100 lines
2.4 KiB
TeX
100 lines
2.4 KiB
TeX
% 2026.01.21-TheySimplyLightTheWay\\
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\herosection{They Simply Light the Way}{chapters/2026.01.21-TheySimplyLightTheWay/image/they-simply-light-the-way.jpg}
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\DROPCAP{../../dropcap_c/dropA.png}t dusk, \\
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the lamplighter made his usual rounds, \\
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touching flame to wick as the sun slipped away.\\
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By the time the fishermen returned in the evening, \\
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the harbor was bedecked with lights.
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The lamps burned all night.\\
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By morning, \\
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most had gone out.\\
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The day was well underway, \\
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the quay alive with nets being cleaned, \\
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fish being sorted and taken to market.
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So it was strange, \\
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that morning, \\
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to see a stranger with a long pole \\
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and a jar of oil walking the quay — \\
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lighting the lamps.
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``Too late! Or too early!'' \\
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said an old fisherman, smirking.
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The stranger said nothing.
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He moved slowly along the quay's edge, \\
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trimming wicks, \\
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coaxing flame back into glass globes \\
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in the shining daylight.\\
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In the full light of morning, \\
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the lamps looked faint and faintly ridiculous — \\
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small suns pretending to matter.
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A young fisherman named Eli watched.\\
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His net had torn again.\\
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He sat mending it with practiced hands.\\
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The stranger worked nearby.
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``You're wasting oil,'' Eli said, \\
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not even looking up.
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The stranger smiled. \\
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``Only if you think lamps are for seeing.''
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Eli frowned. \\
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``That's exactly what they're for.''
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``Nope,'' the stranger said. ``Lamps are for being seen.''
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Eli glanced around.\\
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The harbor was bright with morning.
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``No one's seeing them,'' he said.
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``Not yet,'' the stranger replied.
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By afternoon, \\
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the storm arrived out of nowhere — \\
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sudden, \\
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violent, \\
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flattening the horizon.\\
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Fog rolled in thick as wool.\\
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Boats that should have been home \\
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were still out, \\
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swallowed by gray.\\
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Eli found himself running to the quay.
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The lamps were burning.
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Not bright.\\
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Not heroic.\\
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But steady.\\
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Each one a small act of defiance.
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Through the fog, \\
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shapes emerged — \\
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boats limping home, \\
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guided not by the unseeable sun, \\
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but by tiny flames lit earlier.
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When the last boat limped in safely, \\
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Eli looked for the stranger.\\
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He was nowhere to be found.
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That evening, \\
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the lamplighter came as usual.\\
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The lamps burned.\\
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The harbor slept.\\
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No one mentioned the daylight lamps.
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The next day, \\
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Eli didn't mend his net.\\
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He left it folded on the bench \\
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and walked the length of the harbor, \\
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looking for the one \\
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who had done the pointless \\
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but indispensable thing.
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