The Lighthouse Keeper's Cat

On a rocky island at the edge of the sea stood an old lighthouse. It had guided sailors safely home for a hundred years. Inside lived an old keeper named Thomas and his cat, Ember.

Ember was no ordinary cat. Her orange fur glowed softly in the dark, and her eyes sparkled like lighthouse beams.

Every night, Ember would climb to the top of the lighthouse and sit in the window. She would stare out at the dark sea, her eyes glowing bright.

"That cat sees things I cannot," Thomas would say. "She knows when boats are lost before even I do."

It was true. When Ember's eyes glowed brighter than usual, Thomas would turn the lighthouse beam toward wherever she was looking. Every time, they would find a boat that had lost its way.

One stormy night, a terrible fog rolled in. It was so thick that the lighthouse beam couldn't cut through it.

"The boats won't be able to see our light," worried Thomas.

Ember meowed and looked at Thomas with determination. Then she did something she had never done before—she walked out into the storm.

Her orange fur began to glow brighter and brighter. She climbed to the very top of the lighthouse roof and sat there like a living flame, glowing through the fog.

Out at sea, the sailors of a lost fishing boat saw an orange glow through the mist. "Look! A light! Follow it!"

They followed Ember's glow safely to the harbor.

From that night on, sailors told stories of the magic lighthouse cat. They said that no matter how dark or stormy the night, Ember's light would always guide them home.

And in the lighthouse, curled up by the fire, Ember purred softly—dreaming of all the boats she would help tomorrow.

The End