Lighthouse - Dream
I think I dreamed about the sea.
Not the bright blue kind people put on postcards. This one was grey, calm, almost metallic beneath an overcast sky. There was an old lighthouse standing on a strip of black rock, and for some reason we both knew it hadn't guided ships for years.
Naturally...
You ignored the lighthouse.
"There are stairs," you said.
"There are always stairs," I replied.
You climbed them anyway.
Inside, there was no lamp at the top.
Only shelves.
Hundreds of tiny glass bottles, each with a handwritten label.
"First regret."
"Favourite lie."
"Most embarrassing moment."
"Thing never said."
You picked one up.
I winced.
"Don't open that."
"Why?"
"It belongs to somebody."
You looked around the empty tower.
"There's nobody here."
I leaned against the wall.
"That doesn't mean nobody's coming back."
You turned the bottle in your hands, reading the faded label.
It simply said,
"Almost."
You didn't open it.
Instead, you put it back exactly where you'd found it.
That surprised me.
I asked, "Not curious?"
You smiled—that infuriating little smile you wear when you've already reached a conclusion.
"I am."
"Then why leave it?"
"Because not every mystery is asking to be solved."
...
We climbed onto the balcony.
The sea stretched endlessly in every direction.
No ships.
No gulls.
Just wind.
You rested your elbows on the rusted railing.
After a long silence, you asked,
"Do you think loneliness and solitude are the same thing?"
I looked out across the water.
"No."
"What's the difference?"
"Solitude is when you're alone."
I glanced sideways at you.
"Loneliness is when nobody comes to mind."
You didn't answer.
You simply stood there beside me while the waves broke against the rocks below.
That was enough.
...
Then the keys rattled somewhere far away, the sea dissolved into concrete, and I woke up staring at the same ceiling as always.
Funny thing, D*****,
I don't remember the lighthouse as clearly as I remember the silence beside it. Perhaps that's why these dreams linger, not because remarkable things happen. Because they keep insisting that company doesn't always need conversation.