LOST AT SEA CH. 1 Pt. 3 of 3

LOST AT SEA CH. 1 Pt. 3 of 3

The next morning, Muriel looked refreshed and happy. When Anita got up at noon, even she had cheered up.

I kept quiet about it.

A few nights later, a ringing bell woke me out of deep sleep. When I got up to see what was happening, the lighthouse was dark.

Something had happened. Then I saw a ghostly white figure issue out of the shed like a wraith and I could see her charge into the lighthouse and up the stairs to the light. A minute later, the light started rotating again and I was treated to the sight of a very naked Anita dancing around the light, checking to make sure everything was in order.

The next morning, I had breakfast with a bedraggled-looking Muriel. Anita did not look much better.

"I heard a bell last night," I said, as we ate.

"The light went out again. It's that damned, generator" grumbled Anita. She held her head in her hands. Her breakfast lay on her plate, untouched.

"Oh," I replied.

"You don't sound too sympathetic," grumbled Anita.

"I'm sorry. I was trying to stay neutral."

"Yeah. You just stay out of the way," snapped Anita. She went to her room and slammed the door.

As we finished the dishes, I told Muriel, "I need something to do, or I'll go crazy here."

"Well, you can scrub the floors, I guess," she said.

They were made of beautiful dark hardwood and were worn by years of service. I got a bucket and scrub brush and got down on my knees and scrubbed them clean. After they dried, I oiled and waxed them until they gleamed. By lunch, I had one room done. Only seven more to go, I thought.

After a quick lunch, I tackled the office, which had a huge desk in it. It was obvious no one had ever moved it, so I cleaned around it as everyone else had.

Anita finally got up.

"Hi," she said, combing her hair with her fingers. She smiled at me.

"You look nice," I replied.

"I'm a mess."

We ate in silence and at sunset, Anita started the generator, and the light sprang to life. Except for the engine noise, the light was completely silent, turning on its bearings as it had for over a century.
After Muriel and I did the dishes, I went out on the porch to enjoy the evening breeze. Muriel joined me and we sat in the chairs and continued our conversation. She loved to hear my stories about going to sea.

"Have you ever been in a shipwreck?" she asked.

"No," I replied. "Except for the wrecking my boat. That was enough."

"Where else have you been?"

"Mostly the Caribbean. That is all. I worked on a larger ship when I first got out of school. We went from New York to Europe, Spain,

France, and Italy. It lasted a year. Otherwise, I haven't been to many places."

"Oh, you have," Muriel replied. "You've been everywhere. I have not been off this island for more than a year since I was a child, except to go grocery shopping in Port Anne.

She bent over me and said, "Tell me some more stories." Her breasts were inches from my face. Her perfume was hypnotic. Then she pulled away and brushed her hair out of her eyes and sat back, smiling.

"That's not fair," I said, my heart racing.

"Why not?" she giggled.

"You're so pretty and I can't touch."

"That's what's so nice about it," she whispered.

"Do you want a story or not?" I asked, smiling.

"Sure."

I told her about my former fiancé. I met her when I was in college in New York. She went to an all-girls school near mine. I used to slip out at night to visit her. At first, it was romantic. I would throw a pebble against her window while I hid in the bushes. She would turn out the light and open the window to let me in. We would wrestle around on her bed. She would get excited, but never let me go "all the way". So, I would slink back to my room with aching balls. Then, one spring break, she invited me back to her parent's house in Florida. Naturally,

I had to sleep in a room upstairs. Since she was the youngest, her parents were old and went to bed early. So, we would go out on the deck by the pool and make out. It was the usual teen grope and kiss. I knew she wanted to do more, but she liked to tease.

Then on the last night, she told me to meet her behind the pool house at midnight. I made my way quietly around the pool and behind the pool house. She was lying, naked, on a big beach towel.

Her blonde hair was arranged in a fan around her head, and she smiled at me and told me to make love to her. It did not take long, because we were both excited. On the way back to school, I asked her if she wanted to go steady. She said yes. One thing led to another and just before graduation, I proposed to her. She said yes, and we set a date a year from graduation. I went to sea, but after a few months, never heard from her again. When I got back, I tried calling her parents. They told me she had gotten married just the past week.

They also told me not to bother her.

"That was sad," said Muriel. "I'm sorry it didn't work out."

"It would have never worked out with her. She was a rich little girl, and I was just a merchant sailor. She's a lawyer someplace in Virginia now," I replied.

"I can see how hurt you are."

"I guess," I replied. "It was ten years ago."

"Give me a hug. Maybe that will make things better."

I hugged her, just as Anita came through the door of the lighthouse.

She saw us but did not say anything.

The next morning, it was as if nothing happened. I got up to start breakfast and made sausage, eggs, and coffee. I had a drink mix, so I made a pitcher of orange drink. That was the problem with that lighthouse. There was only one refrigerator, and its contents soon ran out. They ran out even faster now that I was there.

I knew I had to be careful.

Anita came inside, tired after her all-night vigil with the light. Nothing had happened, which relieved her. I served her breakfast and then myself.

"I saw you two last night," she said as she ate.

"I know. I told her a sad story and she was trying to be sympathetic."

"Muriel's like that," she said. "She's always the peacemaker, always the one who makes things nice."

"She helped me."

"Well, don't let it happen too often. Where did you get the juice?"

To be continued