The Chicken, the Aunt and the Lighthouse

Ayden knew this was his time to strike, with one swift movement, he shoved Drumstick inside the case. The bird had little time to react, and fell straight in. Ayden struggled with the bird, trying to close him inside. Aunt Helga cheered on in the background. And then, Ayden overpowered Drumsticks resistance and clicked the case shut, trapping the bird inside.

“On ya Ayden!” Auntie cheered, “I knew you had it in ya!”

Chapter 7 – Calvin Walther With Drumstick taken care of the two solemnly made their way to the main chamber of the lighthouse. Without a word spoken between the two they sat in their individual chairs, respectively. The silence of their previous dispute hung in the air, only broken by the thunder which was a clear reminder of their dire situation. Eventually Ayden spoke; “I’m sorry for being annoying. And rude. And mean. And pretentious. And stupid”. A pause entered the room and the silence returned. “Don’t forget stubborn” Helga said with a chuckle. Ayden couldn’t resist a smile. The two embraced each other with a warm hug. The slate cleaned between them and their nemesis defeated, there was only one issue at hand. The lighthouse itself. Helga pointed out that with the roof collapsed upon the light, it was only a matter of time until a vessel got to know the shore an awful lot. As if by divine intervention, the crash of thunder marked the urgency. Turning on their heels the two ran as fast as their feet would allow to the base of the stairs. Without a second to lose they flew up the stairs at record speeds. Helga overestimated Ayden’s physical capability however, him tiring at the same record pace that she could run. The ascending of the lighthouse crawled to a halt, Ayden simply being too unfit. As they climbed the flight of stairs with the incessant sound of heaving breathing following, Helga’s phone buzzed aggressively. Unknown number. She reached into her pocket to grab her phone in contained excitement. “Gday this is Helga speaking” she began, giving Ayden the break, he needed. Ayden, even in his tired and bothered state, still noticed the shaken and amazed face of his aunt. “Yes sir, I’ll pop you on speaker now sir”. Ayden was intrigued now, Helga being a stern woman and not one often prone to authority, it was a most curious reaction. Hand outstretched and finger raised just above the speaker button, Helga whispered one word. “Scomo”. It all made sense. “Oi, which one of you bloody bludgers broke the bloody lighthouse!”. It really was him. The prime minister himself. Their excitement could barely be contained however before they could admire his soothing voice, he piped up again. “Well. Which one of yous’ was it?”. “It was the storm sir” Ayden explained. “Well where’s the damn tradie?” Scomo requested, clearly impatient. “We don’t have one up here yet” they explained. There wasn’t a tradie remotely close to the lighthouse. Helga was entirely responsible for maintenance of the lighthouse. They explained this to Scomo, his tone switching from frustrated to fearful. “I’m 10 minutes out of the island and the captain can’t see Buckleys. If you don’t get that bloody light up and running, I’m afraid I’ll be kaput”. The phone hung up. They were running out of time.