CHAPTER 54
Nature really didn’t play by statistics, or perhaps, more likely, fate was cruel.
The lightning and thunder and rain had calmed as night had settled in, but the clouds did not cease to be foreboding and the sea still hurled and hissed. So she waited and watched further from high atop those angry seas.
And as the sky traded the blackness of the storm for the blackness of the night, there towards the horizon, she saw something.
It was hard to make out at first; it appeared and disappeared with the waves.
But as time crawled on and the black figure got closer, she became more and more sure it was a boat, and not just any boat, a dinghy, something no one could have taken out so far on its own and especially not on a night like tonight.
She swore, then prayed, and then she was off down the stairs, taking them three at a time. This wouldn’t be like last time, she assured herself. She wouldn’t let it.
And already, as she threw the door open and ran to the dock, she could tell it was nothing like last time. The waves weren’t even half as big. They didn’t explode upwards like they were trying to swallow her lighthouse. She could do this.
Feeling confident, she stepped in her boat, and untying it from the dock, she started off.
Thankfully, the familiarity of the oars in her hands only made her confidence rise. These waves were no worse than what she used to practice in throughout her teens. She could do this.
She pushed back any last dread as she headed for the horizon, though she felt unashamed to feel it.
Papa had always said that bravery could not exist without fear, for anything was easy if you were not afraid.
True courage started when your stomach leapt into your throat and your heart clenched and you pressed on regardless, sure of the righteousness of your course.
She could do this.