he watched the random lightning and listened to the emphatic thunder, he caught sight of a flicker of lights – electric lights - far away, almost touching the horizon.
His heart leapt, and he backed slowly to the door.