How the Fog Grew Over the Sea

Once upon a time, there lived a long-haired maiden, Bee. She was the only daughter of the old lighthouse keep. The girl grew in beauty to the age of twenty-three.

The keep had raised three boys prior, all ten years her elder. Strapping and strong, he sent them along to find their own splendor. She, unwed and yet beloved, the keep did as any dad does. At his passing, to her the deed did he surrender.

To two brothers the fact need not be stated. But, in brother Lou, there grew bitter hatred. The man, granted not but a boot, felt plain ablated.

“What saddens you?” asked brother Lee.

“To give Bee the key and the deed while he hardly mentioned me,” argued Lou, “I am his child, too. I deserve more than a rotten shoe.”

“Where would you rather her be?” questioned brother Lee. “Not on the street; not our sweet sister Bee.”

Brother Lou withdrew with brother Hugh. “I say we hold a coup; that’s what we ought to do.”

Now, brother Hugh hardly knew anything at all. So when brother Lou asked for a favor or two, he simply went along. His mind too dense to weigh right and wrong, he agreed to the order strong.

Ten days after the keep returned to the sea did brother Lee leave the steep to fetch some brew one afternoon. Then brother Lou turned brother Hugh into his goon.

With Lee out of sight, they gave Bee the fright of her life by putting her against the wall. They stripped her of her hair and deed, letting her squall. But no soul heard poor Bee’s cries or knew the fate that was to befall. For after they took the key from her, they planned her great fall.

From the lighthouse top they tossed poor sister Bee. On the sharp rocks below she fell and was left to bleed.

Before brother Lee could discover their dastardly deed, they cleaned the floors and locked the doors. Then they took their leave.

On a high ship, they departed that hour, with plans to return within the week.

When Lee returned, how his heart did churn, when the door refused to open. The silence shattered his heart... now broken. Not wanting to delay, he forced his way but inside stood no one.

Around the house he raced, not knowing if he needed to stay or chase, until he bent breathless at the top.

Down, down, down the drop he stared. But he almost didn’t know his sister without her hair. Sweet maiden Bee laid with the lapping of the salty waves, resting in her tomb. Lee saw their father’s hands in the cover of foam as the tide became her body’s doom.

At the top of the lighthouse, he sat. His breath became baited and heartbeat ran flat. How could his life come to this? Seeing his sister dashed on the cliffs…

That night and that day, he stayed, staring as a fog grew from the sea. He knew in the sunken clouds hid his sister Bee.

And though he turned on the light and aimed it at the sea, it could not break the dense fog of sister Bee. Brother Lou and brother Hugh ran aground at his feet. Doomed to the same fate they brought on sister dearest, in the cold ocean the three will ever be.

So when you see a dense fog roll over the sea, please spare a moment to think of the fair maiden Bee as she searches for the lighthouse and her favorite brother Lee.